Blue Springs, Mo. – Blue Springs invites residents to participate in a public meeting as part of a regional study to determine how communities can help residents access housing that meets their needs. The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 20 from 6-8 p.m. at the Howard L. Brown Public Safety Building located on 1100 SW Smith Street.
Residents will meet in the Journagan Family Community Room to share their stories about difficulties they may have faced when obtaining housing in Blue Springs; feedback given will be used to develop a regional fair housing plan.
Over the next few months, participating communities, with support from the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), will collect data about current housing infrastructure and examine difficult issues like racial and ethnic segregation, concentrated areas of poverty, and challenges faced by people with disabilities or limited English proficiency. Participating agencies will use the feedback to develop a regional fair housing plan.
Local communities that receive federal housing funds are required every five years to assess the fair housing challenges facing their residents, and use the findings from the analysis to guide the use of the federal funds. The five cities participating in the regional fair housing plan are Leavenworth; Kansas City, Kansas/Wyandotte County; Kansas City, Missouri; Blue Springs and Independence.
For more information on the study, please go to www.marc.org/fairhousing. Residents planning to attend an upcoming meeting who need special accommodations should contact Marlene Nagel at 816-701-8218 at least 48 hours in advance.
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