Kansas City, Mo — Boys Hope Girls Hope has had to overcome residents' opposition in nearly every community where its 37 group homes have been placed, but the Verona Hills neighborhood in south Kansas City is providing the stiffest challenge yet.
Started in 1975 by a St. Louis-area Jesuit priest, the group homes aim to give academically talented, poor, inner-city youths safe places to live while they attend parochial schools.
In nearly all of the 17 American cities where Boys Hope Girls Hope homes are located and now in Kansas City residents afraid that property values would decrease have fought their establishment.
"Kansas City has been the toughest opponent so far," said Gerry Piro, executive vice president for Boys Hope Girls Hope.
The dispute, which will be heard by the Kansas City Board of Zoning Adjustment on Jan. 8, has led to threats of legal action and allegations of race, creed and class discrimination.
Much of the fight is over the city's definition of "family," which an attorney for Boys Hope Girls Hope argues is old-fashioned and contrary to broader federal guidelines.
The zoning board has previously ruled that Boys Hope Girls Hope's proposed home with eight children and three staff members does not meet the criteria for a single-family residence Verona Hills' zoning requirement. On Jan. 8, the board will hear Boys Hope Girls Hope's appeal.
Children living in the group's home must score well on academic testing, and those living at the proposed Kansas City home would attend St. Thomas More School and Rockhurst High School.
Greg Baker, president of the Verona Hills Homes Assn., said the group's opposition to the home is economic, not discriminatory.
"The issue is one of land usage, not users of land," said Baker, who is also an assistant to City Manager Bob Collins. "The ordinance is in place to protect property owners."
"Many here are sympathetic with what this group is trying to do. They just don't want it here."
Nancy Johnson, 20-year resident of Verona Hills, traveled to St. Louis in November to visit the Boys Hope Girls Hope home there, returning even more opposed.
She said the St. Louis neighborhood surrounding the home is much different than Verona Hills, in contradiction of what Boys Hope Girls Hope has claimed.
"It's nothing similar to our neighborhood, and that makes me suspicious of anything else they say," Johnson said.
The Kansas City Codes Administration Department has twice ruled against Boys Hope Girls Hope, on grounds the home doesn't meet the definition of a single-family residence.
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