KC puts homelessness funding under audit
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
Kansas City is rebuilding its homelessness response on two fronts: a $10 million plan to move unhoused individuals indoors and an audit of the agency overseeing the metro's federal funding.
The big picture: KC has the highest rate of chronic unsheltered homelessness of any major U.S. city, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and this is the biggest overhaul of the local response in years.
Driving the news: The City Council voted last week to order an expedited 30-day audit of the Greater Kansas City Coalition to End Homelessness (GKCCEH), the nonprofit responsible for distributing HUD homelessness money across Jackson and Wyandotte counties.
- The audit will review GKCCEH's governance and handling of the roughly $20 million in federal homelessness funding it oversees each year.
- GKCCEH's board told the Kansas City Star it welcomes "thoughtful review of governance and community processes" and remains focused on helping people experiencing homelessness.
Catch up quick: The Housing Gateway plan focuses on about 200 people sleeping in downtown, Power & Light, the Country Club Plaza and the Jazz District through what the city calls "deep interventions."
- It would add 40 low-barrier shelter beds and use rapid rental help, security deposits and utility payments to move people indoors.
- The city committed $1 million in February. Pending HUD funding would bring year one to $4 million.
- The plan is led by Clutch Consulting managing partner Mandy Chapman Semple, who co-designed the system Houston used to cut homelessness about 60% over four years, according to the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County.
By the numbers: 95.7% of chronically homeless residents in the metro live unsheltered, per HUD.
- More than 1,000 unsheltered individuals were counted in GKCCEH's 2025 Point-in-Time count, a 168% jump from 2018.
- More than 1,700 people become homeless in the metro each year.
What they're saying: "Housing Gateway is not tied to the World Cup," Deputy Housing and Community Development Director Mary Owens tells Axios, adding the audit will "determine our next steps and detail how the Housing Gateway program will improve Kansas City's homeless response system."
- No business or philanthropic dollars came out of the city's May 8 Housing Gateway Summit at the Central Library's Helzberg Auditorium, where Chapman Semple pitched the plan. Partners "committed to continued engagement," Owens says.
What's next: The auditor has 30 days. City Manager Mario Vasquez will bring recommendations to the City Council in August.