When James Logan moved two years ago to Lawrence from California, rental rates here seemed pretty low.

Then he went looking for a job and found wages also were a lot lower.

Now, Logan, 40, with a wife-to-be and two children, said providing shelter was not an easy matter.

“We have taken advantage of all that is out there to help us,” he said. “Without that, it would be hard.”

Logan and his family are not alone.

One in four Kansas households are struggling to keep a roof over their heads, according to a study released Thursday.

While the report did not include specifics on Douglas County, housing costs here consistently rank among the highest in the state. According to the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, the average cost of a new 2,400-square-foot house exceeds $225,000, and two-bedroom apartments rent for an average of $618 per month.

‘Human dignity’ issue

The new study, issued by the Kansas Catholic Conference, called on state officials to put into action a 10-year plan to provide affordable housing.

Jeremy Miller, 5, left, shows his father, James Logan, the funny shape of a cookie, while Logan looks over job postings with his wife, Melinda Miller, and their 1-year-old son, Nathaniel Logan, at the Resident Services office of the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority. The family lives at Edgewood Homes, a subsidized housing community. A report Thursday called on the state to create a 10-year plan to increase affordable housing opportunities for Kansans.

“It’s a matter of human dignity,” Archbishop James Patrick Keleher of Kansas City, Kan., said during a news conference in the Capitol. He noted the state has a 10-year plan for building highways, but nothing to ensure Kansans can afford homes.

“We need the same thing for housing,” Keleher said.

He was joined by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who praised the Catholic Conference for raising the visibility of the issue. She noted Kansas is the only state without a statewide housing program.

Shortly after taking office, Sebelius transferred the housing division of the Commerce Department to the Kansas Development Finance Authority in order to provide grant opportunities for housing and low-income weatherization projects.

But more needs to be done, she said.

‘More to be done’

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Sebelius — with the backing of Keleher and other Kansas Catholic bishops — urged the Legislature to adopt a bill that would make home ownership more affordable for Kansans with low or moderate incomes.

The plan would authorize the Kansas Development Finance Authority to issue bonds to back home mortgages. Home buyers would benefit because the bonds would be tax-exempt, which could lower the interest on mortgages. Twenty percent of the bond proceeds would be set aside for rural families.

The measure, Senate Bill 222, was approved last year by the Senate, and now is before the House Economic Development Committee.

“Though there’s more to be done, this certainly would be a good start toward addressing those vulnerable populations,” Sebelius said.

Affordability issues

The Catholic Conference report, called “Nowhere to Lay His Head,” said that of the 1 million households in Kansas, about 250,000 were paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing. That puts them in the category of “cost burdened.”

“Kansas is in great need of a coordinated, comprehensive, housing affordability plan and vision,” the report said.

Affordability problems are made worse by the high cost of natural gas for heating and the state’s large stock of homes built prior to 1960. Those houses are poorly insulated and have inefficient furnaces, according to the report. More than half of residences in Kansas were constructed before 1960.

“Kansas directs no state resources to fund energy conservation programs,” the report said.

It recommended the state issue mortgage revenue bonds that can fetch low-interest rates for home buyers, dedicate a portion of economic development initiative funds to housing needs and establish a commission that could focus on housing problems, especially for the elderly.

The bishops also said Kansas should adopt a statewide occupancy code to prevent landlords from exploiting poor people, especially immigrants, by charging them high rents for substandard housing.

Logan, whose job delivering buses cross-country is somewhat seasonal, said without public assistance, it would be hard to make ends meet.

“They’re helping us out on that housing and that helps out a lot,” he said.

The bishops’ full report is available online at www.kscathconf.org.