CURRENT CAMPAIGNS
Our community names the problems. We organize to solve them.
CUJ's issue campaigns are driven entirely by the people of Wyandotte County. Through our annual listening process, our members decide what needs to change. Some campaigns are active fights we pursue until we win. Others have secured commitments and are in a monitoring phase — we watch, and we hold officials accountable.
Active Campaigns
Affordable Housing Trust Fund
In 2023, CUJ organized the campaign that established Wyandotte County's first-ever Affordable Housing Trust Fund — a dedicated public fund operating within the county's Community Benefits Ordinance that directs economic development revenues toward affordable housing. The Fund is already working. Early investments include the KCK Homes for Generations Program ($75,000) and the Upper Story Housing Development Reimbursement Fund ($40,000), supporting homeownership and new residential units across the county.
The Problem
What We Won
At the 2026 Nehemiah Action, Mayor Christal Watson and four UG Commissioners have committed to $2 million in annual investment into the trust fund.
Commissioner Melissa Bynum - At Large District 1
Commissioner Dr. Evelyn Hill - District 4
Commissioner Philip Lopez - District 6
Commissioner Andrew Davis - District 8
We are pushing to lock that commitment into the county budget. Economic development revenues alone are too modest and unpredictable to drive real housing development. Developers and nonprofits need guaranteed, recurring funding to plan and build. And beyond economics, this investment is a direct response to decades of redlining that stripped wealth and stability from Wyandotte County's Black and brown communities.
Wyandotte County residents cannot afford where they live. HUD's 2026 Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit is $1,197 per month — out of reach for the 30 percent of households already cost-burdened. Two out of three Black households cannot afford modest housing, a gap that traces directly to decades of federally sanctioned redlining. Meanwhile the county produces only 108 affordable units per year against a regional deficit approaching 24,000 units.
What we are Fighting For
Property Tax Relief
The Problem
Wyandotte County homeowners carry a tax burden shaped by decades of deliberate disinvestment. In historically redlined neighborhoods, the median home value is $56,000 — compared to $167,000 countywide. That narrow tax base means every homeowner absorbs an outsized share of the burden. Kansas offers the Homestead Refund — up to $700 per year in property tax relief for qualifying seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families — but an estimated 1,500 or more eligible Wyandotte County residents have never claimed it.
At the 2026 Nehemiah Action, County Administrator David Johnston committed to providing the resources needed to connect more qualified residents with the Homestead Refund program. Mayor Watson and attending commissioners committed to a feasibility study on Commissioner Pacheco's CARE circuit-breaker proposal by August 31, 2026, and a formal Commission vote by December 31, 2026. The feasibility study has since been approved, with a completion date of September 30, 2026.
What We Won
The Homestead Refund commitment needs results. We are pushing to see the number of approved applicants climb to 3,000 for the 2027 filing season — and we will be watching. On the CARE proposal, the feasibility study is underway. We are holding the Commission to the December 31, 2026 vote. A circuit breaker caps property taxes as a percentage of income, reaching the residents every existing program misses. Wyandotte County residents need that vote to happen on time.
What We are Fighting For
Advocacy for our Unsheltered Neighbors
The Problem
In 2025, 20 unhoused Wyandotte County residents died on our streets. A memorial was held for them on January 9, 2026. Three weeks later, the Point-in-Time Count rose from 115 to 203 — nearly doubling in one year. A neighbor was found deceased during that count. The county's only cold-weather response is 40 emergency shelter beds, available only below 25 degrees. There is no permanent, year-round shelter.
Low-Barrier Shelter
What We Won
At the 2026 Nehemiah Action, Mayor Watson and Commissioners Hill, Davis, Bynum, and Lopez committed to a permanent, low-barrier shelter. The county has until December 31, 2026 to secure a site — or forfeit millions in available federal funding. That deadline is now.
What we are Fighting For Now
Commitment requires follow-through. The UG must identify and secure a permanent shelter location before the end of 2026. Every month of delay risks losing the federal dollars that make it possible.
Our Commissioners and Elected Officials Need to Hear from You! Email them and tell them we need to move forward with a low-barrier shelter before more lives are lost.
Built for Zero
Built for Zero is a proven, data-driven model used in more than 100 communities across the country to end chronic homelessness. It uses a real-time, by-name registry of every unhoused person in the community, cross-agency coordination, and a dedicated coordinator whose sole job is moving people from the street into permanent housing. Communities that fully implement Built for Zero reach functional zero — the point where homelessness becomes rare, brief, and non-recurring.
What We Won
At the 2026 Nehemiah Action, Mayor Watson and four commissioners committed to the Built for Zero strategy. Service providers in Wyandotte County are already implementing it.
What we are Fighting For Now
Built for Zero requires real investment in rapid rehousing. Service providers are doing the work. The county must fund it. We are pushing for rapid rehousing to be reflected as a genuine budget priority.
Reversing the Unsafe Camping Ordinance
The Problem
In late 2025, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County passed the Unsafe Camping Ordinance — making it a crime to sleep outside in a county with no permanent shelter. The ordinance punishes people for surviving. A first offense carries up to 40 hours of public service. A second brings a $200 fine or 30 days in jail. In a county where there is nowhere to go, every night outside creates the possibility of a new criminal offense.
This is the criminalization of poverty. And it does not work. Not one peer-reviewed study across the 100 largest U.S. cities over 20 years found that ordinances like this reduce homelessness. What they do is push our most vulnerable neighbors deeper into the shadows, further from the services trying to help them, and closer to death. Wyandotte County cannot arrest its way out of a housing crisis.
What we are Fighting For Now
Mayor Watson and Commissioners Hill, Davis, and Bynum committed at the 2026 Nehemiah Action to reverse this ordinance. Commissioner Lopez did not. We are holding those who committed to their word — and continuing to press for full reversal.
Issues Now in Monitoring Phase
The following campaigns have secured public commitments from decision makers. CUJ continues to monitor progress and will re-engage if those commitments are not honored.
Elder Care and Aging in Place
What We Won
In 2025, CUJ advocacy helped Wyandotte County achieve Silver Recognition for its age-friendly practices.
What we are Monitoring
We continue to press for Gold Level Recognition, which requires real policy changes to support seniors aging in their own homes and communities. We also understand that Elder Care is multifaceted, and that our other campaigns, including affordable housing, property tax relief, and homelessness impact this population.
Community Violence Intervention
What We Won
CUJ championed Community Violence Intervention strategies in Wyandotte County, helping to bring evidence-based, community-rooted approaches to violence reduction into local practice.
What we are Monitoring
Several Community Violence Initiatives have been implemented in Wyandotte County, thanks to the work of the Wyandotte County Health Department, KCKPD, and Advocacy Organizations. We continue to support the work of ThrYve and other organizations, while also paying attention to crime rates within the county.