Michael Bushnell
Publisher

A controversial Kansas City Ordinance that would have dedicated roughly $7.1 million in public funds to Hope Faith Ministries at 705 Virginia Avenue to establish an eighty-bed, low barrier homeless shelter has been held back yet again by the City Council’s Transportation, Finance and Infrastructure Committee for an additional two weeks.

The ordinance (#240046) was originally introduced last fall by Mayor Quinton Lucas and was immediately met with community opposition citing a lack of transparency and community engagement in the Request For Proposals (RFP) process as well as the number of homeless advocacy organizations already in existence in Northeast.

Finally, in February of this year, after a series of packed-house meetings with residents demanding the plan be scaled back and services be offered in other areas of the city, the ordinance was sent back to committee for what appears to be a complete reorganization and reallocation.

Details of the new ordinance have not been released yet. The City Council’s Transportation, Finance and Infrastructure Committee meeting is rescheduled for April 24th. The Northeast News will provide more details as they become available.