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Beating the Heat: Help for Households Without Air Conditioning  'A Life-Saving Measure'

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Above image credit: Volunteers prepare to hand out fans during a distribution event hosted by the Salvation Army and Westlake ACE Hardware. The event was set to begin at 8 a.m., but so many cars had filled the parking lot that volunteers began to hand out fans 90 minutes early. (Ceilidh Kern/Flatland)
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6 minute read

At 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, cars began to file into the parking lot of Westlake ACE Hardware in Independence for a chance to get a free box fan from the Salvation Army. 

The event was set to begin at 8 a.m. But by 6:30 a.m., the parking lot was so full that volunteers decided to start handing out fans 90 minutes early.  

Judy Hewitt came to the event because she knows what it is like to endure the heat. When she moved into her home in Independence a few weeks ago, she sweltered through a heat wave in a house with a broken air conditioner and no fan. 

It took several days to get the air conditioner fixed, and during that time, Hewitt said her asthma flared up.  

“It was so hot, I couldn’t breathe,” she said. 

When Hewitt heard about the fan event, she decided to go so that, if her air conditioner breaks again, she’ll be prepared. 

Corie Ruggles, also of Independence, said she attended the event because she has no air conditioning at all.  

Ruggles is not alone. About 10,300 households in the Kansas City area lacked access to any kind of air conditioning as of 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But even those who have some form of air conditioning at home can still face barriers to staying cool. 

The struggle to stay cool, which poses health risks, is expected to become even more challenging in the coming years. 

A 2022 study by nonprofit First Street Foundation warned that climate change is fueling a surge in “extreme danger days” when the heat index exceeds 125 degrees. By 2053, First Street predicted that 107 million Americans will live in an expanding “extreme heat belt” that will include the Kansas City area. 


Brace for More Extreme Heat

A map of "extreme danger days" projected for 2023 and 2053.
A map of “extreme danger days” with at least one day with a heat index above 125 degrees projected for 2023 and 2053. (Source: First Street Foundation)

Growing Need 

A major obstacle to staying cool is cost, according to Todd Jordan, executive director of United Way of Greater Kansas City. United Way operates the 211 phone number, which connects callers with local resources. 

“In our 211 service area, we had 33,443 calls from people that needed help with paying their electric bill in the last 365 days,” Jordan told Flatland in an email. 

In May and June, 2,780 Kansas City area residents called 211 for help with paying electric utility bills. Most of them would lose their air conditioning if they couldn’t pay their bill, Jordan wrote. 

However, he added, “not every person who experiences an issue with their utility bill is going to call 211, so the number of people losing AC due to an inability to pay their bill is likely higher than that data would reveal.” 



Terrance Jones drove out to the event in Independence from Kansas City to get a fan. He has air conditioning at home, he said, but he wants to “try to conserve” energy when he can.  

“Running the air conditioning runs up my light bill more than the fan will,” he said. 

In Missouri, the Hot Weather Law prohibits utility companies from cutting off electricity to customers who haven’t paid their bills if the National Weather Service forecasts temperatures above 95 degrees. Kansas doesn’t have this law, but Evergy spokesperson Courtney Lewis told Flatland the company also applies the policy to its Kansas customers. 

Evergy declined to provide information on the number of electricity customers who have been cut off from service due to delinquent payments. 

Here to Help 

Xavier Montenegro, the Kansas City-area commander for the Salvation Army, said the organization has seen increased demand for fans over the years. 

“We’ve seen (need) increasingly go up as food and the cost of living have gone up over the years,” he said. “Even though the rate of inflation is down, that doesn’t mean prices have gone down, and I think that’s impacted everybody. Basic needs have gotten more expensive. It’s harder to meet some of these needs like staying cool and paying the electric bill.” 

In addition to the cost of electricity needed to run a central or window air conditioner, the cost of maintaining and replacing units can present an obstacle for some residents.  

Project ElderCool provides qualifying Kansas City-area residents with free window air conditioning units through the Bishop Sullivan Center.  

To receive an air conditioner, residents must be elderly or have a respiratory or cardiovascular condition, have no working air conditioner, and make less than 185% of the federal poverty level. According to the Census Bureau, the current federal poverty level is $14,891 for an individual and $29,960 for a family of four. 

While people who receive an air conditioner from Project ElderCool all come to the program because of challenges accessing air conditioning, the problem can take different forms, said Shilo Foster, director of programs at Bishop Sullivan Center.  

“What we notice is that it’s not just homes that have central air broken, though that is becoming more of the case. For the longest time, it was people without central air at all. A lot of these homes are a lot older, and they just weren’t built with that,” she said. 

“Over the last two to three years, I’d say we’re seeing a lot more people who are homeowners and are elderly, and it’s central air that’s just completely out, and (the ACs) are so old they can’t be fixed anymore,” she added. “They need to be fully replaced, and they just don’t have the funds for something like that, because it is thousands of dollars.” 

‘You Literally Saved My Life’ 

That was the case for Latrice Johnson, who lives in Kansas City, Kansas, with her father and brother. Her father, James Johnson, had just come from the hospital following a heart attack when their central air conditioner broke beyond repair.  

Johnson built his house through Habitat for Humanity 23 years ago. Since then, the air conditioner had some issues, “but it was still holding on,” according to Latrice. 

But when the unit finally broke down, the Johnsons were told it would cost $6,000 to replace, a price the family couldn’t afford to pay.  

So Latrice began searching for alternative solutions, and through the Salvation Army website, she found Project ElderCool. Within a few weeks, volunteers arrived to install their new window unit. 

Watching the volunteers put in the air conditioner from the couch with multiple fans pointed at him, James Johnson said he was thankful for the program because, after his heart attack, he “need(s) that air.” 

“It means a whole lot (to have air conditioning) — especially for my daughter, too, because she loves air more than I do. I just need it more,” Johnson said. “All this means the world to me.” 

A woman demonstrates how to operate a new window air conditioner.
Project ElderCool volunteer Kayla McAbee explains the different modes of a new air conditioning unit to Latrice Johnson on July 1, 2024. Johnson’s father, James, said the new unit “means the world” to him and his children. (Ceilidh Kern/Flatland)

Project ElderCool was started 25 years ago following a particularly hot summer, Foster said. 

“It came about one summer when Kansas City had a record number of heat-related deaths. The director at the time wanted to do something about that, and this was a solution he came up with — providing window units to seniors who had no air in the home at all,” Foster said. “It started as a life-saving measure and has continued to be.” 

Through donations, the program has provided around 5,500 units — about 120 to 150 every year — since the program began, Foster said. The program also provides a small sum to help cover the first month of increased electricity costs.  

Foster said the scale of the problem is hard to gauge, but that it’s more widespread than many might think. 

“The need has been there for the last 25 years, and we serve as many people every year, so it’s not lessening — there’s still that need there,” she said. 



Despite this need, she said there aren’t very many resources available for those who don’t have a working air conditioner in their home.  

“I feel like we’re the only program that offers what we do. (The) Salvation Army has a fan program, so that would be probably the most comparable to what we offer. Then the next thing in Kansas City are the cooling centers,” Foster said. “Those are really the three things there are in the area, and I don’t know why there isn’t much more, because we are in such a hot area.” 

Many of the people receiving units from Project ElderCool were connected with the program through referrals following heat-related visits to the emergency room or wellness checks from law enforcement, Foster said. She said residents are very grateful for the service. 

“When we get ‘thank you’ notes back, (they say) ‘You literally saved my life,’” she said. “That’s what this is. It’s a life-saving measure.” 

Resources to help with covering utility bill costs can be found on the United Way of Greater Kansas City website or by calling 211. Applications to receive a window unit through Project ElderCool can be found on the Bishop Sullivan Center’s website.  

For those who missed the Salvation Army’s recent fan distribution events, fans are also available through the organization’s brick-and-mortar locations. 

Ceilidh Kern is a graduate of the University of Missouri journalism school and a summer intern at Kansas City PBS/Flatland and Missouri Business Alert, a member of the KC Media Collective.

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