Chris Harris: Seeing Potential, Building Dreams

Change and mindset are two things that go hand in hand. As humans, we crave the feelings of security that comes from routine, even if stepping outside of that comfort zone is the key to growth. The truth is…change is hard. But when we frame it correctly, coping becomes easier.

Take baseball season for example. It’s a long season replete with travel and games, at times in unforgiving conditions. It also brings a rhythm and energy that has become one of my favorite things in life.

Every year when the season comes to its end, I find myself missing the grind sooner than I’d like to admit. Not because I don’t love the freedom of schedule the off season affords, but because it’s a change from the status quo I have become accustomed to.

That shift away from the accepted norm is exactly what makes change such a challenge. It’s a struggle that is only amplified when you feel like you’re going at it alone.

It’s exactly what a recent guest on my podcast Rounding the Bases found himself up against when he saw potential where others could not. From decay came a dream to revitalize his neighborhood, leading to an epic transformation thirty years in the making.

His name is Chris Harris, the Founder and Executive Director of Harris Park. It’s a thriving oasis on Kansas City’s urban landscape that now stands where his childhood was lived.

Using an athletes mentality, he brought down his house to rebuild an entire community. And in the process, did more than clean up a neighborhood…but also empowered generations of change.

SINGLE: RADICAL CHANGE

There are so many things. love about Chris Harris’ story that it’s difficult to pinpoint a single favorite. If pressed, though, what stands out most is everything he risked to bring radical change to the community he calls home.

To give some context, Chris is a product of Kansas City’s Ivanhoe neighborhood, an area traditionally known for high rates of crime and drugs. By the time Chris was a kid, it had succumbed to the blight and continued to spiral, as evidenced by the increased numbers of abandoned properties and neglected public spaces.

Chris knew it had potential to be so much more. It would take time, gumption and an incredible amount of hard work, but he was also committed to making that dream a reality.

From the beginning, he decided to approach the challenges of transformation with the same mentality he used as a semi-pro basketball player. He shared, “If you take care of the people around you, you make them feel more comfortable. You can get more use out of them.”

So he started picking up trash.

“It worked like a charm,” he recalled of the project’s earliest days. The more he cleaned, the more people began to take notice of the change that was happening before their eyes. Soon, they wanted to help too. Chris played to each person’s strengths. By assigning work that people enjoyed and wanted to do, it enticed them to become even more involved in the effort.

It clicked the day he realized, “We’re starting to build a team here.”

DOUBLE: A POSITIVE MESSAGE

The genesis of Chris’ neighborhood revitalization plans was an assignment he received as a college undergrad in 1994.

He wrote about his dream of using sports to teach the basics of life. At the time, he was unable to comprehend how different - yet remarkably similar - that plan would look after three decades dedicated to making it happen.

Lot by lot, Chris began buying property within the city block he grew up in. He started small, clearing overgrowth with an old chainsaw and mowing patches of grass. But as his land ownership grew, so did it’s variety of offerings.

At first, there was only a basketball court. Harris Park has now expanded to become a sprawling activity center that includes baseball, volleyball, theater and so much more. It’s even home to a creatively executed par 3 golf course, the first of its kind in the neighborhood.

But it’s impressive growth didn’t come easily. To bring his dream alive, Chris actually had to demolish his childhood home, a sacrifice that was well worth it in the end.

Now there’s a beautiful green space that is catalyzing mindset changes inside - and outside - the neighborhood. He explained, “When people come here … it makes them want to be on their best behavior. It makes them feel good. And they leave with a message about the neighborhood: That this is a nice place.”

TRIPLE: ACHIEVABLE GOALS

Chris Harris may have been a National Champion basketball player in college, but he was always realistic about what his sports career would look like after graduation.

“I knew I wasn’t going to the NBA,” he shared. “But my mindset was always, hey, wait a minute … I didn’t go to the biggest college, but I own my own sports complex.”

Despite the many activities that can be found at Harris Park, Chris actually describes it as being 5% sports, 95% education.

The grounds are open to the public year round and also regularly welcomes school groups. It plays host to a range of programming that uses sports to show kids that anything is possible, as inspired by the life lessons Chris himself learned as a player.

“I was 6’1” playing the post. There was no quitting. I had to take my swing,” he said of the biggest takeaways from his own basketball days. “And that’s what I wanted to teach … because you can’t quit.”

HOME RUN: Real change

Before my interview with Chris, I took time to visit Harris Park in person. I can honestly say I was struck by its literal and figurative transformation.

The grounds were immaculate and the surroundings were peaceful. But more than anything, it represented hope in a way the neighborhood has never seen before.

“They expect this to be a blighted place, because that is the norm. That’s the message that has been sent for so long,” Chris said of people’s reactions to the change.

In the grand scheme of things, the thirty years he has spend building it is only scratching the surface. But for the many who now live around Harris Park, thirty years is also a lifetime…and that’s where the real difference is being made.

“Those kids that were one year old that live in this neighborhood are now 30,” Chris said. “That’s all they know. And if this is all they know … the blight area in those kids’ lives from one to 30 is non-existent.”

In it’s place is the constant reminder that even though it takes change to grow, in the end, it’s worth it.

Listen to the full interview here or tune in to Rounding the Bases every Tuesday, available wherever you get your podcasts.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CHange FROM JOEL 

Book Joel Goldberg for your next corporate event. He draws on over 25 years of experience as a sports broadcaster. In addition, he brings unique perspectives and lessons learned from some of the world’s most successful organizations. Whatever your profession, Joel is the keynote speaker who can help your team achieve a championship state of mind.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Joel Goldberg 0:03

Welcome into another episode of Rounding the Bases presented by Community America Credit Union. I'm Joel Goldberg. We are full swing into baseball season, which which actually has a little bit of a tie to my guest today. It's it's much, much more than baseball, that's for sure, much more than really any one single topic. But this is one of my favorite stories that that I have stumbled upon, I guess it's a it's a guest and a connection that people have told me for a while you need to meet this guy. And I have and I want to share that with you in a moment. But first, a shout out to my friends at Chief of Staff Kansas City: Making Connections That Matter. If you're in the market for a job, if you're looking to hire someone, if you're looking for a resource, advice, whatever. It might be in or out of Kansas City, check them out. Doesn't matter. You can tell them I sent you or not. They're, they're people that I love to collaborate with, people that I love to be in partnership with. chiefofstaffkc.com. Making Connections That Matter. This connection I have today is a really cool one, I'm joined by a man with a vision, who saw potential where others could not. From decay came the dream to revitalize a neighborhood leading to an epic transformation 30 years in the making and still going. Chris Harris is the founder and executive director of Harris Park, a thriving oasis on Kansas City's urban landscape. It's a dream that now stands where his childhood was lived. By bringing down the house, an entire community was rebuilt using sports and opportunity to empower generations of potential. All he had to do was give it his all and he keeps giving it his all. And he keeps doing it over and over and over again, which is my way of saying that a lot of work has been done. But there's always more work to be done. And I am joined right now by the aforementioned Chris Harris. Hey, Chris, I'll tell you this much. When you got a park with your name on it, It either means that you're really really rich and someone named like a building or something famous for you, or you worked your butt off, and you der-, you deserve every bit of it. It's the ladder in this case, I know that one, this is just been a lifelong passion. First off, welcome to Rounding the Bases. How are you?

Chris Harris 2:33

Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. And thank you for actually coming out to see the site as well. So I really appreciate it all.

Joel Goldberg 2:43

Okay, I think maybe some people that are listening might know a little bit of the story most don't. You know, what I had heard was over the years, Hey, there's this guy that has this golf course that he built in the city or something along those lines. And it's not. It's not that at all. Yet, that's sort of part of it. I don't even know where to begin. Because when I went out and saw your park, and what it did to the neighborhood, and then started looking at your dreams, like you're not done. You're just getting started yet it feels to me like this has been a lifelong work. So I don't know where to begin, other than tell us what Harris Park is. Let's start that. What is Harris Park today? Then we'll go back to what it was. And then we'll go back to what it's going to be. But what is Harris Park today?

Chris Harris 3:36

Right now I'm getting I'm still taking that swing. And right now I'm actually hitting the home run I would say because what Harris Park is today is a beautiful green space. It's a beautiful green space that where people can come into this neighborhood and see that, like, wow, you know, the mindset is changing. The mindset and changing about this neighborhood. And when they come in, they see a beautiful golf course, they see basketball, this year running track. They see workout facilities, they see a clubhouse and they also see well mannered kids and people following our rules. They see well mannered adults and you know, no trash, no dumping. So it's just that what we are today is an oasis of an example of what we can do if we come together and make things happen.

Joel Goldberg 4:25

This is, this was was is and and this was your home growing up, right. I mean, this is this is your neighborhood. This is this is the place that you wanted to make better and describe for people because this is mostly an audio podcast. describe to people I guess I could do it to describe to people what they see when they pull up to this oasis.

Chris Harris 4:52

You know, beautiful green space. But it's so much different. It's so much deeper than a beautiful green space because what I'm seeing is the mindset changing. The mindset changing into beautiful green spaces. Well, you know the support that you get, it's almost like I always try to use this the best example, if you take your family and you pay $19, to stay into an old motel, when you walk in there, you feel that. But then when you go on vacation, and you go into a beautiful hotel, and you pay a little bit more and it's nice, you become that. So what I'm seeing and describing is that when people come here, and they, they make someone sit up straight, it makes them want to be on their best behavior, it makes them feel good. And they leave with a message about the neighborhood. That this is a nice place.

Joel Goldberg 5:48

That, to me, that is so profound, because knee deep in the heart of a neighborhood that, look, people are people, people want to be successful. People want to take care of their families, people want to be safe, people want to be healthy. It's hard to do that when you're surrounded by a lack of hope. And it's hard to do that when you don't see any of that. And I think I'm describing that correctly. And no matter how you grew up or where you grew up. I mean, we could we could, I don't want to put it this simply. But if you didn't worry about those things, then you had a privilege where you didn't, you weren't looking over your shoulder or worried about your safety or are worried about how to keep the lights on and pay the bills. And when that's all you're surrounded by. And I want you to speak to this when when that's all you're surrounded by, you don't know what that Oasis looks like. You don't know what that hope looks like? How much am I describing...that neighborhood of good people that haven't been given opportunity? And then how different now is Harris Park?

Chris Harris 7:02

We'll see, I'll give it another example. You take a hospital, and you take environmental service, environmental services, probably one of the lowest paid jobs in the hospital. But can you imagine how a hospital would be if we eliminated environmental services. That means no trash would be done. No floors would be mopped. No hand sanitizer, no restrooms clean, nothing clean, and you would have to live there. That's what the neighborhood was like. On this block, before Harris Park came, there was no environmental service. And it was filled with trash, dumping, drugs, all the above. And then I just like to compare those hospitals side by side with the neighborhood. If you take those environmental service people out of that hospital, that hospital will fall and crumble. And what has happened to our neighborhood is they took their environmental service out of the people in the neighborhood and out of the neighborhood. And what Harris Park is doing is bringing back environmental service to the neighborhood.

Joel Goldberg 8:09

It is so beautiful driving in that neighborhood. And I pull up, I pull up to the clubhouse. And I see all the green and I see golf. And I see across the street, a park with basketball and swings and you know and all that type of stuff. Take me back because you showed me pictures. Take me back to what this looked like when you started. That's question one. And question two is how or why did you come up with this idea?

Chris Harris 8:53

Well, you know when when it first started it was it was literally when we had we came home times we would have to drive on our block and go this way like that because it was people would dump mattresses. People would dump old stoves, refrigerator and just trash. It was a landfill. This whole neighborhood this block was a landfill. It was abandoned houses, old fences. I mean, whatever you could call a landfill. If you can imagine a landfill. That's exactly what it was. And then you had kids and you had adults and you had work and people you had people on welfare. You had a melting pot of everyone living in this landfill. And when you have people living in the landfill, they say our life expectancy is shorter here in this neighborhood. And I'm looking at that and I'm thinking like well, how many people you see living in a landfill that's gonna have a long healthy life, you know? And then it's just the the storage that was here. I still say the stores in the surroundings that that they bring in the neighborhood was landfills too, because none of them was healthy. I won't say all of them, but the majority of them wasn't healthy. So it was just a combination of living in a blighted area, living in the landfill. And what was provided in the neighborhood for people to reach was the land field went off. So it was just a time bomb for disaster.

Joel Goldberg 10:31

And now, it's, it's a totally different world, yet so much more work to be done. This was not okay, I fixed it all up, everything is good. So I think that, you know, as a, as I got to know you a little bit that I don't know that you'll ever be settled, I think you'll you'll keep looking for the next step. And that's growth and, you know successful people. That's what what they do. What, what year, did you start this project? And what were the hurdles? Because change, I don't care where you're located in this country, in this city, wherever it is. Change is hard. We make change hard because we become comfortable with the status quo, whether we like it or not, it's what we have every single day, it's hard to do change, especially Chris, when it probably feels like you're doing that change by yourself. What year did this start? And how did you get through it? Because I know it was not overnight.

Chris Harris 11:31

Well, I will say, I would say probably back in 94, I believe it was 94, I was taking the class at Penn Valley Community College and I had to write a paper about sports. And as I was using sports as a catalyst, I wanted to use sports as a catalyst to teach the basics of life. So the biggest lesson I learned, you got to take your shot, you got to swing, you just got to take it. So I learned that winning a national championship at Penn Valley, that if you take care of your surroundings, if you take care of the people around you, you make them more comfortable, and you can get more use out of them. So at that time, when I seen that on the basketball court, I decided that, hey, if I go out here in this neighborhood, and take my swing, and just make everybody in the neighborhood comfortable, and bring out their strengths, just like I did to win the championship, it worked like a charm. I just took the sports out, and I just started cleaning up. I started cleaning up the neighborhood. And when I started cleaning up, I can see the eyes, the people's eyes, though, just just brighten up and you know, it's like, Whoa, we're starting to build a team here. And the more I cleaned up, the more I cleaned up, the more people came. But what my problem was, is I started running into barriers. Here, I was a 23 year old black guy, and needed $10 million. That's a barrier, that I would say I don't even want to touch on prejudice. But if you're going into an office, and you're 23, and you from a bad neighborhood, and you're talking about cleaning up a neighborhood and you need $10 million, that's almost embarrassing. That's almost even embarrassing to ask. To ask, , and I started looking like, why is that embarrassing? And I was like, wow, these are some really good people. But the barriers are set, that this is just not a norm. And those barriers are still today. You still trying to break those barriers, because the people that are in the positions to do that. They are addicted, I would say to passing along the funding to people that are in I would say higher positions. And I don't think they mean mean any harm. I think those are just the norm. And for them to break that norm and for me to break that norm and not feeling embarrassed to go out and ask for what we need in this neighborhood to do it. You know, I will go a little bit farther here. They're building a park. They're building a park downtown. And you should see all of the, I would say accolades, that they say, that the studies that they have brought in all the things that they're bringing what parks do for a community. And everything they said, I was like, Oh, I agree. I agree with that. I truly believe it because I'm seeing it. But I don't have any studies. I don't have the studies. What I have to break barriers because we're living it. We're living it to break the barriers and I'm 30 years in of living, to break those barriers and the studies that they did on that downtown park is everything that I'm saying, but what I do see is Wait a minute. That's going to cost about $160 million to do that part, and I'm embarrassed to ask for 10. To do the same, to get the same results. So those are some of the barriers that I have ran into, and am still dealing with today. Now, is it right or wrong? I'm not saying either one of those, I'm not mad about it or anything. Barriers are just barriers, and there needing to be broke down. And it's gonna probably be long after me before some of those barriers get broke. But I am trying to take the very first just a tiny step to start heading in that direction.

Joel Goldberg 15:46

It's an interesting perspective, because I think that for the neighborhood, you're in the Ivanhoe neighborhood and for that block, which then starts to expand a little more at a time, a little bit more to time, that all at once must feel like giant steps and baby steps all at the same time. You know, on scale, these are like the babies of steps compared to what's going on, you know, downtown and in the city that you're talking about. But they're giant steps. What when I pulled up, and then I walked out to the tee box of the golf hole, and I'm looking out, we're standing up on the hill. And you asked me what I saw. And it was so much, right? Literal, and figurative. I mean, literal, literally, it was just beauty. Right? It was peaceful. But figuratively, to me, it was opportunity. It was transformation. I know, you wanted me to experience and feel all of that. And I don't know that I can fully articulate it in a way that can be felt when you walk out there. But as I scanned this, this big block, it was pristine. I didn't see any trash. I didn't see any graffiti. What I saw represented hope. What I saw was an area that once was transformed, became a source of pride. And I'm curious how long, and then I want to get into what's all available there. But I'm curious how long it took to convince people in the neighborhood and also a drug infested neighborhood that was not safe, you know this on a personal level. And you can talk about that. How long it took for people to understand that this is a special place.

Chris Harris 17:51

You know, we still fighting that fight. We 30 years in and we need 100 years. You know, it's still breaking those barriers are, you know, new people come over all the time was like, wow, this is nice. And I'd be looking like what did you expect? And not in a in a wrong way, but they expected this to be a blighted place, because that is the norm. That's the message that has been sentfor so long. And to break that barrier, it's going to take another 100 years. You know, I see a lot of programs, I see a lot of programs where people come in and they do work the weekends, do three or four hours on the weekends, which are great, you don't know. But when you have a norm of a bad situation for over a decade over years, we can programs can help you have to live the changes. So what you just expressed of the beauty in the in the in the oasis that you saw, guess what? Now those kids that were one year old that live here in this neighborhood are now 30. That's all they know. So you got hundreds and hundreds of people going through that transformation. And if this is all they know, so now the blight area in those kids life from one to 30 is non-existent, it's gone. Because now this is what they this is what they know. So we got to continue getting this generations in the old generation, a new generation everyone to get accustomed to this type of lifestyle because I'll tell you, when I was a kid, I was accustomed to blight. And to go play behind an old refrigerator, old stove or something like that. That was my norm. And I was perfectly fine with that, because that's just the way it was. But now I want to change those norms for the people outside of the neighborhood and inside of the neighborhood. So that's what that vision is. So yes, you were spot on when you hit it, but just imagine someone live in 30 years in blight or someone live in 30 years in a beautiful green space and what that does to their psyche and what that does to their mindset. And that's where we are right there. It's showing that difference. So we are we just scratching the surface, we still got a long way to go. But we're taking that small step.

Joel Goldberg 20:10

I think that your family story is really interesting, too, and really representative of the transformation of this neighborhood. And I wonder if you could talk about that a little bit. From your brother's background and everything that he has overcome and accomplished, to your nephew. And he's one of those that you talked about, that kind of grew up with this park, and what he became. So can you talk a little bit about the transformation of your brother, and then where your nephew is now at this point, and the opportunity that he had, maybe in part, because of this park?

Chris Harris 20:46

Right. Well, my brother is here on this neighborhood, which I have a play called My Brother's My Security Blanket. So at one point in time, my father bought us all houses. So my mother and father was the, they were the, I would say, they're the rock of all of it. You know, my father, mother and father have been married for 65 years now. Well they bought me, my sister and my brothers, they bought us all houses on this block. So my brother was a drug user. And I was the community guy. So me and my brother always bumped heads, because we were on two different ends of the string, but on the same block. But what, as I was policing this place, that's still my big brother. So when I was policing this place, all our fighting stopped. And we turned to make sure that we took care of this block. And soon as we had to police this block, me and him was right back at each other, you know. And then my brother finally was clean, and he got off drugs. And that's just another story in itself. And I would say we're just an average family as well, you know, but if you just keep fighting and keep cleaning up, you might get a great story out of it. So now my brother is clean. And he is walking a better life than he used to. And he has always, one thing about how I say about my brother, regardless if he was clean or not. He always supported me and he always had my back. And that was always and then my nephew, they were just downtown. He's playing for Langston. So they lost the championship game here, downtown in Kansas City. He's playing with Langston. He actually red shirted this year as well. But he's with that team. So he's continuing to chase his dream, as well. And I think he just got a little bit of what we were trying to install within this community. And he's continued to chase his dream as well.

Joel Goldberg 22:44

I know he was at University of Nebraska Omaha. And so here's the here's a kid that went off to play and is off right now playing college basketball. Yeah, he comes back to the neighborhood. He comes back and he's helping out. What has that done for the community and the kids to see what is possible?

Chris Harris 23:00

You know, to just to show them that you know, that they can go do the same thing, that they can go do the same thing. And also, I'm teaching him, you know, hey, look, you might not become that next, Michael Jordan on the next LeBron, but my mindset has always because I knew I wasn't going to the NBA, I knew that. But my mindset was always, hey, wait a minute, I can own a stadium, I can own the places I can be that guy that pays the guys. So you know, as me, I played a semi pro ball. And I didn't go to the biggest college, but I own my own sports complex. So did I make it? You know, that's the message that we want to send to these kids. Because how many times have you heard the kids say, hey, I want to own the Royals, or I want to own the Kansas City Chiefs, those things are possible as well. So we want to open those doors to educate these kids and take that first step to say not, if you can't make it plan, you, you probably got a better chance of owning the team than you do plan. You know, just things like that to open those dreams up as well. So we just want to be a continued push to educate these kids that anything is possible.

Joel Goldberg 24:16

And going back to your brother too, I mean, and what you guys butting heads and all of that, and really going to both just trying to do what you had to do. And maybe you came at it from different perspectives. But he gets clean, but I'm also wondering what it meant to have his support. And look, he was running with a crowd. That is not the safest of crowds, right. And I don't you know, I don't know who he's running with. Now, that's not my question, but how, how much impact was he able to have? And that crowd able to have in saying, You know what, this, this parks off limits this, this this is a sacred place. How did that process work?

Chris Harris 24:59

Well, it, I think it just, it was an accident, to be honest with you, though my brother was out there those in that crowd. And and for whatever reason, that crowd said, Hey, this place gets a pass. If that crowd would have said, Chris, don't go down there, I'm not going. I'm gonna do what they say. But for whatever reason they have gave us the past and they and they helped us out. I can take one instance, where someone, probably about 25 years ago, someone stole one of our lawn mowers. And they were trying to sell it. And one of the guys seen it, and it was like, That's Chris's lawn mower isn't it? And the guy that took it was like, the guy was like, hey, look, take that lawn mower back. And he brought the lawn mower back. You know, that's, that's how it was. And then those words just started spreading. So the people around us that we would quote unquote, say, that I don't agree with just like I didn't agree with my brother would start protecting this place just like my brother did. And I didn't agree with what the things my brother did. And I didn't agree with what some of the people were doing in the neighborhood. But my brother has always protected me and always protected this place. And so are a lot of people in the neighborhood that quote unquote, might not be doing some of the things that I agree with. And they know I don't agree with it. My brother knew I didn't agree with it. But that still didn't stop them for protecting this place and helping me out and given the past. For the I would say in the the way people behaved here.

Joel Goldberg 26:46

Yeah, I mean, in the simplest terms, the quote unquote bad guys, were protecting the good place, or, or making sure that it was off limits. I mean, that's the simplest way to put it. There's a source of pride there too, right? I mean, I'm guessing I don't want to speak for your brother that there was an understanding that look, we've gone down this path, which is not a good path, and, and oftentimes not a legal path. That was our survival. That's how we were going to make it because there was no other hope. I'm not, I'm not condoning. But you know what, there's a lot of good stuff going on here. And let's preserve that. And Chris, if you don't have that, that 100 years becomes more than 100 years.

Chris Harris 27:27

Absolutely. I agree with you, 100%. And my brother, it when he finished cutting the grass and picking up trash, he takes pride in it, you know, he, he loves it, I can see it on his face, I can see it in his body language and all and also the people outside of the neighborhood as well. I can see it and I can feel it just in that atmosphere.

Joel Goldberg 27:52

Let's talk a little bit about everything that you've got going on in terms of programs and services, because I want to make it very clear. This isn't just a hey, here's a nice park for kids to hang out. And I mean, there's there's serious programming going on in and out of sports. And not just it's not just golf, although there's golf. There's the I'll let you fill in the blanks tell me everything.

Chris Harris 28:13

Well, this week, we have a health and wellness program, where we bring the Kansas School District out and any school that wants to come. And when I tell you they come in this week alone, we probably have had over 300 kids here this week. And what we do is we have a program for golf, we have basketball, we have a scavenger hunt, weightlifting and the game room. So what we'll do is yesterday, it was actually just yesterday, we had 100 kids and we broke them divided that and five had 20 at each station. And they will come through and we will teach them the basics of life through sports. We got a lot of good video on that as well. We teach them the basics of life of sports through each session and transition them through every 22 minutes. And man is just working like a charm. But when I tell you that keeping me busy, we've got another school coming out actually the 10th we have one coming out this weekend. We have a small one coming out this weekend, I believe is Jack and Jill program coming out Saturday. And then we have another one coming out on the 10th was just a school coming out. And we're running that health and wellness program. And what we're trying to do is we're trying to put a bug in these kids here that they can build their own sports complex, they can own it, but you also can play. So we just want it we want it to become a norm of not only can you play the game, but you can own the game. We want that and we embedding that in them as well. We also have our summer program coming and they're getting ready to start April 10 is our golf program and I think we have 20 kids signed up for that. Then we're gonna have one the school's out we're in June, we got a cheerleader program and the basketball program and again we got our baseball program which is going to be taught by the Kansas City Royals, what is that developmental team, I got a developmental team. And they will teach the game of baseball. We did that last year working with Jeff. We're going to do that again this year as well. So we got all kinds of programs. But again, those programs are great. But we're living those changes. And we want to make sure we continue to live those changes, those programs are just a small piece. Because we're doing this every day is everyday life now. And also we we write in plays, too. So we got a little theater, I forgot about that we got a play called My Brothers My Security Blanket. And that's telling the story about me and my brother coexisting on this block. And that play is going to be May 16th, 17th, and 18th. We're going to tell that play, we got the actors, we got them all and we're just continue to tell this story.

Joel Goldberg 30:56

It's amazing. In my notes, here, I have written down that it is 95% education and 5% athletics, even with all the sports going on there. This is all about education and life. Right?

Chris Harris 31:10

Absolutely take breaking down those barriers. And no, I'm very excited about this one on June 15, we're putting out we got our 3D rendering coming in what our goal is, is to make so many beautiful changes here. And I'm very excited about that. My goal is to make this one of the most beautiful parks in Kansas City. And I got inspired by downtown. When I seen that rendering, I said I think I got to step up our game over here on the east side of Troost. And I got that 3D rendering coming. And I'm excited to see it. I'm seeing snippets of it right now. But by June 15, we're going to have that 3D rendering. And you know what I'm always pushing, I would love to come back on that date and show you that 3D rendering as well, to show the people what we're getting ready to do here because we we want this one of the most beautiful parks in the world.

Joel Goldberg 32:05

Yeah, we will keep keep up on this because it will forever be evolving. And I will I will share with anyone, anything that you have going on I, I just sit there and I think back. And I talked to so many entrepreneurs on this show about making that leap. And the question is always, you know, because they usually go from something safe to something that they got to take that jump, usually without a safety net. And that, for sure is what you did. I mean, it would have been fine to, you know, stay doing what you were doing. And I mean, you're talking about a security blanket in terms of your brother, but you could have taken a much safer route. You, you were a community advocate at Truman Medical Center, and you go all in on this thing. And oh, by the way, a pandemic comes? How were you able to do this to stay strong to stay true to your, to your passion and your convictions? Because I know that every step of the way, there have been signs that could have pushed you back to whatever was safe.

Chris Harris 33:18

Now that's where a sport that's where that 5% of that sports come in. That's where sports come in, because there's no quitting. I learned I was six one playing the post, you know, I know I had to. There was there was no quit. I had to take my swing. And that's where I would say I learned from sports. And that's what I wanted to teach the basics of life through sports because you can't quit and you have to take that spring. And for me, it was like you said that leap and that jump. It never was because I hate to say it, but I expected it. I mean, it's like I expected that. And I expected to win. I expect it to be successful at whatever I put my mind at. And there was never a doubt in my mind. And I don't want to say this the wrong way. But when we went in as underdogs in 1996, and I was planning center, it was never a doubt in my mind that we were not going to win. I mean, there was never a doubt in my mind that I wasn't going to succeed on doing what I was trying to do. And I just had that mentality. And that's how I went into it. And for me to continue to try to break these barriers. I do understand it and let me let me make sure I get it clear. I do understand that. Success is not always right now. You have to practice and prepare for that success. And it may be on down the line and sometimes you may not get to see it. But as long as you planting those seeds and watering it and keep swinging, it will grow.

Joel Goldberg 35:08

And I know that that is in your life and going to leave a massive legacy. But right now just just work, work work. Okay, so up until this point, you've done so much. Let me hit you with the baseball themed questions what now in your professional career is the biggest homerun that you've hit?

Chris Harris 35:28

You know, taking the swing, I would say just taking this swing and getting out there and not being afraid to take the swing and looking at the barriers and seeing that, you know, wait a minute, you got to break these barriers. And but I have to go up their swing, because you know, at 23 years old walking in in need and $10 million. Oh, my goodness. But I took my shot. And I hit.

Joel Goldberg 35:58

How about along the way, a swing and a miss? And what did you learn from it?

Chris Harris 36:02

You know, swinging and missing? The one of the big biggest lessons is that you know what, you can't get them all. But I'm gonna swing again. I'm definitely gonna swing again. And I don't care if I miss 10 times that 11 time, I'm coming up there with the confidence of understanding that I'm getting ready to hit this ball this time. So it never was. I would say I always would miss. But missing gave me the confidence to continue to swing.

Joel Goldberg 36:36

And the final baseball theme questions small ball. What are the little things to you, Chris, that add up to big results? What are the little things that maybe people don't see that make you successful?

Chris Harris 36:47

Picking up trash. Just as simple as picking up trash and cutting grass. And once you do that, and you keep it clean? That's the start of everything. And that was that's probably one of the most simplest things. But one of the most powerful things. And that that's where I was saying what is that? Picking that trash up and continuously doing it on an ongoing basis and never stop it you can't never stop because I don't care where you are. What neighborhood you in where you are, you're going to always have to pick up trash.

Joel Goldberg 37:28

All right, for final questions as we round the bases, the first one just explain it a little bit. I mean, the creativity, the use of the space is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's not a huge space, it's a beautiful space, it's a growing space. But within the confines of this small beautiful spot is a six hole pitch and putt golf course. So much more compact than people would realize. Nine hole putting green. Explain sort of what what people that want to go there, the kids that are learning golf, maybe for the first time and being able to play it, how you were able to do that, what what is it?

Chris Harris 38:08

You know, I think it's just to introduce people to something new. I knew the space that we had. So we had to get creative to use the space, you know, and I always tell the guys that really like to play, you come over here and play. It's not that easy. You know, because the greens are fast, and the rough is rough. So if you think it just got to come up here and play miniature golf, you're you, you're a little bit of trouble, because it's got to be a little bit tough. But you're just to open these doors to break these barriers, again, to do something that hasn't been done in this neighborhood to, to open the mindset of people in the neighborhood and the people out in the neighborhood, you know, to try to even the playing field is it's amazing of how many people have never been on a golf course, never been around. And now we got people that's growing up around it. And of course, even baseball, we wanted people to live the sports, we wanted them to be around and we wanted them to be able to go outside and just pick up a bat and go over here to the batting cages wondering to just be able to pick up a club and go up here and play golf or just be around it because when you around us things. There's other things that spark in your mind. But it's a desert, and you're never around it. It's hard to get it. So again, we want to just live the life we want to everyday life and just keep people around these things.

Joel Goldberg 39:33

Second question as we round the bases you referenced a play before and the play that's coming out and I guess I would imagine this will be something that you do long term that there'll be there'll be more plays and but I don't know if you grew up expecting to be a a playwright expecting to come up with your own play and have your own theater, so to speak. How did that idea come about? Because You know, to me, I would think that, okay, I want to clean up the neighborhood, okay, I want golf, I want baseball, I want basketball. And then suddenly a play. I know you said only 5% sports, right? Suddenly a play comes in to the mix. And you know, I have a theater kid. And not always, sometimes, you see kids that are in theater that are also in sports, or in music. But oftentimes, it's the theater kids are here, the athletes are here. And to me, it tells me that you're bringing everybody in.

Chris Harris 40:27

Yes. And, and this is funny, because the story but about me and my brother, My Brothers My Security Blanket, just think about it. Me being well known about the community, and him being well known about drugs, and we're on the same block. Just that's a remarkable story in itself. So when that happened, I wrote it down. So just that was, but I have probably 40 stories that I have wrote down within this journey. And then just so happened, young lady lived on 41st, and Wayne, she came over and she said that she wanted to do theater in the park. And I never knew that young lady. And I didn't know her at all. And I told her I just said, Hey, why don't we just do an indoor theater. And and she thought that I was crazy. Because here I am a total stranger telling her let me build the indoor theater. And we got to do it indoors. And four years later, which was last year, I had the play already written, gave it to her. She's an actor. And she got the crew together. And that's how that came about.

Joel Goldberg 41:41

Unbelievable.

Chris Harris 41:43

That's how that came about. And we're going to continue doing it. And we already have the scripts wrote, I wrote those probably. And I wrote them because they were remarkable things. And I was like, if I didn't see this myself, and I didn't live there, some of the things I would not believe, you know, I wouldn't have believed what has happened here. But I got the witnesses. So I wrote it down. And I also got it all on video too.

Joel Goldberg 42:08

It's cool. The stage is right in there in the clubhouse and just a sight to see. Alright, third question as we round the bases. I will ask you the question that you asked me because you'll paint a better picture. But when when we stood up there on the hole of the tee box and you asked me what I what I saw, this is your creation. This is the start of a lot more to come when you stand up there. Say on an afternoon, like we were, kids are in school. It's quiet. Not a whole lot of traffic. It really just sort of hear the surroundings and they were peaceful. What do you see when you stand at Harris Park? In Harris Park?

Chris Harris 42:50

You know, when I'm on the golf course what I see is barriers being broken. And I also see grass, an' dirt an' a little hole in the ground that you're going to hit a ball into. Golf has always been so unreachable. And that's just not true. We can build golf courses in that. What better way to introduce the game of golf to a new community than just beautiful green space. And when that beautiful green space came through the game of golf and through all the other sports it changed the mindset and that's what I see. I see a beautiful golf courses now. I see a beautiful neighborhood now. I see the mindset of people in and outside of the neighborhood change on one of these days and I just sit there and I continue to dream and I get to watch this and I get to enjoy it and I get to see it happening.

Joel Goldberg 43:54

It's it really it truly it's a sight to see. Last question my walk off. I, you coach. You coached some baseball but you're still coaching you're always a coach. So I'll give you the walk off question here. You're also a fundraiser, you're a salesman, you're a community advocate. I don't know if there's a title that doesn't apply to you Chris. I mean jack of all trades is an understatement. In my opinion, there are opportunities for people to support on the smallest level and the highest level. You didn't ask me to to bring this up but I want to for anybody that is listening to this inspired by this. i I want you to let them know how they can help how they could reach out what what they can do.

Chris Harris 44:38

First off, I would like to the very the very thing I would like for them to do is come out and see it. And don't don't call. You know you can call and schedule an appointment with me that'd be fine. Or just come on your own. We're living this every day. It's not about me having an appointment with You, what you're going to see when you have an appointment with me is exactly what you're going to see if you just randomly stopped by. So first and foremost, I would just ask people to stop by. And secondly, what I would ask for is, if there's anything that they feel like that can connect with this park and make this neighborhood better, let's have a meeting. Let's talk about it. And I would also respectfully say, if you're not a do-er, don't call. If you are a do-er, let's get together and see if we can change some things for the benefit of this neighborhood. And I'm excited about that. And I have learned that just having time with people, and people just spend time and learn this program and truly want to help this neighborhood has been the most powerful thing that I ever can do. And those are some of the things I would like to ask people to help out with.

Joel Goldberg 45:53

Calling all do-ers, come by, stop by, get connected with Chris. And I've got to imagine what we'll end it with this, the reaction that you see from the kids and the parents, and then to watch them progress to, to be able to use it to be able to benefit from it. I know, you're just getting started in terms of that, I think for generations, you will have people coming back just as your nephew has. And having reaped the benefits of that, that has to be the greatest feeling in the world.

Chris Harris 46:28

Well, yeah, I got two. I got two right there with that. The new people, the new people that comes over, and they see it, and I get the reaction. And they say, Wow, this is really nice. This is this, this that and they be excited, and I can tell they spread the word. But then where that's really feels good about it, but then you got the ones that this has became a norm. And when it's become a norm to him in this like, whoa, that's that's powerful right there, because this is it. They don't they don't have that other world anymore. You know, so that when you become when this becomes a norm, that's the seed. So now that we've planted the seed with the new people come in, but the people that's been here for the last 15-20 years, this is what they expect. And this is just the norm. So both of those are just truly powerful.

Joel Goldberg 47:19

Doesn't get any better than that, perfect way to end it. Complete inspiration. You are doing just the most amazing work Chris and changing lives, changing the neighborhood. I know so much more work to be done. But congratulations on everything to this point. Congratulations in advance on everything that is coming because it's coming because I know you're gonna keep on swinging and see if I'm breaking down those barriers. Thanks so much for sharing Harris Park and sharing the story here on rounding the bases.

Chris Harris 47:48

Thank you so much. And I'm gonna be listening so we need some wins this year.

Joel Goldberg 47:53

I'm working on it. Alright. I'm working on it.

Chris Harris 47:56

Have a good evening.