photo by: City of Lawrence

The City of Lawrence announced two hires in its Housing Initiatives Division Tuesday: Communications and Community Engagement Specialist Millie Pageau, left, and Homeless Programs Coordinator Misty Bosch-Hastings, right.

A new Homeless Programs coordinator has been hired in the City of Lawrence’s Housing Initiatives Division, and the city plans to soon begin recruitment for someone to oversee the new Homeless Programs Department being proposed as part of the 2024 budget.

Misty Bosch-Hastings will serve as the new Homeless Programs coordinator, the city announced in a release Tuesday morning. Bosch-Hastings joins the City of Lawrence after serving as director of guest services at Topeka Rescue Mission Ministries; before that, she served as the housing and homelessness project coordinator for the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services. According to the release, she has “extensive prior experience managing operations and has been recognized for effectively building programs.”

In the release, the city also notes that it plans to begin recruiting a director of Homeless Programs to lead the new city department proposed as part of the 2024 recommended budget. As the Journal-World reported, creating that new department would cost $2 million. According to the release, the department will focus on operations and implementation of solutions to end chronic homelessness in Lawrence if the budget’s approved.

Bosch-Hastings is being joined by Millie Pageau, who was also hired on to work in the Housing Initiatives Division as communications and community engagement specialist. Pageau comes to Lawrence from Tucson, Arizona, where she worked in communications and community engagement as a consultant for a variety of clients, including the City of Tucson. Her position will be supported by American Rescue Plan Act funds for its first 12 months, specifically working on community engagement efforts related to affordable housing and homelessness.

“We are thrilled to welcome these new team members,” Danelle Walters, the city’s assistant director of planning and development services, said in the release. “Both women bring expertise and experience in their subject areas and are eager to dive in and start making an impact on this community.”

Bosch-Hastings is the first individual to serve in this role since the city’s last Homeless Programs coordinator, Jenn Wolsey, resigned more than six months ago in early January. Wolsey’s resignation came in the wake of a controversial decision to close the city-run campsite in North Lawrence for people experiencing homelessness in mid-December, which was reversed within days.

As the Journal-World reported, Wolsey said her decision in part was because “not much has changed in reference to support from City Leadership,” and she wasn’t interested in being part of a system that, whether intentionally or unintentionally, adds to the chaos for unsheltered residents already living in a world of inconsistency.

Like the Homeless Programs Department, the Housing Initiatives Division was also initially proposed as part of a recommended city budget in July 2021. The division incorporated the city’s existing housing and neighborhood programs and dedicated new resources toward addressing homelessness, specifically.