25 Jun Metro Lutheran Ministry (MLM) Receives $50,000 Grant from the KCMO Emergency Services Grant Program

Metro Lutheran Ministry (MLM) recently received a grant for $50,000 from the Kansas City Missouri Emergency Services Grant to provide Rapid Re-Housing services to 16 households, provided under MLM’s Family Empowerment Continuum of Services, which includes housing, food, and intensive case management in order to help families gain self-sufficiency.

MLM’s Rapid Re-Housing portion of the Family Empowerment program will include: 1) short-term and medium-term financial assistance including rental application fees, security deposits, last month’s rent, utility deposits, utility payments and moving costs; (2) rapid rehousing services including housing search and placement, assessment of housing barriers, needs and preferences, development of housing action plan, owner negotiation, assistance with rental applications and understanding leases, assessment of housing for ESGP compliance, assistance with utilities and making moving arrangements and tenant counseling; and (3) housing stability case management.

MLM’s Rapid Re-Housing portion of the Family Empowerment program supports the goals and objectives related to homelessness as outlined in the five year 2017-2021 Consolidated Plan of the City of Kansas City, Missouri. It will prioritize, but not exclusively serve, homeless families with children and help them through a multitude of difficult circumstances that lead them into homelessness, and threaten to keep them there. The wraparound services of the Family Empowerment program will address emergency food needs, help clients eliminate barriers to employment, provide financial literacy, and case management with skills training to help them sustain their independence. These wraparound services will help clients stabilize and provide them a path to self-sufficiency.

Metro Lutheran Ministry (MLM) was founded in 1971 as a response to poverty and homelessness for people of all races, religions, and nationalities in the greater Kansas City area. For 45 years, MLM has served the poor, homeless, elderly, and disabled of Kansas City’s urban core. Our holistic approach to services and programs address the immediate need for food, clothing, shelter, utilities, and transportation. MLM’s mission: “With abiding faith in the intrinsic value of all God’s children, Metro Lutheran Ministry connects those in need with food, housing, health care, education, employment services, and other resources in order to nurture greater hope, health, opportunity, and peace.”