KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The City Union Mission says the number of homeless seeking shelter is up by 17 percent for 2012. The majority of calls to metro homeless shelters are from single women and mothers with children.
The City Union Mission has 25 rooms for families and more often than not, they have to turn away mothers and children who need a place to stay. The Mission says a steady stream of the homeless seeking shelter is coming from Wyandotte County.
Christina Patton, 33, calls the City Union Mission a life saver. She and her two-month-old son Zayden came to the shelter in June after Patton says she hit rock bottom with no job or roof over their heads in Wyandotte County.
“The guy I was dating was on drugs and was taking all my money,” Patton said. “And I couldn’t pay for my car or my apartment. And I ended up coming up here to live with family because I lost my job and I lost everything.”
Now, she is taking life skills classes at the shelter with a goal of getting back in the workforce and living on her own. She’s an example of the steady stream of Wyandotte County homeless seeking shelter at the City Union Mission. Executive Director Daniel Doty says the surge he’s seeing comes at the same time a national survey predicts the poverty rate will reach its highest level in nearly 50 years.
“When we think of men, we think they are able to fend for themselves, but women especially women with children, whatever the age of children, it’s a very, very tough thing,” Doty said.
Doty says the number of homeless hotline calls peak during the summer months of June through September. If the numbers continue to grow, the shelter may consider expanding. Patton says there aren’t enough jobs in Wyandotte County.
“It doesn’t really surprise me because I’ve lived there for quite a while,” she said. “Not being able to find work for almost a year, it’s very tough out there.”
Doty says they receive more than 6,700 hotline calls during a year from people who were displaced for some reason or need a safe place to stay.
