It’s back to the drawing board for Johnson County and its plans to build a shelter in Lenexa for the county’s growing homeless population. How did the project — a major priority of Johnson County Commission Chair Mike Kelly, and the product of more than a year of planning and organizing — fall apart?
Johnson County officials had approved a plan to use $6 million of federal funding to purchase a La Quinta Inn hotel in Lenexa and convert it into a homeless services shelter. Except last week, the Lenexa City Council rejected the permit, in spite of overwhelming support from community members.
To find out what happened, Up To Date's Steve Kraske spoke with Andrew Gaug, who has been covering this story for the Johnson County Post, and Stephanie Boyer, the CEO of reStart, the organization that had been planning to operate this new shelter.
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