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 […]
Housing
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 inLocal Government
As Kansas City Life Insurance flattens houses in the Valentine neighborhood, residents anxiously await what’s next
Dozens of homes and businesses on four blocks of the Valentine neighborhood have been razed over the past 120 years, demolished one by one from 80 at its peak in 1909 to 30 at the beginning of this year.
As 2024 comes to a close, only eight still stand in the area bordered by 33rd and 35th streets, Southwest Trafficway and Pennsylvania Avenue.
“It’s like a wasteland,” said Catherine Hayes, a Valentine resident for the past 40 years.
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
A winter guide to Kansas City area renters’ rights
For a renter, waking up to a broken heater or burst pipes can kick off months of negotiations with a landlord. And even when it’s fixed, improper insulation or outdated windows can let the heat out and balloon energy bills.
Some cities have rules to make sure that safety issues like heat get fixed quickly. In Kansas City, Missouri, you can file a Healthy Homes complaint to get problems fixed. In Overland Park, you can submit an OPCares request to ask a city inspector to take a look.
Here’s a guide to what the law requires of your landlord, as well as some renter-friendly tips on how you can keep your apartment warm and safe during the winter months.
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 inElections
Homeless in Kansas? Here’s how you can still vote
Being homeless in Kansas City, Kansas, comes with its own set of challenges. Wyandotte County has no permanent emergency shelters. And it has notably fewer resources and less funding available for homeless services than the Missouri side of the Kansas City area. Yet several agencies in that city and Wichita can help homeless people with […]