J-W Editorial staff
Lawrence Journal-World Editorial
A wonderful sign of the human spirit was on display this holiday season as city officials, local nonprofits, a local business and community volunteers came together to fill an urgent need.
On Dec. 23, the city finalized an agreement with Lawrence’s Days Inn hotel to serve as a temporary shelter for homeless individuals who otherwise would find themselves battling the harsh elements of Kansas winter nights. This is the second such hotel project in the community, with the other one operating at the Econo Lodge University hotel.
This latest project undoubtedly took a lot of last-minute planning and unexpected work from many parties. It is a testament to Lawrence’s community spirit of compassion that the work got done and that individuals are now being safely housed at the hotel.
Days Inn, 730 Iowa St., is pictured Dec. 24, 2020.
With the help of volunteers, the city of Lawrence will be opening an overnight drop-in shelter that aims to provide a safe option in freezing temperatures for the more than 100 homeless people currently estimated to be sleeping outside.
The city and other partners finalized agreements Wednesday afternoon so that the shelter could open Wednesday night, according to Assistant City Manager Brandon McGuire. McGuire said the city has contracted with Days Inn, 730 Iowa St., to host the shelter and signed an agreement with the volunteer group Lawrence Coalition for Homeless Concerns to operate the shelter.
Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured on May 3, 2016.
With more than 100 homeless people currently living outside, city leaders have voted to create a temporary winter shelter program that uses hotels, and they’ve also approved additional funding to allow the program to house more people than initially proposed.
As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission voted unanimously to approve a city-led program that will use hotel rooms to provide shelter to homeless people over the next 90 days. Under the initial proposal for the program, however, dozens of people would still have been left unsheltered, so the commission also voted to allocate an additional $50,000 to the program so that it could help more people.
Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured Thursday, July 7, 2016.
City leaders will soon consider creating a new temporary winter shelter program that will house homeless people in hotel rooms for the next few months.
As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider authorizing the city to make agreements with the local homeless shelter and a hotel to provide the program. The initial $250,000 in funding for the program will come from federal coronavirus aid, distributed via the Emergency Solutions Grants Program, and will pay for 51 hotel rooms for a period of 90 days, according to a city staff memo to the commission.