In Kansas City, where affordable housing is increasingly out of reach, hundreds of women are picking up hammers — not just to build homes but to dismantle the systemic barriers that keep families out of homeownership.

Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City, also known as Habitat KC, launched its annual Women Build initiative for 2025 on May 13. The key focus areas for revitalization are the Lykins neighborhood in Kansas City and Armourdale neighborhood in Kansas City, Kansas.

Women Build has been a Habitat KC initiative since the early 1990s designed to unite women to raise awareness on the challenges women face in achieving homeownership. Until 1974 — considered the year of women’s mortgage liberation —  it was technically legal for financial institutions to refuse loans to unmarried women, or to require them to have a male co-signer.

“When women lead, communities thrive. But the reality is that women — especially single mothers — face greater challenges in accessing safe, affordable housing,” said Lindsay Hicks, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City.

Kansas City data

In Kansas City, Missouri, single-parent households led by women constitute a significant portion of the community, and these families often face elevated poverty levels.

• According to a 2019 survey, an estimated 75% of single-parent families in Kansas City are headed by single mothers.
• As of 2023, an estimated 20.5% of single-mother households with children under the age of 17 lived below the poverty line. In comparison, 5.8% of such households with married couples were living in poverty.

Habitat KC data

• More than 80% of homeowners assisted by Habitat KC are single mothers.
• In the past seven years, 75% of Habitat KC homeowners who paid off their mortgages were single mothers or female-led households.
• In 2024, Habitat KC served 329 women.

How does the gender wage gap affect female homeownership in Kansas City?

The housing affordability crisis for women is a reflection of the gender pay gap. 

In Kansas City, among full-time, year-round workers aged 15 years and older, males earned a median income of $62,065, while females earned $52,672, resulting in a 15% gender pay gap, according to an analysis by the Neilsberg research group.

A 2023 Zillow analysis also revealed that single women could afford only 58.40% of the homes that single men could, citing Kansas City among the cities with the widest gender-based affordability gap.

With housing costs rising across the metro, homeownership is becoming out of reach for many women, while remaining a critical tool for long-term family stability.

Why the Lykins and Armourdale neighborhoods?

Since 2021, Habitat KC has built more than 10 new homes and completed numerous repair projects in these communities as part of its neighborhood revitalization efforts, supporting long-term housing stability for families. They are working to provide new construction, home repairs for current homeowners and financial education counseling. 

When The Beacon reached out to Habitat KC asking why those were neighborhoods of focus, Melissa Jones, vice president of development, responded in an email that, “Those neighborhoods have both seen years of disinvestment yet have very strong neighborhood associations that want to see change and want to improve their neighborhoods, which is very important.”