Month: August 2021

$1.85 million in housing assistance approved by UG

An extra $1.85 million in housing insecurity assistance and other assistance was approved by the Unified Government Commission on Thursday night.

The funding will come from the $87 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds that the UG is receiving.

At the meeting, UG Commissioner Jane Philbrook thanked UG Administrator Doug Bach and the UG staff for putting together the housing assistance proposal that the commissioners had requested a few weeks ago. She thanked them for understanding that this is an emergency and not something they can put off for a few months.

“Some of these folks are already in the streets,” Commissioner Philbrook said.

Ten to 12 Wyandotte County nonprofit agencies could receive funding to help with housing insecurities.

Just around an hour or so after the UG voted, news came out about the end of the national eviction moratorium. The U.S. Supreme Court vacated a stay on evictions on Thursday. The court wrote, “It strains credulity to believe that this statute grants the CDC the sweeping authority that it asserts.”

Justice Stephen Breyer dissented from the majority’s opinion, including in his opinion a chart of the cases and deaths from COVID-19 and the Delta variant, which are currently rising in the nation. He cited irreparable harm from vacating the stay, as COVID-19 rates have spiked in recent weeks. The opinion is online at https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/21a23_ap6c.pdf.

At the UG meeting, UG Commissioners Gayle Townend and Melissa Bynum also had spoken in favor of allotting more money for direct housing and basic needs assistance for Wyandotte County residents. The measure passed unanimously.

Commissioner Bynum said with an injection of revenues that they have never seen before, the UG has an amazing opportunity to take a problem that impacts every corner of the community and put in a structure that solves it, with their community partners. They have an opportunity to make a huge leap forward for many struggling residents in the community, she said.

Commissioner Christian Ramirez said he was in support of the housing insecurity funding, and other ARPA funding remaining will be an opportunity for real change in the community.

Commissioner Tom Burroughs urged the UG to get those dollars out to the community to those in need, and not to wait.

The housing assistance program will go through the UG Health Department, according to officials. Juliann Van Liew, Health Department director, said it will be run similar to the CARES Act funding, which went through the United Way to distribute funding to several nonprofit agencies in Wyandotte County that have traditionally handled this sort of assistance.

While there has been a state program funded with federal dollars to assist renters with housing and utility needs, they have been hearing from nonprofit agencies that residents had trouble accessing the program funding, and that the agencies needed funding to help the residents with their applications. The state program was narrowly defined as to who would be eligible for the funding.

With the UG’s allocation, the nonprofit agencies would have broader discretion on helping individuals with housing needs, according to Van Liew.

Commissioner Townsend was in favor of broader discretion in helping individuals. The objective would be to keep residents in their dwellings, she said.

Besides housing assistance, the plans are to use the funding for utility and food assistance, according to Van Liew.

Evictions have been linked to COVID-19, as some residents have lost jobs because of the economic effects of the pandemic. Others may have contracted the virus and been unable to work. Some families have lost income earners to death from the virus.

The details of the UG’s program are expected to be announced at a later time. The program would run through January 2022, according to the UG resolution.

The UG Commission also approved the $87 million that is being allocated from ARPA funding.

About $11.7 million will be spent on “immediate needs.” This plan was outlined at a meeting a few weeks ago. The $1.8 million for housing assistance is in addition to the $11.7 million.

Most of the $87 million the UG is receiving in ARPA funding is going to revenue loss replacement from COVID, according to UG officials, including $31 million for the city and $11 million for the county.

The remainder of the funding, $24 million for the city and $21 million for the county, is available to be spent on other ARPA categories as outlined by federal guidelines, according to UG officials. There is currently a UG administration proposal to use some of the funds to build up the UG’s reserves for a year or two.

The UG received around half of the federal funding this year, with the rest to be received next year. The UG will have a few years to make decisions on how to spend the remainder of the funding that was not allocated for revenue loss replacement.

Of the $11.7 million in “immediate needs,” public health will receive $5.95 million; while $2.38 million will go to reduce negative economic impact; $1.07 million will be for disproportionately impacted communities assistance; $422,000 will go to ARPA grant support; and $1.93 million will go toward online processing and technology investment.

According to UG officials, there is still time for residents to suggest their ideas on how to spend the money through an online forum at https://dashboards.mysidewalk.com/american-rescue-plan-act or by email to [email protected].

More information on the UG meeting is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbq2U0j3Rn8.

Health Department issues guidance for gatherings

The Unified Government Health Department on Thursday issued new guidance for gatherings of groups in Wyandotte County.

Groups should be limited to 25 persons outdoors for fully vaccinated persons, according to the new guidance. Indoor groups of fully vaccinated persons should be limited to 10, according to the Health Department.

For persons who are not fully vaccinated, the guidance is that they are safest if they avoid gathering with others who are not in their household, according to the Health Department.

The guidance included different levels such as “less safe,” “moderate risk” and “high risk.”

According to a news release, the guidance was issued for personal or social gatherings to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in Wyandotte County and the Kansas City area.

It is in response to a recent increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, as well as the spread of the Delta variant, according to the Health Department. The Health Department plans to monitor COVID-19 data for Wyandotte County closely in the coming weeks and re-evaluate the gathering guidance in late September 2021, according to the news release.

For those who are fully vaccinated, the safest option is to limit gathering size and wear masks, excepet when they are both outdoors and socially distanced, according to the Health Department.


Residents should choose outdoor gatherings rather than indoor gatherings when possible, the Health Department stated. Gatherings should be limited to 25 people. If 6 feet of social distancing cannot be maintained, persons should wear a mask, the Health Department stated.

For indoor gatherings, fully vaccinated persons should limit them to 10 people, wear a mask and maintain 6 feet of social distancing, the Health Department stated.

A less safe option for the fully vaccinated, if they choose to have gatherings larger than the recommended number of people, they are asked to continue to wear masks to reduce the risk, the Health Department stated.

People who are fully vaccinated are at high risk when they gather without masks and without limiting the number of people, particularly if they are gathering indoors, according to the Health Department

Those who are not fully vaccinated are safest when avoiding gatherings with people who do not live in their household, according to the Health Department.

Under moderate risk for those who are not fully vaccinated, the guidance is to limit outdoor gatherings to 25 people, maintain social distancing and wear a mask if 6 feet of social distancing will be difficult to maintain. For indoor gatherings, those who are not fully vaccinated should avoid indoor gatherings wherever possible. If people gather indoors, they should limit it to no more than 10 people, wear a mask at all times and maintain social distancing.

Those who are not fully vaccinated are at high risk if they gather without masks or in larger numbers of people, particularly if gathering indoors, according to the Health Department. This creates high risk for the spread of COVID-19, especially the Delta variant.

The Health Department stated this guidance does not apply to health care settings, public health clinics or events where free COVID-19 vaccines or COVID-19 tests will be administered.

The Health Department urges caution with large events to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community, according to the news release.

Any business, organization or group that is planning a large event that would like to receive guidance from the Health Department on COVID-19 safety for the event may email [email protected] or call 913-573-6712.