Kansas City — the metro, both states.

What this is

A list of where to call, where to walk in, what to expect when you get there, and what you do not have to bring. We try to name uncomfortable things directly — that some shelters require sobriety, that some require religion, that some separate families. That information matters before you show up.

We mark each entry with a confidence tier: Verified (we called recently), Community-confirmed (someone we trust used the service recently), Legacy (it used to work — re-check), Unverified (in the list because it is widely listed elsewhere — re-check), Seasonal (operates only part of the year).

The metro at a glance

"Kansas City" almost always means Kansas City, Missouri. KCK (Kansas City, Kansas) is a separate city across the state line. Both sit inside a metro of around 2.4 million people spread across:

• Missouri counties: Jackson, Clay, Platte, Cass, Ray
• Kansas counties: Wyandotte, Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami
• Regional planning: Mid-America Regional Council (MARC)

See map for a clearer picture of who governs what, and neighborhoods for the metro's character map.

Sections

• Need help now — emergency numbers and crisis lines
• Directory (search) — every entry, filter by state, language, access
• Food — pantries, hot meals, SNAP/WIC
• Housing — shelters, tenants' rights, rental help
• Healthcare — FQHCs, free clinics, street medicine
• Legal aid — civil aid, immigration, tenant defense, reentry
• Veterans — any discharge, any era — crisis lines, KC VA, VCP, upgrades
• Utilities — LIHEAP, LIEAP, Evergy, water, internet
• Libraries — all the things libraries actually do
• Transit — RideKC, streetcar, KC Scout
• Government — city, county, MARC, 311, elections
• Property — six assessors, tax appeals, renter tools
• Taxes — earnings tax, MO vs KS, border war
• Data — open portals, MARC, public records
• Use the data — exports, reuse, fields, corrections
• Neighborhoods — Troost, JoCo, 18th & Vine
• Local knowledge — the unwritten orientation
• Newcomers — visitors and recent arrivals
• World Cup 2026 — visitor + displacement
• Give help — volunteer, donate
• Suggest / correct — flag something or add a service

Machine-readable

If you run a mutual aid group, a newsroom, or a clinic and want the raw data:

• All services (JSON)
• All services (CSV)
• Crisis numbers (plain text)
• Crisis numbers (JSON)

Free to mirror, redistribute, repost. If you're using it programmatically, the JSON updates daily.

What this is not

Not legal advice. Not medical advice. Not a city government site. Not a charity portal. Not exhaustive. The information here is best-effort. Call ahead before you depend on anything listed here.