Updated at 10:57 a.m. Aug. 25.
Olathe Salvation Army officials hope to open four additional housing units by the end of spring, after receiving final approval from the city council.
The city council voted 7-0 to approve the expansion at its Aug. 19 meeting.
“The fact that people are supportive in the neighborhood speaks for itself,” said Councilmember Marge Vogt. “Y’all are truly the epitome of what we would like to see for homeless shelters.”
Next steps for the Salvation Army include sending out bids for construction, selecting a company and then starting the concrete work. Captain Nate Woodard said he’d like to get the concrete laid before the winter, when freezing temperatures prevent concrete from curing.
Once the foundation is completed, Woodard said the rest of the building should go up quickly.
Original story continues below.
The city of Olathe is moving ahead with the Salvation Army’s request to expand its shelter for those experiencing homelessness.
The Olathe Planning Commission on Monday recommended the Salvation Army’s shelter on N. Woodland Street be allowed to expand by four additional units.
The organization’s shelter currently has 14 units on its property, but officials say the need for housing has only increased since it opened in 2012.
Both a rezoning measure and a request for a special use permit for the property at the corner of N. Woodland Street and E. Poplar Street, just a couple of blocks east of Olathe City Hall, were approved 8-0 at Tuesday’s commission meeting. Commissioner Chip Corcoran was absent.
“We are requesting to add additional transitional housing units in response to a growing and urgent need for shelter and affordable transitional options in Johnson County,” Salvation Army Captain Nate Woodard wrote in a letter to Olathe. “The demand for family shelter continues to exceed our capacity, and this expansion would allow us to serve more families and help them move toward long-term stability.”
Four more transitional housing units
Eleven of the existing 14 units are meant for emergency housing needs, serving families in a shorter period of time — roughly 90 days.
The other three existing units are transitional housing, meant to help families over a longer period of time — about six to 12 months.
The estimated $1.1 million expansion project would add four transitional housing units, funded by Salvation Army reserves and a $467,000 grant from Johnson County’s remaining COVID-era federal relief funds.
“The new units being proposed will be part of the transitional housing program, designed for families with additional barriers to stability who may need more time and support,” Woodard said.
The Salvation Army isn’t the only social services organization in Johnson County struggling to meet demand for temporary or emergency housing.
Project 1020, which operates only during the winter months out of the Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church in Lenexa, won approval in February to add 20 beds to its overnight shelter. The facility is now able to house up to 50 people per night during the winter.
No concerns raised by residents, police
The Salvation Army works with families during their stay at the Olathe shelter to help them get back on their feet and eventually find more permanent housing — providing things like case management, child care, food, monetary support and aid with long-term planning.
Additionally, the organization helps with temporary housing and support services when disasters happen — like the May condemnation of the Aspen Place Apartments in Gardner, which displaced roughly 200 residents with only a 48-hour notice.
“Success for us is sustainability for the families,” Woodard said in an interview Tuesday.
Neighborhood meetings for the expansions were held in early July, with only three residents in attendance and another following up later by phone.
No residents raised any concerns, said Nathan Jurey, senior planner for Olathe. Additionally, the Olathe Police Department had no concerns about the proposal.
Jurey said the family shelter “does provide a civic service for the community in a residential format that really does blend well” with homes and commercial businesses in the surrounding area near downtown Olathe.
Broader debate over helping those experiencing housing insecurity
The potential expansion of the Olathe shelter comes after a proposed 75-unit homeless shelter in Lenexa was denied last September.
After nearly a year of discussion at the county and city levels, the Lenexa City Council ultimately voted to deny a special use permit that would’ve allowed for the La Quinta Inn and Suites hotel near Interstate 35 and 95th Street to be converted into a year-round shelter and services center.
The project, estimated to cost roughly $10.5 million between purchasing the hotel and renovating it, would’ve been paid for mostly through federal COVID relief funds.
Supporters and county officials characterized the plan as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to address growing rates of homelessness in Johnson County.
But Lenexa officials expressed concern that the shelter, near where Project 1020 operates, could concentrate negative impacts in that area and could prove a strain on city resources, including on Lenexa Police.
What happens next in Olathe
If the expansion is given final approval by the Olathe City Council, Woodard said the project could be completed as early as next summer.
The city council is expected to take up the item at its meeting later in August.
