KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Seventy-thousand people make up south Kansas City, Missouri, across the Hickman Mills and Ruskin Heights neighborhoods and the nearby city of Grandview.
In Ruskin Heights, the notion of getting to know your neighbors is a difficult one.
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“It kind of depends on who you get as neighbors, and that can be either really good or really bad,” said Amelia Smith, who lives in Ruskin Heights.
Smith says it’s because of the rent cycle.
“Here I see people move out every two months," she said.
Lots of new faces can mean an unstable community.
Rachel Casey, the executive director for the Community Assistance Council, is working to change that, by working to make sure people stay in their homes.
In a survey of more than 400 people in the area, she saw how having access to food, hygiene, job assistance and youth and senior services is greatly needed.
“Our primary assistance is emergency services in rent, utilities and food," she said. “We aim to keep a roof over their head, food on the table, diapers on the baby — basic hygiene.”
In her report, she laid out some of the entities her organization is serving. The list includes:
- Residents living in four of KCMO’s apartment complexes with the highest eviction rates
- An area with no houseless shelters
- A 100% free and reduced lunch school district
- The school district with the state's highest mobility rate
The two school districts referenced are the Hickman Mills C-1 School District and the Center School District.
Hickman Mills has an estimated 450 students considered houseless or at risk of houselessness.
The Center School District has an estimation of 108 and areas with life expectancies 10 years less than the city average of 78 years old.
In 2022, CAC provided $2.35 million worth of food, hygiene items, diapers, case management, critical documents, education, job support, connections to mental and physical health providers, and emergency rent and utilities.
They serve the community where 70,000 people live and talked about their most common client.
“Black, single female. 34 years old. Three kids, one in diapers, two in the Hickman Mills School District ... high school diploma, but probably underemployed, because her average income is $26,000 annually," Casey said.
Casey says they receive 300 requests for rent and utilities each week, and the need for help in south Kansas City extends to all types of households.
She said the report laid out that the community does not have a houseless center, no community kitchen, no senior center, no YMCA, and no youth center. Public transportation is especially challenging, according to the report.
“I’ve had to look at the options a number of times. What am I going to sacrifice this month? Not what am I going to add this month, but what am I going to sacrifice?" Smith said. "The economy is not fantastic right now, and people are really trying to make their way, and this is one of the cheaper areas to live in, but still, it’s getting so expensive that it’s hard to really call anything affordable these days, so it doesn’t surprise me that number.”
Kim Kuse, another resident, is feeling it, too.
“It’s hard to keep five kids' mouths fed," Kuse said. “More help, in every aspect possible. The prices are just skyrocketing, and people are living paycheck to paycheck.”
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