Kansas City Launches the Housing Gateway Program

For Immediate Release: February 11, 2026

Kansas City has an affordable housing shortage of 64,000 homes and rent is rising at one of the fastest paces in the country with a 7% increase since 2024. Since 2018, the number of people living outside has grown by 168%, and most long-term homeless residents are unsheltered. To address this growing number of people experiencing and at imminent risk of homelessness, the

City of Kansas City is investing $1 million to rapidly expand its housing infrastructure through the Kansas City
Housing Gateway Program.

Last Thursday, City Council approved Ordinance 260140 to use existing funds as an investment to start the program which will evaluate the City's current homelessness response system and expand housing access. "We all know homelessness is a problem in our city, but my focus is on solutions, and sometimes solutions require a new approach," said lead-sponsor Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw. "The Housing Gateway Program is about moving beyond conversation and into action, and is a critical first step towards a long-term, more comprehensive approach that brings real results. By leveraging public-private partnerships, we can create a coordinated pathway that moves more people into safe shelter, stable housing, and supportive services faster and more effectively."

The City's Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD) will operate the program through the Office of
Unhoused Solutions (OUS). The program will address unsheltered and chronic homelessness through these key
areas:

• Flexible municipal fund
• Rapid, needs-based support to individuals and families
• Public-Private governance and accountability structures
• Strategic plan from a leading national homelessness expert
• Landlord partnerships
• Measurable reductions in unsheltered homelessness
• Reform and reallocate existing federal resources

Since the implementation of ZERO KC, the City's strategic plan to address homelessness, HCDD has been collaborating with Kansas City's business community to outline permanent solutions to improve access to housing and to develop outcomes-based options to address homelessness.

"This is first and foremost a humanitarian challenge that calls for empathy, urgency, and shared responsibility," said Kevin Barth, Chairman and CEO, Commerce Bank - Kansas City. "The business community is aligned on its support of hiring one of the most accomplished experts in the country to work with KCMO's Housing and Community Development team to address the causes of homelessness. We applaud Kansas City's elected officials and staff for their willingness to further study how other major cities are working to address this complex issue. As a downtown employer, we are focused on maintaining a safe and vibrant city core that is a critical component of a thriving region."

The impact of future public-private partnerships will allow the OUS to advance the ZERO KC plan for
faster placement of individuals directly from encampments into housing through flexible, local funding provided by the
Housing Gateway Program. Some specifics of the program include support to individuals and families through:

• Short-term rental assistance
• Security deposits
• Utility payments
• Transportation support
• Tenant protections
• Covering other costs needed to help someone get or keep stable housing

"We know we rank near dead last for major cities when we deal with homelessness," said co-sponsor
Councilmember Johnathan Duncan. "Folks who are in shelters, of which we do not have enough, are still homeless. This
program gets folks housed and healed to adequately address our homeless crisis."

Over the next six months, City Manager Mario Vasquez will create an advisory board made up of city staff, representatives from the Houseless Advisory Commission and city council, as well as business and philanthropic leaders who will give strategic guidance for the implementation of the Housing Gateway Program. This August, the City Manager will share recommendations with city council about how Kansas City currently responds to homelessness and recommendations for
improvements.

"The Housing Gateway Program is a proactive step to better address homelessness in Kansas City amid anticipated shifts in federal housing funding," said HCDD Director Blaine Proctor. "We are inviting all stakeholders to the table as we restructure our approach to address unsheltered homelessness and create safe and stable housing opportunities for residents. Though the hard work is still ahead of us, this would not be possible without the dedication of the Housing staff, whose four years of groundwork has brought us to this point."