Featured in Startland News: INCLUSIV Wellness Opens a New Chapter for Kansas City

Startland News kicked off 2026 with an in-depth feature on INCLUSIV Wellness. The headline alone tells you why this space exists: a world that too often excludes people simply trying to adapt.Jocelyn Heckman wrote the piece. She framed INCLUSIV as a minority-led venture opening a new chapter for Kansas City’s wellness landscape. It traced the full arc of the journey. That story started with the early days of proving the concept through the Disabled But Not Really Foundation. It ended at 4142 Main St. in Midtown, the right location at last.

A Decade in the Making

We mapped out the vision for INCLUSIV almost 10 years ago. We started small, proved the concept through the nonprofit, and built toward this moment over time. The only real barrier was finding the right location. 4142 Main St. was the piece I had been searching for.What Startland captured so well was the intentionality behind every detail. This is not a gym that happened to be accessible. We designed it from the ground up to make people feel seen. That means wheelchair users, people with limb differences, individuals with low visibility, and everyone in between. The equipment, the layout, the colors, the coworking space: we built all of it with purpose.

The Quote That Keeps Coming Back

I said something in the Startland piece that I want to repeat here. It sits at the core of everything I do:“People often assume my greatest wish is to walk again. But the truth is, the only cure I seek is the cure to ignorance around disability.”That is not a soundbite. That is a mission statement. Society makes it seem like acceptance only comes if you are able-bodied. That mindset is just as damaging as any physical barrier. The work we are doing at INCLUSIV is about changing that narrative. One membership, one conversation, one community at a time.

What Comes Next

We built the physical space. The next step, already underway, is adjusting mindsets about what people with disabilities actually need. I hope what we built here becomes the spark. I want this city to rethink what accessibility and community actually look like.INCLUSIV Wellness is a membership-based facility offering adaptive fitness, inclusive group training, recovery space, and accessible coworking. But more than that, it is a proof of concept. If we can build one space that works for everyone, we can build more.INCLUSIV Wellness 4142 Main St., Kansas City, MO inclusivkc.comRead the full Startland News feature: INCLUSIV Gym Opens Wellness to People Struggling to Adapt in a World That Too Often Excludes ThemWesley Hamilton is a keynote speaker, DEI consultant, and founder of the Disabled But Not Really Foundation and INCLUSIV Wellness. He serves as Chair of the Kansas City Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities.