‘We are scrambling:’ Kansas City’s winter shelters may close early due to lack of funds
Kansas City’s winter weather low barrier shelters may be forced to close this weekend due to a lack of adequate funding.
And while the city asked the shelters last week if they could stay open past Feb. 28, shelter operators say the funding offered by the city for March will not nearly cover their expenses.
In October, Kansas City’s Mayor Quinton Lucas announced the city’s third annual winter shelter plan, saying the city planned on providing up to 400 beds across eight locations in the metro from November through end of March, pending funding ability.
Hope Faith, a Kansas City nonprofit which assists those experiencing homelessness, said their contract states they would be funded from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28. On Friday, the city offered them a funding extension to last through March, but the organization said it was significantly less than what they had been receiving.
The specific number offered to extend Hope Faith’s services was not shared with The Star, but executive director of Hope Faith Doug Langer said it would only fund 25 beds at $50 per bed. The funding, he said, was not enough to cover the insurance costs or fund supplies and staff — forcing them to decline.
“We are scrambling, we are committed to making this happen, but we can’t change math,” Langer said, adding they hope to hear back from the city soon on getting additional funds.
Sherae Honeycutt, press secretary for Kansas City, said the contracts run through the end of February, and that the city will have more information to share soon. She did not respond to questions on whether funding dried up or specifics on the funding amount.
The number of available seasonal beds were said to vary depending on outside temperatures. On nights where temperatures are above 26 degrees, 245 beds will be available, according to the winter shelter plan. When temperatures fall between 1 and 25 degrees, 55 beds will be added, and an additional 100 will be added when temperatures sink to zero or below.
Around 130 beds were used Sunday night at Hope Faith’s winter shelter on what was considered a milder night.
“It just shows the great need and demand that is there for low barrier shelter,” Langer said.
Delays in plan for year-round low barrier shelter
The seemingly early end to the winter low barrier shelter comes as significant delays arise in Kansas City’s aim to unveil its first year- round low barrier shelter in time for the 2026 World Cup. To have been able to meet that goal, Langer said construction would have needed to begin now.
Instead, Hope Faith learned towards the end of January they can expect to receive a fraction of what was originally expected from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for their year-round shelter.
Hope Faith was expecting to receive around $4.7 million from HUD after the city council signed off on the plan. Instead, Langer said they are getting $1.4 million — a far cry from the estimated $5.8 million they need.
According to Langer, HUD read through the plan and said some of the funding needs specified in the grant application didn’t fit the criteria, but said that city manager Brian Platt has been helpful trying to find other sources of funding.
“It’s frustrating because we felt like we were getting close, but we’re still committed to making sure that, you know, sleeping outside is dangerous and we want to find a solution for this... just seeming like it’s gonna take longer to get there, and that’s frustrating,” he said.
In January 2024, a proposal for funding for a permanent low-barrier shelter through Hope Faith Ministries was accepted, and Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced the ordinance. But in April, the city council scrapped the plan, in part because of resistance from neighbors near the proposed site in the historic northeast area of Kansas City.
Negotiations restarted in August.
This story was originally published February 25, 2025 at 5:59 PM.
