Kansas City opens warming centers for the unhoused as dangerous cold sets in
Editor’s note: The initial story misidentified the address for donation drop-offs. The correct location is 1700 East Eighth Street.
Over the weekend, Kansas City opened multiple warming centers for those without housing as temperatures drop to dangerous levels.
Three warming centers opened Saturday through the city’s Extreme Weather Plan. They are open daily, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and do not provide food or beverages.
The city’s warming centers can be found at:
The city’s extreme weather plan is out into action when the daytime high does not exceed 32 degrees or when the overnight low is colder than 20 degrees. The city also has an online database that tracks open beds at seven shelters across the metro.
Free bus transportation to shelters is also available through Ride KC when the plan is activated. The heated buses also serve as a place to warm up.
If shelters are full, the city has said they will temporarily open one or two overflow locations as needed.
How to donate
Those in a position to give warm weather gear to shelters are asked to drop donations off at City Union Mission, which is acting as a centralized location to collect all donations.
Donations can be dropped off between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays and between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturdays at 1700 East Eighth Street.
Local shelters are in need of the following items, preferably in sizes large and extra large:
- New thermal tops & bottoms
- New sweatshirts & sweatpants
- New socks
- New shoes and boots
- New face coverings
- New scarves
- Hand and foot warmers
- New sleeping bags, blankets and Mylar blankets
- Like new: Tents, coats, gloves and stocking hats
Other efforts to combat homelessness
One year ago, the death of Scott “Sixx” Eicke, 41, who froze to death on New Year’s Day 2021, spurred the city to open the Bartle Hall Warming Center, an emergency overnight shelter in operation from late January through mid-March. On average, it gave temporary shelter to 307 people a night.
In early 2021, the city also established the Cold Weather Family Housing Program, which lasted from January to May. It gave dozens of families who lost their jobs and then their homes in the pandemic an opportunity for rapid re-housing at a secure site.
Later in 2021, the city also established an emergency hotel stay program after the Kansas City Homeless Union spent several weeks camped on the front lawn of City Hall. The program served nearly 400 people who were living outside of shelters. The emergency program ended after 90 days, despite requests for an extension from members of the houseless community.
The city is also working toward establishing more permanent housing options. City Manager Brian Platt said in October that the city is looking to build 10,000 new affordable housing units in the next five years.
“Permanent, supportive housing will be crucial to ending homelessness for so many of our residents,” Platt said in a news release at the time.
In December, the city also announced plans to convert an old Days Inn hotel in Kansas City into transitional housing for those experiencing homelessness after Kansas City City Council agreed to allocate $400,000 to create a “Housing Navigation Center” through a partnership with Lotus Care House.
This story was originally published January 3, 2022 at 8:38 AM.
