KC puts $1M toward new homelessness strategy
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Kansas City leaders are launching a $1 million Housing Gateway Program to move people indoors more quickly as homelessness rises.
Why it matters: The effort relies on flexible local dollars that aren't tied to federal restrictions, giving the city more control over how quickly and where the money is deployed.
Zoom in: The Housing and Community Development Department will run the program through its Office of Unhoused Solutions.
- In a news release this month, Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw called it "a critical first step" toward a longer-term, public-private strategy.
- Deputy housing director Mary Owens said at the news briefing last week that the program aims to build a locally funded municipal unhoused program, with "guaranteed reductions in unsheltered homelessness."
By the numbers: City materials tie the program to a broader housing crunch.
- The city has said there has been a shortage of 64,000 affordable homes and a 7% increase in rents since 2024.
- Officials also say the number of people living outside has grown by almost 170% since 2018.
How it works: The $1 million flexible fund is designed to remove practical barriers that often prevent people from leaving an encampment and moving into housing.
- It can cover short-term rental assistance, security deposits, utility payments, transportation to housing appointments, and other immediate costs that federal programs typically cannot pay quickly.
- City officials say the goal is to close small but critical funding gaps that delay housing placements or cause people to lose units they have already been approved for.
What they're saying: "This is first and foremost a humanitarian challenge that calls for empathy, urgency, and shared responsibility," Commerce Bank Kansas City CEO Kevin Barth said in a city release.
- Councilmember Johnathan Duncan acknowledged the funding alone will not solve the crisis, saying, "There will always be those who critique and say $1 million isn't enough, and you're right."
- He called the program "the first seed" toward broader change.
Between the lines: Owens said KC is borrowing from the approach in Houston, where the region's unhoused population has fallen 61% since 2011, according to the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County.
What's next: City Manager Mario Vasquez will form an advisory board over the next six months and is expected to bring recommendations to the City Council in August on how KC responds to the unhoused community and what to change.