Kansas City

Affordable Housing Kansas City Missouri Needs Now

Kansas City, MO

It does not take any time in Kansas City, Missouri to figure out several things. Locals are mighty proud of their winning football team the Chiefs, their top notch zoo, and their world known barbeque.  


People travel from afar just to sample the famous “burnt ends” in one of the many well-known and well-attended smoke pits, some of which have been burning wood and cooking meat for nearly a century. 


While some people do not give a thought to what they assume is a dusty cow town on the grassy plains, Kansas City, Missouri has been a major player in everything from the start of the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. Intrigue, early urban development, the first shopping center, and many other forward looking firsts all started in this town at the convergence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers. 


There have been, and still are, a lot of cows, commerce, and cash that flow through this river town.  Affordable housing Kansas City lacks, however, and has for decades. 
Donate To Old Glory Kansas City

The Problem

Our Impact

$71,805

Average Washington
Household Income

$17,448

Average Old Glory
Washington Resident Income

146

Rental
Properties

20,424

 People Served

Kansas City, MO is a Major Midwestern River City

One of the big challenges to housing in Kansas City is the shear size of the greater area. One of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the United States, and the largest in the state of Missouri, KC is spread out over 380 square miles.


This often makes finding affordable housing near where you work, go to school, or need medical services nearly impossible. Kansas City is a town of independent suburbs without a good, interdependent public transportation system. Many of the factories, processing plants, and port storage facilities are along the major highways or in the frontage areas along the rivers. This makes it hard to find housing you can afford close to work.


It is sad to note that at one time KC had one of the most extensive and well run trolley systems in the United States with hundreds of miles of track. This massive system was directly responsible for the far-reaching urban sprawl that ensued with large suburban towns cropping up well away from city centers of industry and business. The last trolley car ran in 1957, leaving a big void in public transportation in the area. 


Low Income Housing Missouri Wide Is Not Readily Available

Not everyone can readily enjoy the microbreweries and famous BBQ joints along the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers.  Working class people with a strong work ethic occupy much of Kansas City and the suburbs. Kansans are known for doing what is necessary to survive and even thrive, whether it is weather that beats them down during the Dust Bowl, a tornado, or a downturn in beef futures. They work hard and tough it out.


So when Kansas City got hit hard – very hard – with the loss of jobs and the economic downturns due to health issues and changes in transportation costs (they are a major food supply chain hub), it hurt. People started losing hours, then getting laid off. Jobs disappeared. So did benefits.


And, like many places in the grain belt, public services like Title 8 low-income housing were not readily available or were in very short supply.  The area, and state, found itself overburdened by an unprecedented number of people filing for unemployment, and a drastic rise in foreclosures and evictions. This was especially frightening for both the very poor inner city and surrounding farm communities with literally no services available but a mounting need. Those of us at Old Glory saw what was happening, and we knew we had to do something about it. 


Missouri Low Income Housing Needs Help

Due to unfortunate ethnic and racial issue, Kansas City Missouri developed a large inner city slum after WWII and further after the civil right disturbances of the 1960’s and 70’s. The inner city and areas near industrialization suffered tremendous decay, and the city became heavily divided. This de-urbanization led to over a 50% reduction in the population of Kansas City proper by 1970.


As the 21stCentury approached, local government decided something had to be done about the sordid state of downtown KC and pushed a six billion dollar initiative to bring business, arenas, and clean up to the downtown areas. While there were some struggles due to the 2008 recession, Kansas City has managed to get a number of larger projects built and businesses to return.


The business district has up to a 90% occupancy rate now. The issue, however, is the money primarily went into public buildings and business and industrial refurbishing, not housing. After decades of decay, inner city housing for the lower income workers to those arenas, factories, and plants had received minimal attention.


Unemployment still was an issue in the area, as well as properly supported schools, clinics, social service networks, and other agencies to help bring up the human element in the region, not just the buildings. 


Kansas City was one of the first projects on the Old Glory list of “what can we do to change this problem?”  We were still a private contracting and remodeling company at that time, and as we drove around we realized the need for affordable housing, for safe structures that could be heated properly in the winter and could house a family were seriously lacking. We saw it overly affect certain age, ethnic, and racial groups, as well as those disenfranchised by society. It was heartbreaking. So what did we do? We started to buy houses.

 

We bought houses, dug deep to get them fixed up, and had long lists of people who truly needed affordable housing where there was little to none available that was safe, in a decent neighborhood, that offered dignity to the inhabitant. We bought more houses, and after working diligently to fix them up quickly rented them to very grateful veterans, ex-prisoners trying to get their lives together, families who had fallen on very hard times.


Every time we did we realized more and more that we were transforming lives by providing the opportunity to rent a home at a reasonable, fair rate. A decent home with clean running water, toilets that flushed, and a refrigerator that actually got cold and stored food. We saw homeowners asking if they could plant gardens to supplement their groceries. We learned about kids who were nearly dropouts bring their grades up and made the honor roll. We had seniors who for the first time in decades were able to feel safe at night, with the basic necessities available, and close by medical care. People were able to afford to keep their utilities on - basics that most of us take totally for granted.


It was humbling, and made us realize there was a much bigger picture to what we had to do. We decided that after so many success stories that were solved by simple caring and elbow grease that we were onto something major – helping people regain dignity, pride, and a sense of belonging.


That is why Old Glory went non-profit, and why now 12 years in we are in more states and expanding. It is amazing what it does for a person or family when the ability to rent a home at an affordable rate makes the difference for them, keeping them off the street and out of dangerous conditions. It feels pretty good for us, too. 


Missouri Affordable Housing is Within Reach of Your Phone

How to Apply For Low Income Housing in Missouri Is Easy - Fill Out Our Form and Submit, or Call Direct

The Old Glory process for getting involved or getting into a home is easy. Fill out the form and submit it, or call us.


We will tell you our guidelines, and you will find them far less invasive and much fairer than nearly any other affordable housing program around. We treat everyone equally. We work hard to give second chances to those coming out of prison, off the street, and especially needing to stay off the street when life turns into a mess.


Call us. We are self-managed, we form alliances and partnerships with many agencies, and we work hard to have the client services references and referrals you might need to help you succeed. We truly believe that given a chance, most people want to live in a decent home in a decent neighborhood. They want to feel safe, and know their kids are safe. They want their elderly parents and disabled family members to be able to go out in the community and not worry.


Trust us when we say we truly do want to see people succeed in getting into affordable housing at a reasonable cost. We have 12 years of hard work to prove we mean just that.



Contact Us Now

And if you want to donate a home, or have one in need 

of repair and want to sell, we’ll gladly take that call, too

If you are in the greater Kansas City Missouri or Kansas City Kansas area and have a distressed property you need to find a new owner for, please call us. We have all the tradespeople, contacts, and licenses to get done what needs done. We work hard to partner with local agencies, government offices, anyone who has the same vision and dedication we do – providing a chance for people by transforming their lives through decent, affordable, low cost homes.


We would be happy to share information about our current projects, who we work with, and how we have made a difference in people’s lives. Call us or send in our contact form and we will get right back with you. We like sharing the great feeling of helping people succeed and having a safe home to go to.

Give Us A Call
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