Johnson County homeless shelter can’t meet the demand. Can these proposed laws help?
A line already stretched out the door last Wednesday, long before the homeless shelter opened for the night at a Lenexa church.
Volunteers greeted those waiting with temperature checks and a hot meal, and soon all 30 cots were accounted for. Within a couple of hours, staff had turned away nine more people seeking shelter.
That’s typical, said Barb McEver, founder of Project 1020, which runs the shelter that can house only a small fraction of the people in Johnson County who need it.
It’s the only place in Kansas’ most affluent county for homeless single adults without children to stay. And it’s temporary, only for the winter. There are no beds for such people the rest of the year in a time when advocates say the county’s homeless population is growing — and when evictions and job loss during the pandemic are expected to displace many more.
For the first time, some major cities in Johnson County are considering whether their laws should regulate shelters. Most of the cities lack any written rules stating when or where a shelter is permissible, which has led to heated battles, both between advocates and neighbors, and in court.
Lenexa and Shawnee are now considering adding homeless shelter regulations to their city codes, which officials said would carve out a clear path for churches to house the homeless or for an organization to propose a much-needed permanent shelter. Lenexa’s proposal was introduced last Tuesday; Shawnee was planning to review theirs Monday night.
But those city code updates are poised to come with many stipulations — in a county where resident opposition and strict zoning laws have already made progress on a year-round shelter stall. Activists hope that the cities’ efforts will make it easier to open and run a successful shelter, rather than put new roadblocks in the way.
“We appreciate that some cities are starting to have those conversations of what they can allow. When you don’t have that guiding language in city codes, that can be just as confusing and limiting as when there is,” said Julie Brewer, executive director of United Community Services of Johnson County. “Knowing what’s allowable can be helpful, as long as it doesn’t create more barriers than bridges to having an effective response to homelessness.”
For those who have jobs in Johnson County, seeking shelter in other counties is often not an option. And with several shelters full throughout the metro area, and with access to transportation often lacking, advocates say many have no choice but to stay on the streets.
In Kansas City, at least two people have already died this winter from exposure.
For many advocates, the willingness to consider where and how a shelter might be allowed is a welcome and long overdue first step. They hope that regulations will be flexible enough so they may finally open the doors to a permanent shelter, that not only gives residents a place to lay their heads at nights, but also helps them access services and move into their own homes.
“People spend their whole day feeling unworthy, unwanted and hopeless,” McEver said. “The people in Johnson County need to know that providing shelter is the humane thing to do.”
An urgent need
Caught in a freezing rainstorm last winter, John Farrier sat on the curb and curled into a ball. He looked down at his hands, and saw that his fingers were black, like charcoal.
Frostbite.
“A man came by in a pickup truck and took me to the hospital,” said 58-year-old Farrier, who has lived on the streets off and on for five years. “They told me that they’d have to take my fingers off.”
For the past year, Farrier has been relearning how to use his hands, while searching for a job that will accommodate him. He’s once again taught himself to sweep and mop, clean gutters and, almost, how to work a hammer.
He finally got a break last month, when the owner of a small shop he frequented gave him a trial run at a job stocking food. Now he’s saving up money to get an apartment. But he says it wouldn’t be possible without having a bed to sleep in each night, which he found among the limited cots available at the shelter in Lenexa, at Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church.
The shelter, which opened for the season in December, has given him an alternative to the streets that lost him all 10 fingers. A place to stay warm from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. each day, to shave, clean up.
But he’s aware that it’s only temporary; the shelter must close in March. While homeless families have a few options for shelter in Johnson County, only a handful of beds are available for single women. And no permanent shelter exists for homeless single men.
It’s a problem that elected officials have talked about for years. But those conversations have resulted in little action.
Last year’s “point in time” count — a snapshot tally of the homeless population conducted by agencies across the country and locally — showed the number of individuals without stable housing in Johnson County has been on the rise. And the largest area of growth is among single adults without children.
One night in January 2020, the report showed, 180 people in Johnson County were living in emergency shelters, transitional housing, in tents, cars or on the streets. That’s up from 130 people in 2017.
Of those people, 37% had been evicted before. About 33% were fleeing domestic violence or sexual abuse; 44% reported a disability severe enough to affect their ability to keep a job or stay housed; roughly 40% were employed.
Among the residents who stayed at the shelter last Wednesday night was Michael Carr, who served in the Navy during the Cold War. There was Curt Meyer, who used to work in banking before the 2008 recession; 19-year-old William Helsel, who said he had to separate himself from his family due to drug use and violence; and Tom McKeon, a lifelong Johnson County resident who has a dream of rescuing animals.
Since 2015, Project 1020 has been running a temporary shelter out of churches during the winter.
“These guys have been my saving grace. I’ve been homeless off and on for 15 years, and these guys have always found a place for me. And I’m grateful for that,” McKeon said as he sat at one of the shelter’s dinner tables. “Without them, I’d probably be sleeping under a bridge somewhere. They just do so much for so little.”
Everyone interviewed at the shelter said they have struggled to find anywhere to get warm during the day, with dining rooms and public buildings closed during much of the pandemic. Without Project 1020, many said it would be nearly impossible to keep or search for a job, let alone survive the cold winter nights.
And many didn’t want to think ahead to this spring, when the shelter closes and some are likely to return to living in tents or sleeping bags outside.
“I’ve been living like this for five years, and it’s no way to live, Carr said. “I can’t believe Johnson County doesn’t have any permanent place like this, considering (the county’s) size.”
An ongoing struggle
It was an uphill battle for the winter shelter to find its home in Lenexa.
Project 1020 previously operated its shelter out of an Olathe church, and McEver had purchased a building in the city to open a permanent space. But then the city changed its laws to regulate shelters. The new rules meant organizations must apply for a special use permit. The application process can be lengthy — requiring the support of neighbors and elected officials.
Tensions became so high at a neighborhood meeting, with residents concerned about public safety and crime, the project came to a halt. McEver said she eventually sold the building.
Then Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church in Lenexa, which is housed in a former school building, offered up its extra space in late 2019. But after reviewing the proposal, city staff decided a homeless shelter was not an approved use for a church and denied the request.
The church sued, claiming that the city illegally used zoning laws to inhibit its exercise of religion.
“All of Lenexa’s zoning code purposefully excludes homeless shelters. It’s not defined in the code. It’s not permitted under the code. It’s not allowed anywhere within the city,” attorney Daniel Dalton told The Star at the time.
Both sides eventually came to a three-year agreement, allowing the church to shelter up to 30 adults each night from December through March. Project 1020 is in its second year, and McEver is unsure what will happen after 2022.
The legal fight forced Lenexa to consider whether it should adopt laws laying out when and where homeless shelters might be permissible or prohibited. Advocates said it can be difficult for an organization to present a proposal to open a shelter, only to have it turned down based on an interpretation of city code.
“It’s a land use discussion, not a homeless social issue discussion,” Lenexa Mayor Michael Boehm said. “That’s what we have to focus on. Where does this fit in Lenexa and where does it not fit? We’ll treat it like any other land use. We wouldn’t put a hotel or a manufacturing plant in your backyard. Zoning districts are segregated to be somewhat compatible.”
Under Lenexa’s draft, which was presented to the City Council on Tuesday, a homeless shelter would be allowed as an accessory use to a place of worship. But for many churches throughout much of the year, the shelter would only be allowed to serve up to 10 individuals each day.
It’s not uncommon for city codes to include a bed limit on shelters, although advocates fear that the tight restriction will continue to make it difficult to meet the mounting needs. And McEver worries that even if multiple churches are willing to shelter 10 people each, there would not be enough resources, volunteers or access to transportation to make multiple locations work.
During the winter, a church could shelter up to 30 residents, under the proposal. But the building must be at least 30,000 square feet and located within a half-mile of a transit stop, among other stipulations. Along with Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church, three other churches in Lenexa could potentially be eligible, said Scott McCullough, community development director.
“Our code is trying to accommodate what’s there. We don’t want (the winter shelter) to expand a whole lot, although that’s up for debate,” Boehm said. “We’ve certainly had some issues and some additional police calls there. And while we applaud what (Project 1020) is doing, we know we need a solution that is more sustainable long-term.”
Under the draft, an organization could propose opening a permanent homeless shelter in a commercial district in Lenexa, but a special use permit would be required, along with other restrictions.
Shawnee is considering its own regulations, which the City Council planned to review Monday night. Under Shawnee’s draft, homeless shelters operating inside of churches could house up to 16 residents, with other rules. Standalone shelters would need a special use permit.
Stephanie Malmborg, deputy community development director, said at a recent planning commission meeting that the city is looking to implement regulations that allow staff to look at each proposal on a case-by-case basis. “I think having that flexibility shows that Shawnee is willing to welcome and respond to the needs the county has,” she said.
It is expected to take months before both cities approve any code changes.
In Merriam, homeless shelters fall under the city’s definition of group homes, along with residence halls, dormitories and fraternity houses. Such residences are approved in residential areas if a special use permit is approved. Overland Park, Prairie Village, Roeland Park, Westwood and Mission do not have regulations for homeless shelters.
McEver said that with any proposed location, neighborhood opposition and negative stereotypes will continue to be the greatest challenges to overcome. Advocates agree that a shelter needs to be in a centralized location where transportation, health care and other services are accessible.
Officials and organizers all said that it will take a collaborative approach to find a permanent space for a year-round shelter that offers more than a place to sleep at night, plus address the barriers to attaining housing, such as the county’s ballooning affordable housing gap.
“The discussion needs to be at the county level with city participation, whether that’s funding or helping with the structuring,” Boehm said. “This is one of those issues that is far-reaching and regional. This is one that’s better handled at the group level as opposed to the individual community level.”
A permanent home
Jasmin Anderson, now 19, spent her senior year in the Olathe school district homeless.
Anderson said she was forced out of her family’s home as soon as she turned 18. She spent the next year struggling to keep up with classes so she could graduate, while moving from couches and shared homes.
This fall, she got in touch with a former youth pastor in Kansas City, Kansas, she said, who let her stay at a youth shelter even though they were only accepting people who lived in the city.
“It was really hard for me to lean on communities and reach out. In Johnson County, people can’t believe or accept that you’re homeless,” she said. “When I got to the shelter in KCK, there was this relief that actually someone cared. But it was on the Kansas City, Kansas side. Living in Olathe, it was like no one actually cared.”
Her story is a common one, advocates say, as a lack of beds in Johnson County pushes people outside of the community, straining resources elsewhere. Several organizations and stakeholders have been partnering to address this for years.
Lee Jost, pastor of Christ the Servant Evangelical Covenant Church in Olathe, hopes that those efforts will lead to noticeable action this year. His nonprofit is applying for grants to fund a staff position, where someone would solely focus on locating a space for a shelter, meeting with the community and securing a special use permit.
Jost continues to seek the rest of the needed funding for the position. And he hopes that the efforts in Lenexa and Shawnee to set out clear regulations are a sign that Johnson County might be ready to welcome a shelter.
“It’s hope,” Jost said. “I was encouraged by some of the things that Lenexa proposed. It doesn’t feel like a hard ‘no.’ It feels like they’re saying come to us with a real plan and we’ll consider it. That gives us hope, too.”
But officials and community leaders agree it will take more than one city’s approval to launch, fund and operate a successful shelter.
“There is no one agency in Johnson County that can do this on their own,” Jost said. “It’s going to be some sort of community response.”
Many are calling on the county to help fund and provide the services. The least cities can do, some said, is pass regulations that support rather than hinder their efforts.
“Johnson County can most definitely do this,” Anderson said. “If people put their mind to it and take a chance, instead of judging and creating a stigma around it, I feel like a lot less people would be homeless in Johnson County.”
How to help
▪ Project 1020 needs 10 volunteers each night to staff the Lenexa shelter, as well as meals and donations. For more information, visit project1020.com.
▪ United Community Services of Johnson County accepts donations at ucsjoco.org.
▪ To volunteer with or donate to reStart, which, in addition to its downtown shelter provides housing opportunities for young adults in Johnson County, visit restartinc.org.
▪ To donate to the Salvation Army’s Family Lodge in Johnson County, which provides shelter to families, visit centralusa.salvationarmy.org/olathe.
▪ The Johnson County Interfaith Hospitality Network, which serves homeless families, accepts donations and provides information on volunteering at jocoihn.org.
▪ To donate to Safehome, which provides shelter and resources to those experiencing domestic violence and sexual assault, visit safehome-ks.org.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
