On Wednesdays and Saturdays, Avenue of Life’s hallways and meeting rooms become more active than usual. Filled with staff, volunteers, partnering organizations, and families, everyone is working toward the same goal — keep Kansas City’s kids off the street.
In one room, a visitor explained their recent eviction in hushed tones. In another large community room, parents and children moved between tables to learn about the various services that are available to them.
There was no clear difference between the volunteers and visitors.
“I think a lot of people have an idea of what a homeless person should look like, or what behaviors you might see,” said Anna McCune, the Kansas City Public Schools Empowerment Director at Avenue.
“Homelessness and houselessness can happen to anyone,” she said. “It's not just someone who isn't clean, or hasn't showered, or someone who's really angry. The presentation really depends on that person and maybe how long they've been fighting this.”
Serving nearly 29,000 hot meals, providing housing for 109 families, distributing clothing to almost 7,000 people and processing over $675,000 worth of donations in 2023 alone, Avenue’s reach is expansive.
With local advocacy organizations estimating that “1,798 people are homeless on any given night in Kansas City,” there is a considerable need not just for shelter but for a community that will wrap its arms around the people experiencing the isolation and trauma of homelessness.
Anna knows these feelings all too well.
She was born on May 6, 1992, in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was taken to an orphanage shortly after, where the children slept in cribs well past the age of 5.
“I think growing up in the '90s in an orphanage isn't the best. There was a lot of need … there was just a lot going on in that time in Russia,” she said.
Her shoes were always several sizes too small and her clothes were dirty.
“So I think they did the best they could, but it was not a great upbringing for anyone,” Anna said.
In 1996, at the age of 5, Anna was adopted into a loving American family, but life was still hard.
She described the transition to her American life, complete with an abundance of toys, crayons, fresh clothes, and the English language, as “tough.” She “cried … for hours” trying to puzzle through Dr. Seuss rhymes and was initially fearful of her mother, whom she associated with the orphanage’s female staff.
“It was a challenge,” Anna said, “but … that first year I had a community and I had a family that really loved me. So I made a lot of progress. Whereas if I had a different upbringing, I think it would have been a lot more challenging.”
“It’s extremely difficult for any human to live through eviction or homelessness,” Anna said. “It’s really hard to be level-headed and to regulate your emotions, and so that’s a big piece of what we want to help families do.”
Now, as the mother of 1-year-old twins with a wife and two dogs, Anna “pours into them” to fuel her work at Avenue, which involves helping families move from shelters, their cars, or the streets into homes they can pay for and take ownership of.
Avenue’s rehousing process starts with an early emphasis on relationship building and meeting families where they’re at.
The families are referred to Avenue navigators through school district liaisons and within 24 hours, Avenue sets up an appointment to bring them in. Although it takes time to get families into a permanent housing situation, they are put up in hotels, and their other immediate needs are taken care of in the meantime.
Oftentimes, families come into their first several meetings with Avenue feeling overwhelmed.
“I tell families, like, ‘This is a relationship, and in a lot of relationships, I'm not necessarily gonna just like spill everything,” Anna explained. “‘I wanna get to know who you are, but that does not have to come in this first meeting.’”
As soon as they’re ready to commit to the program, families are given the financial assistance they need to get into stable housing.
“We ensure that we're setting our families up for success,” Anna said.
But that doesn’t always mean there will be success. Transportation when the bus lines between Kansas and Missouri don’t always overlap, mental health and emotional regulation when navigating the turmoil of eviction and homelessness, and language barriers are just some of the additional issues that families may face.
“It’s extremely difficult for any human to live through eviction or homelessness,” Anna said. “It's really hard to be level-headed and to regulate your emotions, and so that's a big piece of what we want to help families do.”
As rewarding as the program is to participate in and complete, Anna says it requires change and commitment.
“The hardest part of my job is knowing that every case isn't always going to be successful and it's not always going to transpire the way that you want it to,” Anna explained. “So just being patient and being there for when the family's ready.”
No matter the situation and no matter a person’s story, Avenue isn’t about quick solutions, it’s about lifelong stability and connection.
“Anyone and everyone is welcome,” Anna said. “Just taking that where it's at and knowing that when we get your basic needs met and when we are able to get you housed, that's when the real relationship begins.”
This story was originally created as part of the NPR Next Generation Radio project.
