Correction: This article has been updated to clarify that Sentinel communicated with the Quality Hill Tenant Union during 2024. The company added that a third-party tested the water systems at 929 Jefferson in November 2024 and found no health issues. Hell Woods has been couch-surfing between two friends’ apartments since their landlord refused to renew […]
Mili Mansaray
Mili Mansaray is The Beacon’s former housing and labor reporter and began covering the beat in 2022. She’s documented the concentration of housing ownership by corporate interests and explored challenges to Kansas City’s homeless shelter capacity. She received training through the Solutions Journalism Network’s labor cohort. She has a bachelor’s degree in digital journalism and Africana studies from New York University. She also studied abroad in Argentina. She was a business reporting intern for the Dow Jones News Fund. She was an audio intern for The Urban Scene with Don Frierson on WGCV 105.1 in Columbia, South Carolina. She has lived in Kansas City since 2022.
Posted inLabor
Voter-approved minimum wage and sick leave measure under fire in courts and the Capitol
A voter-mandated pay hike for Missouri’s minimum wage workers hasn’t kicked in yet — and conservative lawmakers and business groups are looking to the General Assembly and the courts to block the raise. State legislators have filed three bills to restrict the provisions of Proposition A, which ordered a boost to the minimum wage and […]
Posted inHousing
A new Kansas City program steers residents to mental health or drug care rather than custody
You see someone in the midst of a mental breakdown, or high on drugs. Call 911 and they may get arrested. Things could get worse from there. They might lose their job, their apartment. Rather than get the care that could pull them out of a crisis, they could land in custody and spiral into […]
Posted inBehind the Beacon
Experts, advocates, and community members unite at homeless shelter listening session
In a world where the gaps between neighbors and communities grow larger, few issues illustrate these rifts more than homelessness. That’s why Kansas City is working to open its first low-barrier shelter — one that provides immediate access with minimal or no requirements. Kansas City officials approved the conversion of Hope Faith Ministries into a […]
Posted inHousing
As homelessness rises and temperatures dip, Kansas City offers hundreds of beds for cold-weather plan
For Kansas City residents living on the street, the prospect of escaping subfreezing temperatures hinges on the availability of a shelter bed. When temperatures drop to 32 degrees, the human body is at risk of hypothermia. Frostbite can set in within 30 minutes without proper protection when air temperatures fall below 5 degrees and in […]
Posted inHousing
Whom do I call when a homeless person is in crisis?
In Kansas City, 96% of the people who are chronically homeless live outdoors — the highest rate in the country. That means that nearly all people who have experienced homelessness for at least a year — or repeatedly over three years — are out on the streets. This population is considered chronically homeless due to […]
Posted inHousing
The growing stakes in the Kansas City rent strike as it passes 30 days
Buckets of brown sink water, overflowing roach traps and photographs of clogged bathtubs lined the entrance to the leasing office at Quality Hill Towers. At their most recent rally, tenants brought their frustrations straight to management’s door. George Pacheco carried two-gallon jugs of murky water from his apartment. “I gave my daughter a glass of […]
Posted inHousing
Understanding the Kansas City-area rent strike: Tenant rights and other key facts
Nearly 200 tenants launched a rent strike at the start of this month over what they see as intolerable living conditions at two large apartment buildings in Kansas City and Independence. The renters at Quality Hill Towers and Independence Towers are demanding better upkeep, repairs, collectively bargained leases and capping annual rent hikes at 3% […]
Posted inHousing
Roaches, rust and rot: An inside look at the Kansas City tenant union rent strike against federally backed landlords
When you walk into the back entrance of Independence Towers, you’re met with a foyer filled with dust, debris and cobwebs. Two rust-coated elevators loom against the back wall. Peeling paint and caution tape line the dirt-ridden hallways on either side. Diasha White said it wasn’t always like this. She’s lived in the building for […]
Posted inKansas City
Missouri’s Prop A would raise minimum wage to $15 and promise sick leave, but business owners warn of job losses
At any given moment in Missouri, a working parent might miss a day’s pay to care for their sick child. New mothers could return to work just days after giving birth to make ends meet, while fast-food workers may skip car payments to cover rent. Labor movement leaders say these harsh workplace realities affect hundreds […]