New Bartle Hall homeless center needs more security, food, Kansas City officials say
It hasn’t been a full week since Kansas City opened a warming center for homeless individuals at Bartle Hall. But that week has been rough, City Council members said Thursday.
One councilwoman had to pay for and deliver food there. An organization with decades of experience pulled out. And council members worry there’s not enough security.
In their weekly Business Session meeting, council members grilled the new city manager, Brian Platt, and staff over the operations of the warming center, which opened Friday night at the Kansas City Convention Center, or Bartle Hall. They noted reStart Inc., which has operated a downtown homeless shelter for decades, was expected to help run the shelter, but pulled out. Members worried security and sanitation were lacking.
Overall, they worried the city was mismanaging the shelter and opening itself to liability.
Councilwoman Ryana Parks-Shaw, 5th District, noted that the move to Bartle Hall meant the city was caring for far more homeless individuals than it was at the old site at Columbus Park.
“I think part of the issues that we’re seeing are that we are overwhelmed and unmatched with the number of guests that we have vs. the number of staff and volunteers that are working there,” Parks-Shaw said, adding that the city was likely to see even more people at the center with the frigid weather coming this weekend.
Kansas City opened the warming center at Bartle Hall because its other shelter was too full. The city plans to run the center from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. nightly through the end of March to provide a warm place for those without a home. In a press conference announcing the warming center, city officials said the COVID-19 pandemic was leaving more Kansas Citians without a home.
Since opening, the warming center has served about 100 to 120 people per night.
Staff and advocates are calling it the Scott Eicke Warming Center in honor of a homeless man who was found dead from exposure on New Year’s Day.
But the shelter quickly ran into problems after it opened Friday.
On Saturday, reStart, which had representatives at the Friday news conference, announced in a statement that its participation was “on hold” because of “questions about security and safety protocols.”
“We value our community partnerships and realize that the best way to end homelessness in our city is to work together with others who have the same goal,” CEO Stephanie Boyer said in the statement. “This initiative at the Kansas City Convention Center is an excellent use of existing resources and allows various community groups to collaborate and effectively fight homelessness.”
Boyer did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday. Neither did Creative Innovative Entrepreneurs, which is also working with the city on the warming center.
Parks-Shaw said she went to the warming center Friday night and learned there was not food for the weekend. She said she paid for and delivered food to the center for breakfast and dinner Saturday and Sunday and breakfast Monday.
A preliminary budget the council received said Parks-Shaw’s household would be reimbursed for the $2,000 cost of those meals.
But Parks-Shaw applauded city staff and Mayor Quinton Lucas’ office for responding quickly as the city’s previous warming center filled up.
“I think in an effort to respond urgently, there were many things that have been missed,” she said.
Chris Hernandez, a spokesman for the city, said Parks-Shaw had stepped in as the warming center got off the ground. Now Aramark, which normally provides catering services to the convention center, is providing dinners and breakfasts.
Councilwoman Katheryn Shields, 4th District at-large, said she had heard concerns regarding security and worried there wasn’t sufficient screening for weapons, alcohol and drugs. She said she was happy the city was stepping up to help people.
“But we should not, in doing it, do it in such a way that we’re endangering those people’s lives or the lives of the staff or security that are handling that site,” Shields said.
Platt said there had been 24-hour security, and the Kansas City Police Department had been called to the site. KCPD could not immediately provide information Thursday about its calls for service there.
John Wood, director of the city’s Neighborhoods and Housing Services Department, told Shields security personnel were checking people’s bags before they came in, though perhaps not as thoroughly as police might.
“We very much hear and understand the concerns with security,” Platt said. “We’re going to be making some changes to that very quickly as well.”
Meanwhile, organizers have said they need more volunteers and donations. To find out how to help, see Kansas City’s Houseless Donation Community on Facebook.
