KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Officials announced plans for a proposed homeless shelter in Johnson County Wednesday evening, with another meeting scheduled for Thursday evening.
KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree reported on Lenexa city staff’s plans to recommend to the city’s Planning Commission that it deny the special permit for the proposed La Quinta Inn site near West 95th Street and Interstate 35.
The home would be the first for single adults in Johnson County.
The county currently has a cold weather emergency shelter called Project 1020 and a Salvation Army family shelter.
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The Lenexa Planning Commission will meet on August 26 to review the proposal.
Johnson County Commission members have already planned to hold two public meetings to provide more information about the project.
One of these meetings took place in Olathe on Wednesday.
About 60 Johnson County residents heard presentations from the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners, United Community Services of Johnson County, the Johnson County Mental Health Center and reStart Inc., the group selected to operate the homeless center.
Jake Weller/KSHB 41
“I was really happy to hear that we’re getting a homeless shelter in Johnson County because I think it’s desperately needed,” said Greta O’Brien, a community member who attended the meeting. “I was really disturbed by the negativity and lies you see on social media.”
Officials said they would be committed to addressing misinformation throughout the process.
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“I’m confident that we can really present something to the Planning Commission and City Council to address all of the concerns that exist,” said Stephanie Boyer, CEO of reStart Inc. “We’re currently hearing that one of those concerns is potential impacts to neighborhoods or other businesses, as well as increased need for law enforcement, and we have a lot of data to show that that’s not true.”
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Some of the data collected by the organization showed that homeless people are twelve times more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators.
“Outdoor living is dangerous, especially for the person living outdoors,” Boyer said. “We see people become victims of many crimes without committing crimes, and we learn that through their stories.”
Jake Weller/KSHB 41
Boyer’s presentation included information about reStart’s mission and plans for the homeless assistance center.
Based on the information she shared, the La Quinta Inn would be converted to two uses. The first would be “The Lodge,” with 50 individual, non-communal rooms, meaning guests would have their own bathrooms.
Each resident would have a time window of 30 to 90 days for their stay. If people needed more time, the annex would be an option.
“The Residences” would be 25 studio apartments for transitional housing based on recommendations from The Lodge.
Boyer also clarified that the selection of persons will be based solely on recommendations and that a coordinated entry system and planned admission process will be used to screen those selected to stay for security reasons.
Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41
According to United Community Services of Johnson County, over 85% of households surveyed in the Point in Time (PIT) project were single adults.
The PIT count is an annual survey of homeless people conducted on a single night during the last ten days of January across the United States by local agencies (Continuums of Care) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Johnson County survey conducted on January 24 found that 250 people were homeless.
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“Our image of homelessness is someone standing on a street corner with a sign,” says Lynn Michaelson, a Lenexa resident who has worked at the Project 1020 cold shelter center in Johnson County. “And that’s not what homelessness is, by and large.”
Other concerns about the homeless assistance center included the low-barrier-to-entry type of shelter that would not require people housed there to take a breathalyzer test. Johnson County Commission member Charlotte O’Hara said those concerns are why she does not support the project.
Jake Weller/KSHB 41
O’Hara attended the meeting and was part of a smaller opposition group.
She says she has questions about the type of funding and the decision to let reStart run the shelter.
“There are still so many questions that remain unanswered,” O’Hara said.
Mike Kelly, chairman of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners, said that was the purpose of Wednesday’s meeting.
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“I think if we can have more face-to-face dialogue, we’ll find a better solution at the end of the day,” Kelly said. “In a world that’s so divided, it’s very helpful to come together and talk about data and facts.”
He and Boyer say they are waiting to receive more information about the Lenexa City Council’s denial recommendation before jumping to conclusions.
“We’re really going to try to mobilize the population to support us and say, ‘Yes, we need some kind of intervention, we need to do something.’ Doing nothing is not an option,” Boyer said.
Lenexa authorities plan to release a report with information on their proposal on Thursday.
Both sides say they will not deviate from the current plan.
“I’ve always believed in the saying ‘Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good’ and I truly believe that a lot of good can come from this project,” Kelly said.
The county is running out of time to use these one-time funds. The county’s funds for the project come from federal COVID-19 relief funds. The total cost of the building is $10.55 million.
Other costs include:
- $6 million to purchase the La Quinta Inn and a restaurant
- $850,000 for due diligence and franchise fees
- $3.7 million for building renovations and capacity building for reStart
An annual fee of $62,000 from the county’s general fund would be required to cover the center’s operating costs for five years.
Kelly says the $62,000 would be part of the current county budget.
“It is highly unlikely that we will be able to raise the amount of money to make this possible again. So we will remain fully focused on the finish line,” said Boyer.
The finish line makes it possible to meet ongoing needs.
“Apathy is a problem, and if you want to say, ‘Not in my backyard,’ then you know there are homeless people here and they are family members of people who live here. And we should do better,” O’Brien said.
The next public information meeting will be held on August 22 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Monticello Community Meeting Room at the Monticello Library, 22435 W. 66th Street in Shawnee.
Johnson County staff said at the meeting that they will update the Frequently Asked Questions section on the county website with answers from the meetings once they are completed.
Following the Lenexa Planning Commission meeting on August 26, the plan will be presented to the Lenexa City Council on September 17.
