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Davids Celebrates New Affordable Housing Development in Johnson County

January 8, 2024

OLATHE, KSToday, Representative Sharice Davids' team participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Pathway at Heritage Park housing project in Olathe. This development received $950,000 in Davids-supported American Rescue Plan investments to help build 14 single-family homes for low-income families. Davids’ staff also presented Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City (Habitat KC) and Pathway Community Church with a copy of her official congratulatory statement submitted to the Congressional Record.

 

“I am thrilled to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Pathway at Heritage Park development, which received crucial investments through the American Rescue Plan, a law I championed in Congress,” said Davids. “Providing affordable housing options is essential for our community's well-being, especially as Johnson County continues to grow and attract new businesses like Panasonic. I remain committed to supporting initiatives that lower costs for Kansans and create opportunities for affordable housing, ensuring everyone has a safe and stable place to call home.”

 

“This is an exciting moment for our community,” said Lindsay Hicks, CEO, Habitat KC. “With this project, we're embarking on Habitat KC's first pocket neighborhood development and utilizing the community land trust model. This model holds immense potential in shaping the future of our work and addressing the pressing need for affordable housing.” 

 

Currently, 40 percent of renters and 20 percent of homeowners in Johnson County are housing cost-burdened(link is external). Pathway at Heritage Park will address the need for affordable homeownership in the area, critically important as workers filling the 4,000 new Panasonic jobs(link is external) will require housing throughout Johnson County. Homebuyers will receive zero-interest loans from Habitat KC, with mortgage payments capped at 30 percent of their monthly income, making homeownership achievable for those who would otherwise be unable to enter the housing market. Following today's groundbreaking will be 12 months of infrastructure development and an additional 18 to 24 months for construction.

 

In 2021, Davids voted for the American Rescue Plan to bring targeted COVID-19 relief to Kansas and make housing more affordable. The package included robust investment to boost housing stability, reduce homelessness, and support Kansans facing housing-related hardships. The law has also supported small businesses and Kansas families:

  • Supported 3,810 childcare programs in Kansas to help keep their doors open, helping up to 119,000 children.
  • Helped reduce Kansas’ unemployment rate, which has fallen from 3.9 percent in January 2021 to 2.9 percent in December 2022, as the state added 51,000 jobs.
  • Led to a record 61,000 new Small Business applications in Kansas in 2021 and 2022, the highest two-year total on record.
  • Expanded the Child Tax Credit, benefiting an estimated 348,000 families with 621,000 children.
  • Provided more than 280 Kansas schools with funding to support academic recovery, boost student mental health, and reopen safely.