Johnson County homeless shelter operator hears concerns from commissioners
OLATHE, Kan. — The Johnson County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) held a meeting Thursday to update the public on where they are in putting a Homeless Services Center in the county.
The meeting was at the County Administration Building in the city. The shelter or center will be in Lenexa at the La Quinta Hotel, off 95th Street and I-35.
It will also include the old Denny’s restaurant. The county plans to buy the property for nearly $7 million and transfer it to reStart, a group that brands itself as the only homeless shelter in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
Their CEO Stephanie Boyer took questions from Commissioners like Shirley Allenbrand, who asked whether the people who’d use this facility are just Johnson County residents.
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“So definitely the target audience and residents are going to be Johnson County residents, so we’re still working through what that process is going to look like, but our intention is to partner with the COC and the coordinated entry process that’s already happening here in Johnson County.”
The COC is the Johnson County Continuum of Care on Homelessness, a part of United Community Services of Johnson County (UCS JoCo). Their Executive Director Kristy Baughman also presented. One person who does not support the plan is Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara.
“I see a money pit on this,” O’Hara said during Thursday’s meeting. “There’s a lot of questions we have. We’re putting this right in the bulls eye of where the drug trafficking of Johnson County is.”
O’Hara asked a similar question to Allenbrands Thursday too.
“Well, it’s really difficult with people experiencing homelessness to establish residency, right?” Boyer responded. “So sometimes, a lot of times, folks don’t have identification or any sort of proof of address or things like that.”
There are about 100 beds at the hotel. 45 to 50 beds would be used for this shelter. The other 40 would be used for transitional housing. One person who feels differently than O’Hara is Johnson County BOCC Chairman Mike Kelly.
“Oh absolutely, and I expect a lot more between now and October,” Kelly said when asked whether he expected as many questions Thursday as there were. “I expect a robust discussion on this because this is a new endeavor for Johnson County. It’s never been done before, and I think you’ve heard mentioned, this is kind of a key lynch pin that the community hasn’t had with housing services.”
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The county wouldn’t close on the purchase of the building until October. It also needs approval from the city of Lenexa. If that happens the shelter could be operational in the summer of 2025, according to Boyer.
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