Kansas City Rescue Mission requests help after main break leaves it without water

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - One of the hottest days in August came at a bad time for residents at a local homeless shelter, who were left without water after a main break.

Kansas City Rescue Mission, at 15th and Cherry streets, first noticed the main break Thursday afternoon. Although the Kansas City Water Department was hopeful of restoring service within 12 hours, the shelter is still without water Friday morning.

The shelter reached out to City Union Mission, which took in some of the residents with mobility problems, but the Rescue Mission still had to shelter 40 men in its Christian Community of Recovery Program who had other place to go.

With no water, the shelter had to use plastic dishes for dinner Thursday, but residents are without showers or toilets. The shelter’s attempts at locating portable bathrooms weren’t successful.

“Our primary needs at this point, in addition to the portable toilets, are bottled water and gallon-water jugs,” said Moses Artis, shelter supervisor, in an e-mail. “However, any assistance from the public would be greatly appreciated.”

Water donations are being accepted at the emergency shelter, located at 1520 Cherry St., Kansas City, Mo.