Although temperatures have already dipped below freezing, cold-weather homeless shelters officially open across the Kansas City metro area on Sunday, Dec. 1.
Both Johnson and Jackson counties offer year-round resources for unhoused people, but many shelters only open for the winter — through March 1 — and some of those only when temperatures hit a certain low.
Advocates across the Kansas City area have been working to expand resources, but in the meantime, here are the places people experiencing homelessness can stay overnight.
Many of these organizations are accepting food and clothing donations or seeking volunteers. Check out their websites for more information.
Cold weather shelters
Jackson County
Open every night, regardless of temperature:
- Hope City, 5101 East 24th Street, Kansas City, MO
- Hope Faith, 705 Virginia Avenue, Kansas City, MO (Dec. 1 to Feb. 28)
- Unity Southeast, 3421 East Meyer Boulevard, Kansas City, MO
- True Light, 712 East 31st Street, Kansas City, MO (referral only)
- Heartland (referral only: access points at Hope Faith and Hope City)
- Salvation Army Crossroads Shelter, 14704 E Truman Road, Independence, MO (families only, open year-round)
- City Union Mission Men’s Shelter, 1108 East 10th Street, Kansas City, MO
- City Union Mission Women’s Shelter, 1310 Wabash Avenue, Kansas City, MO
Open at 32 degrees and below:
- Shelter KC Men’s Center, 1520 Cherry Street, Kansas City, MO
- Shelter KC Women’s Center, 2611 East 11th Street, Kansas City, MO
Open at 25 degrees and below:
- A Turning Point, 1900 NE Englewood Road, Gladstone, MO
Wyandotte County
Open 25 degrees and below:
- Cold Weather Shelter at Crosslines, 550 State Avenue, Kansas City, KS
Johnson County
- Project 1020, 9400 Pflumm Road, Lenexa, KS (open through March 31)
- Salvation Army Family Lodge, 420 E Santa Fe Street, Olathe, KS (families only, not a drop-in shelter)
The state of homelessness resources around Kansas City
During the winter months, between Dec. 1 and March 1, Kansas City has a cold weather strategy that opens several resource centers for unhoused people depending on how low the temperatures drop.
Under that plan, the city currently has 400 beds available – with 100 more added only when the temperature hits zero.
But that’s still only a fraction of the beds needed to accommodate the city’s growing homeless population. According to a point in time count from January 2024, Jackson County has an estimated 1,978 people experiencing homelessness. That’s an increase from 2023, when the point in time count estimated 1,776 individuals.
Another estimated 250 unhoused people live in Johnson County. But in both counties, the true number of homeless individuals is likely much higher.
Many homeless shelters are faith-based and require guests to maintain sobriety, participate in religious teachings, or leave behind some belongings or pets. In contrast, low-barrier shelters have few criteria for entry, meaning that people are more likely to find a welcome space and then get connected to longer-term resources.
Johnson County has only one low-barrier shelter, Project 1020 in Lenexa, which opens its doors for the winter on Dec. 1.
Barb McEver opened the shelter in 2015 after learning that the county’s unhoused adults without accompanying minors had no place to stay during the cold months.
The shelter, which is located inside the Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church, is restricted to a max capacity of 30 beds. Although McEver says Project 1020 is supposed to turn away people after hitting that limit, they do have the space and resources to take in more — and she says the need is there.
While the shelter is only open in winter months, McEver takes calls from unhoused people in need of a place to stay or a resource all year long.
“The other day, just in one day, just in a few hours, actually, I had 17 phone calls from people looking for shelter, and I didn't know any of them,” McEver said.
Nearly every night last year, McEver says the shelter ended up offering a bed to more than 30 people. But that got her in trouble with the city of Lenexa: McEver said the city sent a letter threatening her with a fine of $2,500 a day and/or a year in prison if she continued to operate over capacity.
"It shouldn't be this difficult to do the right thing and to help people and to keep people safe and warm, especially when we have the space and the capacity,” McEver said. “That's the thing that's so hard to understand."
Advocates for unhoused people criticized Lenexa earlier this year when the city council rejected a plan from Johnson County leaders to convert an old La Quinta Inn into a homeless services center, with space for about 75 people.
The county was set to use $6 million in COVID relief funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to fund the shelter. After the rejection, Johnson County Commission Chair Mike Kelly told KCUR’s Up to Date that leaves a major need unmet.
"That's where we have our biggest gap," Kelly said. "An opportunity to help unhoused adults not only receive safety and shelter, but an opportunity for wraparound services."
The county had to act quickly to make sure those funds didn’t disappear at the end of the year. So commissioners voted instead to split the money between an Olathe-based Habitat for Humanity project, the Friends of Johnson County Developmental Supports – which helps people with intellectual or physical disabilities find housing – and other organizations, like Project 1020.
McEver says Project 1020 will use the money for supplies, motel rooms for guests whom they have to turn away, and for its only paid staff member, a security guard.
Advocates across the state line faced similar challenges to opening a new shelter in Kansas City’s Historic Northeast. There, some residents pushed back against a plan over concerns that it would make the neighborhood a “hub” for unhoused people.
After months of community conversations and a new round of proposals, the Kansas City Council in August approved funding for a year-round, low-barrier homeless shelter. It would be the first of its kind in the city, with funding also originating from the American Rescue Plan Act.
“Having low-barrier shelter allows people to keep jobs, allows them to save money,” said Emily Reeves, who manages the overnight winter shelter at Hope Faith. “At an absolute minimum, it provides people a safe place to rest.”
The opening of a year-round, low-barrier shelter is a key part of Zero KC, Kansas City’s long-term plan to end homelessness. The city has a five-pillar approach to get there that includes increasing beds in the short term and also making housing more affordable.
The city is currently accepting grant applications for organizations to provide that shelter space. It hopes to open the year-round low-barrier shelter in March, when the city’s cold-weather shelters are set to close.
