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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When winter weather arrives, homeless people sometimes have nowhere to go.

City leaders are now working with a metro nonprofit to address the growing number of homeless families, collaborating on a plan to provide temporary housing during the winter months. 

A flimsy, blue plastic tent on a roadside is no one’s idea of adequate housing. Many of those camping structures are turning up around the metro.

Advocates for the homeless report that some people using those as permanent residences have lost their homes and jobs to the economy, a byproduct of the pandemic.

“There’s always been that cliche — we’re one paycheck away from there,” Jaysen Van Sickle, Hope Faith Homeless Assistance CEO, said. 

Hope Faith does a little of everything for the homeless in Kansas City. Van Sickle’s agency has entered into an agreement with Kansas City’s council to provide free rooms at a metro hotel for families and single women who qualify during the winter months.

The city council has invested $8 million in community development block grants toward the project, which will keep applicable homeless people off the streets through April.

“Even though there’s eviction protection, we’re still seeing people living out of cars. By the time the legal system comes back and slaps those landlords on the wrists for evicting them, they will have been on the streets for months,” Van Sickle said.

Hope Faith leaders asked FOX4 not to share the exact location of that hotel. Guests there will get meals and clothing as well as counseling to help in searches for employment and new permanent housing.

Van Sickle said the hotel will even offer educational space for school-aged children involved in distance learning.

City Councilwoman Melissa Robinson said council members are dedicated to keeping as many Kansas Citians off the streets as possible during the cold months. 

“We need to do more,” Robinson said. “It is unacceptable for individuals to have nowhere to turn and no ability to secure shelter in these frigid times of the year. It’s unacceptable. We have to do everything we can to protect life.”

People who are interested are welcome to contact Hope Faith Homeless Assistance. The agency’s phone number is (816) 471-HOPE.