KANSAS CITY, Kan. — With a severe cold snap approaching, Wyandotte County, Kansas, will not open an emergency overnight shelter, a decision that some service providers worry could have fatal consequences.
The Kansas City Star reports that service providers preparing to open the shelter in Kansas City, Kansas, instead learned that the Unified Government won’t allow it. The decision leaves the county without any overnight cold weather shelters. Temperatures are expected to drop to around zero degrees this weekend.
Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Tyrone Garner wrote in a statement to the Star that his goal is to address homelessness in the long term, but he didn’t respond to specific questions about the decision to not move forward with a shelter.