Our Story
A moral authority origin story — not a marketing one.
ARPP was born from a specific, documented act of compassion. This is how it happened.
Mission
ARPP exists to protect the income, stability, and dignity of adults with disabilities, returning citizens, and elderly neighbors — managing their Social Security benefits with the trust, transparency, and care a family member would give.
Chapter One
The Beginning
ARES CDL Institute was founded by two visionaries with a shared mission to serve Wyandotte County — one of the poorest counties in the nation — bringing together decades of experience across commercial construction, transportation, project management, and workforce development.
The founders personally contributed $200,000 to train over 30 students, covering 100% of tuition at $6,000 each. Justice-impacted individuals. Veterans. People with limited abilities and resources. Including one man who had spent 42 years in prison.
Chapter Two
The Gap They Discovered
As ARES trained students with disabilities, cognitive limitations, and complex life circumstances, leadership realized many graduates needed a Rep Payee to manage their SSA benefits.
The institute connected them with existing organizations — and watched, with concern, as those clients were not served with the compassion and personalized attention they deserved. ARES had wraparound services for everything else: meals, transportation, partnerships with Catholic Charities and The Village Initiative. Benefits management was the missing link.
Chapter Three
The Decision
Rather than continue sending their graduates to organizations that didn’t know them, ARES became an SSA-authorized organizational representative payee.
ARPP was born — not as a business opportunity, but as a logical extension of an existing commitment to people who had already been let down once.
“We didn’t start ARPP to enter a market. We started it because our people needed someone in their corner — and we were already in their corner.”
The Organization
One team. One commitment.
Stacy Landis Sr.
President
Email: slandis@arpp.io · Stacy leads ARPP with decades of community-rooted leadership across workforce development, transportation, and re-entry services in Wyandotte County and the greater Kansas City region.
Harold Q. Fears
Vice-President
Email: hfears@arpp.io · Harold brings deep operational experience across commercial construction, project management, and partnerships with the agencies that surround the people ARPP serves.