Kansas City paid for tiny homes 3 years ago. Why they won’t be used for homelessness

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More than three years ago, Kansas City made a $200,000 down payment to purchase pallet homes intended for people experiencing homelessness .

But the city has yet to receive the materials it paid for from the company. And officials say once it does, the tiny homes will likely not be used for that initial purpose.

Instead, Assistant City Manager Melissa Kozakiewicz said the pallet homes could be used by the city’s Office of Emergency Management in situations like weather-related displacement.

The structures were supposed to be a way to help people living outside in encampments to begin to transition to permanent housing.

The Kansas City area has the highest percentage of people experiencing chronic homelessness living unsheltered of any major U.S. city, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Of 280 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in the area, nearly 96% were living outside .

The non-refundable down payment was made in June 2021 following a spring proposal for a downtown area site. But that stalled in City Council.

A later proposal in 2022 included a $1.7 million budget for the pallet shelters to be developed on city-owned land at the Municipal Farm, near the Truman Sports Complex. That included a plan for 60 homes and other support like transportation and social services.

Despite the city making a down payment, the City Council did not move forward with the pallet homes, in part because of opposition from nearby residents.

Therefore, additional money was not paid into the project.

When The Star initially inquired about the status of the payment for the tiny homes earlier this monthon, Kozakiewicz said the city was reviewing what products were available from the company. On Friday, she said they had finalized an order for about nine pallet shelters.

“They’re coming,” she said.

The city-owned tiny homes will be stored with the emergency management department.

Kozakiewicz said another reason the pallet home plan did not go forward a few years ago was because officials concluded that the city needed a broader plan to address homelessness, and not a “one-off” project. The pallet home proposal was an attempt to solve a problem in the absence of a larger strategy, she said.

“The vision was needed,” she said.

In September 2022, the city unveiled a five-year plan to tackle homelessness called Zero KC. A low-barrier shelter, which accepts people regardless of their religion, addiction or other circumstances, is a key step in the plan.

The city has operated a temporary shelter during the winter for the past few years. But plans for a permanent shelter have stalled several times, despite having federal grant money readily available to use for it.

Earlier this spring, the City Council voted to reject a proposed shelter plan , cancel the city’s solicitation process and try again after facing pushback from some neighbors surrounding the potential site.

But, Kozakiewicz said, Kansas City will get a low-barrier shelter.

In late summer, the council moved to start negotiating potential shelter contracts with multiple nonprofits , totaling $7.1 million from federal grants. No proposal — including the number of beds, location or timeline — has been announced yet. Any plans and contracts would then have to be approved by HUD and the City Council.

Until then, Kozakiewicz said she hopes some beds at the cold weather shelter will remain available beyond March next year, but the city is still identifying avenues to pay for that.

Without a permanent low-barrier shelter, city outreach staffers are working with individuals living in encampments trying to find housing options one at a time.