Lodging, Meals, & Travel for Power of Words 25

Friday, October 3 through Sunday, October 5, 2025

OUR HOSTS:

Unity Village Retreat Center

in Unity Village, MO


Unity Village is located in the southeast corner of the Kansas City metro area with shuttle service available to Kansas City International Airport (plus arrangements available for the Amtrak station). This retreat center, just 15 miles from downtown Kansas City, is in the middle of 1,200 woods acres and features the largest fountain display in the area and award-winning rose gardens and historic buildings with distinctive Mediterranean architecture. The Unity Village Hotel is one of the first green hotels in the U.S. There's also an onsite bookstore and a coffee shop.

Meals

We are very pleased to be contracting with a new caterer who is providing excellent food, including ample gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian options as well as beverages and desserts. 

Meals are a package deal: $150 includes Friday dinner, Saturday lunch and dinner, and Sunday lunch. You won't be able to buy individual meals, so please purchase the whole package if you will need meals. Please note that there is only a small cafe with limited hours and offerings on the Unity Village campus and no dining options within walking distance.

Breakfast is provided for free at the Unity Hotel and Holiday Inn Express for people staying at those hotels.

While our meal plan is optional, please strongly consider joining us for meals—it's a perfect way to connect with others, make new friends, and find new possibilities for your art and work

Menu (subject to minor changes)

Meals all include beverages and desserts

  • Fri., Oct. 3 Dinner: Tex Mex Celebration with chopped Tex Mex salad, chicken and ground beef Fajita meat, Thai curry tofu, vegan fried chicken, Mexican rice, Jamaican rice and beans, fried plantains, wilted spinach.

  • Sat., Oct. 4 Lunch: Soup & Salad Extravaganza: Garden and Autumn baby kale salads, Vegan Minestrone soup, Kansas City steak soup, gluten-free and wheat crackers and rolls, hummus, fresh fruit.

  • Sat., Oct. 4 Dinner: A Celebration of Kansas City BBQ with BBQ pulled chicken, brisket, and jackfruit (vegan, gluten-free), plus island-style and creamy coleslaw, bake cheesy potatoes, herb-roasted potatoes, vegan and traditional baked beans, cheesy and vegan corn muffins, stuffed portobello mushrooms and mini desserts.

  • Sun., Oct. 5: Boxed Lunch: turkey club or country club or chicken salad sandwiches, chicken caesar or Mediterranean vegan or roasted vegetable wraps, spinach strawberry salad or cranberry walnut salad, fresh fruit cups, potato salad.

If you choose not to purchase a meal package, there is a small cafe on the grounds with limited hours, but please note: there are no other food options within walking distance.


Important Info

The main conference begins at dinner—6 PM CT—Friday, October 3 and ends at 3 PM CT on Sunday, October 5.

The pre-conference begins at 1 PM CT on Friday.

We will be set up to check you in for both the pre-conference and conference by 11:30 AM CT on Friday. 

ROOMS & RIDES:

We will be posting a room and ride-sharing Google doc in the coming months, so stay tuned!

Travel Options

Kansas City International Airport is 37 miles from Unity Village. We recommend renting a car, taking a shuttle, or hiring a car service. 

We recommend B.A.T.S (Better Alternative Transportation Services). They can be reached at 913-634-5484, 913-575-3185, or reservations@kcibats.com. Uber and taxi service exists in the Unity Village area, but availability is spotty, especially on weekdays, and wait times can be long.

Address: 1900 NW Blue Parkway, Unity Village, Missouri

Map of Unity Village

Important Links

Lodging Options

Unity Village Hotel

The award-winning Unity Village Hotel, one of the first green hotels in the U.S., has comfortable and affordable accommodations. We have a block of rooms reserved for participants for $139/night, each room with two queen-sized beds. A full hot breakfast is included.

Rooms are available for Thurs., Oct. 2 through Sun., Oct. 5, but you can reserve for whatever nights you need. Conference pricing expires on August 18, 2025. 

To reserve your room, call the Unity Village Hotel at 816/347-5537 and say you are registering for the POWER OF WORDS conference. 

Holiday Inn Express

We also have a block at Holiday Inn Express for $139/night. Conference pricing expires on August 21, 2025 Holiday Inn Express is only 2 miles from Unity Village, and we encourage people with their own transportation to consider staying at this lovely hotel since we have a limited number of rooms at Unity Village. 

To reserve your room, call the hotel directly at phone number (816) 600-2405 and request to make a reservation with The Power of Words Conference group, or you may also use the booking link below to make online reservations.  

Booking Link Instructions:

Clicking on the link opens the hotel page.  Guests will scroll down to select their dates of stay on the calendar and click on "View Prices."  A new page will open displaying the room types and the group rate.  Guests will need to click on the wheelchair symbol on that page to access ADA rooms.

The Power of Words Conference


The TLA Network exists to support and promote individuals and organizations that use the spoken, written, or sung word as a tool for personal and community transformation.

The Transformative Language Arts Network (TLAN) is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in our offerings, organization, and aspirations. Words have the power to question, subvert, and transform limiting cultural narratives as well as reinforce entrenched stories and stereotypes. The TLA Network wants to make clear that we celebrate and uplift conversations across identity and difference, whether rooted in race, religion, social class, ethnicity, disability, health, gender, sexual orientation, age, military service, and other identities. In the past we have responded to a lack of diversity by actively recruiting underrepresented groups to: present and keynote at the Power of Words conference; serve on the TLAN board; teach classes; and contribute to our publications. We will continue to look at ways to incorporate greater access and representation in all of our projects, not just through the power of words but through the specifics of our practices.


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