Pandemic hit Black-owned businesses especially hard. How KC's H&R Block plans to help Kevin Hardy, The Kansas City Star Feb. 17—H&R Block will offer free coaching to Black-owned businesses across the country through a new program announced by the Kansas City tax giant Wednesday. Block Advisors, an arm of the company that specializes in small business services, will partner with the Urban League to provide free counseling to Black-owned businesses, which have been hit disproportionately hard by the coronavirus pandemic. "The impact of hundreds of years of systemic racism continues to be felt today and especially through the lens of economic prosperity," Gwendolyn Grant, president and CEO of The Urban League of Greater Kansas City, said in a news release. "We look forward to working together to break down prosperity barriers and providing financial help where it's urgently needed."