KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
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With the Kansas City region still in the grips of dangerously cold temperatures, the Community Services League’s Drop-In Center has doubled as a warming center this week in the basement of Good Shepherd Community of Christ.
The church straddles the Independence/Kansas City, Missouri, city limits at 4341 Blue Ridge Blvd.
“This is an absolute life-saving effort,” said CSL’s Street Outreach Manager Belinda Goodwin. “This is about saving people’s hands, feet and lives.”
The Drop-In Center, which is also in partnership with the city of Independence and received support from the Rotary Club of Independence, has been open for two weeks and has already helped nearly 200 people.
The need has been particularly acute this week because of the dangerous cold, which has drawn more than 75 people to the warming center in recent days.
“I have people come in — we greet them with a smile, give them some love, give them some food, some hot coffee,” Goodwin said. “Then, I serve lunch in the afternoon as well. Then, I start getting placement for individuals, whatever that needs to look like.”
That includes Bob, who spent Wednesday morning at the warming center. He said he’s been unhoused for six months.
“I just really have no place to go,” said Bob, who asked that we not use his last name. “I came here for hot food and to try to help people. ... You can go to a library or something like that to stay warm, but you can’t stay there all day. At night, there’s not really much you can do.”
CSL’s mission with the Drop-In Center goes well beyond a few days of warmth.
“Our goal is to get everybody, what we call in our world, housing-ready,” Goodwin said. “That means IDs, that means birth certificates, social security cards — and that way we can transition them into possible housing options. But they have to have those things — and jobs. Whatever it is that that individual is needing, that’s what we help them with.”
CSL helped Bob find overnight housing through its hotel voucher program. He’s spent some brutally cold nights outside in the past.
“You’ve got to have plenty of blankets and you’ve got to depend on other people for donations and stuff,” he said. “It gets hard.”
But having a hotel room when the weather’s at its worst keeps him safe.
“You have no idea,” Bob said. “I’m very grateful. There’s so many other people that I think deserve it more than me, that have been out there way longer. But it’s amazing, honestly. It’s a God bless. It’s nice to have a warm bed. You’re able to wash your clothes, have warm food to microwave. Unfortunately, they’re limited of how many vouchers they have, so it would be nice if people would donate more money to help so more people can have couches for different rooms and stuff like that.”
Warm hands, warm feet and full bellies are just the start for CSL’s Drop-In Center, which also has warm-weather gear available and case-management services.
"I encourage everybody to come in, and we will make sure that we make those arrangements, whatever that needs to look like for those folks,” Goodwin said.
Eventually, the center also will incorporate laundry services and showers.
“I’ve done this for a very long time,” Goodwin said. “People need to come in. They need to have this kind of space to act like an actual human, be treated like a human, get the respect that they deserve and get the love that they deserve instead of just being passed by.”
For those who want to help, donations can be made online and in-kind donations can be dropped off at the Drop-In Center during normal operating hours and at all other CSL locations.
“The biggest thing that I always suggest is to get that cold-weather gear out here to us,” Goodwin said. “We need socks. We need gloves. We need ‘Hot Hands.’ We need hats. We need scarves. We need everything. Individuals come in here with nothing.”
