Kansas City is backing a low-barrier shelter — after objections stalled a similar plan

The Kansas City Council on Thursday unanimously approved funding for a low-barrier, year-round overnight homeless shelter in the northeast — the first of its kind in the city — after shelving a similar plan earlier this year.

A low-barrier shelter accepts any person regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, condition or religious affiliation. Officials say Kansas City currently does not have enough permanent, low-barrier shelter beds to serve every person who needs one.

The city will use $7.4 million from the American Rescue Plan Act for the shelter local officials and advocates say is critical to the city’s fight to end homelessness. More than half of the funds, $4.8 million, will go to the homeless assistance center Hope Faith to create more beds in its shelter. Care Beyond the Boulevard, a nonprofit that provides medical services to unhoused people, will receive $839,718 to provide supportive services. Another $500,000 from unused American Rescue Plan funds will be used for site improvements around the shelter.

The ordinance also outlines the city’s intent to negotiate with reStart, another local organization focused on homelessness, to provide additional services.

The city has until the end of this year to allocate the federal money intended to help cities, schools and other public entities recover from COVID-19 challenges. Thursday’s decision follows months of back-and-forth conversations among city officials, homelessness advocates and Kansas City residents about how best to create more shelter in a metro area where more and more people are losing homes.

According to the 2023 point-in-time count measuring homelessness in the Jackson County area, there are 1,776 unhoused people, an increase from 1,582 the year before .

Thursday’s passage of the ordinance fulfills one of the goals of the city’s Zero KC plan to end homelessness. The city opened up temporary low-barrier shelter beds last winter as part of its cold weather plan for unhoused people.

Emily Reeves managed the overnight shelter at Hope Faith in the winter.

“Having low-barrier shelter allows people to keep jobs, allows them to save money,” Reeves said. “At an absolute minimum, it provides people a safe place to rest.”

Stephanie Boyer, the CEO of reStart, said the city should consider funding more shelter for unhoused people, particularly for families. According to the 2023 point-in-time count, 329 people under 18 are experiencing homelessness.

The Kansas City Council was close to approving a contract with Hope Faith in April, but that plan was shot down by most council members in response to public opposition to the city’s original plan.

Residents and council members including 3rd District Council member Melissa Robinson said the city did not engage enough with the community before moving forward with its initial shelter plan. People who live in the Historic Northeast were also concerned the city was concentrating homelessness services in the area instead of spreading them around different neighborhoods.

The city council voted to scrap its initial plan of contracting with Hope Faith and restart the process from the beginning. That included redoing the request for proposals process, which asks organizations to submit applications to use the federal money.

This time around, city staff reviewed 12 applications before recommending Hope Faith and Care Beyond the Boulevard.

Scott Haluck, who lives in the northeast, testified in support of the city’s plan.

“As a father and teacher, I see our neighborhood’s homelessness challenge as urgent as feeding a hungry child or educating our children,” he told city council members on Tuesday. “In situations such as these, delay can be analogous to neglect. We can’t wait for perfect solutions. We must act now.”

This story was originally published by KCUR, 89.3 , a fellow member of the KC Media Collective .

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