(upbeat music) - Welcome back for another edition of Kansas City Experience.

I'm Catherine Hoffman.

This month, we take a look at how Pride Haven provides a shelter system geared towards LGBTQ youth - Youth in this time in general are having a hard time with housing, but like more of the unique part of being LGBT is there's the like less family support, and having to build that support on my own.

- From our KC performed series, we present a song from the award winning Overture the Musical.

Which was written and composed, by the Kansas City Production Company, Sharp Women, LLC.

We check in with Cassie, our local beer enthusiasts, to find out about just a few of Kansas City's, whiskey barrel-aged beers.

- Oh yeah.

I know that none of these beers have chocolate in them.

This beer tastes like it could have chocolate in it for sure.

- We dig into the 90.9 The Bridge in Studio Vault, and feature performance by Kacey Musgraves.

You can find more from this, and all in studio performances, on the Bridge YouTube channel.

An unfortunate trend right now, is the rising cost of just about everything.

and utilities are no exception.

Up first this month, from our monthly program Flatland, we look at a report on the impact of climate change on utility costs, and the disproportionate burden it puts on low income families.

- Kansas is one of the top cities to experience the worst effects of climate change.

The more extreme these temperatures are, the more that folks are adjusting their temperatures to meet the needs of their families and their homes, the higher their utility bills will continue to be.

- We get tested from time to time and like you brought up Winter Storm Uri was one of those tests.

It was a stress on the total energy infrastructure.

Our group looks out two to three to four years, making sure we have enough pipeline capacity, and storage to serve our customers.

And we kinda plan our system around reaching that peak day.

Those very cold days, we're having to go out and buy some gas in the market, prices were substantially high.

Those were passed on to the customer, a dollar for dollar.

There's no markup from Spire, from the utility.

It's what we're paying out in the marketplace.

Winter Storm Uri kind of spooked the market.

This upcoming winter, we're having to deal with those costs that we didn't collect, and then a new higher level set of prices.

We knew this kind of perfect storm was out there, we see some headlines out there of like a 40% increase for Spire.

Could have been substantially higher if we didn't take steps with our regulators to try to spread those Uri costs out over multiple years.

- If a residential consumer is spending maybe up to three, 3 1/2%.

For some low income consumers that can be as high as eight, nine or higher percentage.

I've seen numbers as high as 25% or 40%.

- Out of the top 48 metropolitan areas in the country, Kansas City is number seven in terms of energy burdens.

Usually lower income individuals and families, they oftentimes live in older buildings and neighborhoods that have been disinvested in.

Unfortunately, that is a lot of our black indigenous and people of color.

- For electrical assistance only was $33,292, that we helped families out with.

That was 2019.

2020 was more than double the share, 120,268 electric only households, almost a 400% increase.

And that's just electric.

I mean, the rental is huge, the water is huge, the gas.

I mean, everything is up three or four fold, everything.

There is a lot of assistance out there.

So the only peace with it right now, is that people would have to be on a waiting list.

Waiting list I think the last time I heard was maybe 1500 households, that's a lot.

There's people that are months and months, months and months behind.

10 and $12,000 in arrears.

During the moratorium, it wasn't an issue, but now it is.

- In the State of Kansas and Missouri there's a cold weather rule, where utilities cannot shut off people's power, when the temperature falls below 32 degrees.

This doesn't include automatic reconnections.

So if it goes above 32 degrees, and the utilities disconnect a handful of folks' power, and then it drops back down again, they're not reconnecting those folks' power.

But then when they lift the shutoff moratorium, then we're faced with an avalanche of shutoffs because they don't put in other protections that would help mitigate this crisis such as payment plans that are actually achievable.

- February of last year I ended up having my second knee surgery.

So I definitely had to pick and choose which bills I could pay, which ones had to wait.

So I acquired a pretty huge bill with Evergy I believe.

It was almost about a clear two grand at that point.

COVID was going on, so I was able to get on their COVID payment plan.

I had just gone back to work and they decided that they were gonna shut off my lights one day.

And that was my biggest concern.

Like, hey, I have a kid.

Like I can't have my lights shut off.

I had no notice of like their COVID plan ending.

I needed to pay I believe it was either $700 to be able to get on a payment plan, which that makes no sense.

It's a domino effect of things that have happened.

Your current situation and things that will happen if it's not rectified.

- Is success for an electric utility company that they make the most money.

I would say, really their success should be monitored off of were they able to keep the most people's power on?

Were they able to provide that power at a low cost?

There is the reality that of what Evergy's PR puts forward and kind of the image that they've cultivated.

And then there's the realities of the other stuff that they're doing.

The things that they're saying to their investors, the things that they are putting their money into, the donations that they're making, the political donations.

As long as they can keep lining the pockets of the politicians, then it makes all those politicians much less likely to be writing bills that would reign their power in.

A lot of these upgrades and switches to renewables, they are willing to make, but they just want to wait until something is passed that will pay them to do it.

This is despite the fact that they paid no federal income taxes last year.

We have very little power to regulate them on a municipal level.

- Cities are starting to understand that as they develop their climate goals and their climate plans, that most of the power lies with the state regulators to actually allow the cities to achieve those goals and do it in a way that's fair for the public and the utilities.

- One of the things I do wanna mention that we're working on with utilities right now particularly with Evergy and that is energy efficiency.

That's one really good avenue through weatherization, proposals that benefit low income rate payers that we believe is a win-win for both the utility and for the ratepayer.

Part of energy efficiency that Evergy is proposing is somewhat novel in Kansas.

We're happy to see that it's coming, and well, we'll have to see how it meets the needs of low income people over time.

- The utilities to play a big role in how we move this forward.

We're holding the utilities accountable but then we have the homeowner, right?

And then we have the dweller, the renter, right?

That communication is not happening.

- The split incentive, which is kind of common (indistinct) with clean energy experts, where landlords aren't incentivized to upgrade their buildings.

- That is a lot of people that don't necessarily have control over the homes that they're living in, whether they're, you know, suitable for the climate that we're living in at this point.

- I mean, I have been in homes to where you can fill the breeze with the window shut.

I mean, I've seen gaps where the window is.

- Energy disclosure means your landlord, if you're a prospective tenant, they would have to give you an estimate of what your utility costs would be to live there.

KC tenants started that conversation when they had an energy disclosure policy in their tenants bill of rights.

Unfortunately, by the time those ordinances were passed it was extremely watered down.

It just basically says the landlord's supposed to give the phone numbers of the utilities.

And if you have trouble getting that information, they're supposed to assist in that process.

- It is a subtle way to encourage landlords to upgrade their buildings and to take care of their rentals so that they are energy efficient.

- When we say it's important to invest in buildings, it is.

Because these are the homes and places we shop, and live and play in for the next 50, 60, 70 years.

- Items such as building codes, working with landlords and the like, or other things that we need to do takes a village to get this problem solved.

- I'm Krista Eyler, I'm the composer and co-writer of Overture the Musical.

You're about to see a number from the show called Another Hat.

It's my absolute favorite song in this entire show.

Now to give you some context, this takes place in 1953.

At that time, when women would go to the theater or an orchestra performance, they'd wear a hat.

And so the song is about our main character, Lily, her first experience at the theater.

And it is beautifully choreographed by Valerie Martin.

Enjoy.

- [Narrator] Receptionist.

- A lady's gotta work, right?

- I actually came here following the Philharmonic.

- Really?

- Oh many years ago, mom heard that the Philharmonic would be touring, and there would be coming through Topeka high.

So she got us tickets.

Ah, she went and she got out her red hat.

It was one with gold embroidery.

So I knew that this was something special.

And so we drove there, and as we were walking into the auditorium, she showed me the program.

And it said, "Ladies, please remove your hats."

I sat down and as I looked up, I saw hat, after hat, after hat, letting go.

It was almost like balloons being freed.

All different shapes, all different colors, all different sounds.

♪ I heard the pins release their grasp.

♪ ♪ I heard the of rustle gloved hands.

♪ ♪ My mother led to them all ♪ ♪ Flick of her wrist ♪ ♪ A conductors twist they moved the same ♪ ♪ She removed her hat ♪ ♪ And as she did ♪ ♪ I heard the tap on the stand ♪ ♪ My ears had command ♪ ♪ As each arm bowed into space ♪ ♪ And work of grace and color ♪ ♪ I flew from one world to another ♪ ♪ And ♪ - The music began?

- Yes, it was my mother's favorite DvoYák largo.

(lady and man humming) - So you knew the music.

- By heart.

I was seven and it was like magic.

♪ I got lost in the notes ♪ ♪ Enveloped in smoke ♪ ♪ A musical haze ♪ ♪ I stole the look ♪ ♪ And caught my first case ♪ ♪ Tears down her face.

♪ ♪ She said Lily ♪ ♪ Remember the feeling ♪ ♪ You have in this moment ♪ ♪ It stays as long as you have it ♪ ♪ When the world tries to whittle you down ♪ ♪ When the world tries to whittle you down ♪ ♪ Find the sounds ♪ ♪ Find the sounds ♪ ♪ And just like that ♪ ♪ Another hat ♪ ♪ And just like that ♪ ♪ Another hat ♪ ♪ Another hat ♪ ♪ Another hat.

♪ - My name's Xander, I'm 24.

I'm a resident here at Pride Haven.

I was staying with family after college kind of with health issues and ending college, and had not been able to work with the like development of my health issues.

I had become homeless and thought staying with my family was going to be a good idea.

I haven't had much contact with them since I came out, which I did during college.

And it was not a good time.

They're not very accepting of it, and not very accepting of me.

I was not feeling safe with how I was kind of being treated.

With the like help of my therapist, I went to a mental health facility.

And while I was there, that's when my family had decided that I was no longer welcome back.

I didn't know where else to go.

- We opened the facility as a response to the fact that there really wasn't anybody serving that population here in Kansas City.

When you're talking about homeless, gay, lesbian, trans youth.

If we can't get in touch with one of these kids within 48 hours of them hitting the streets.

The chances of them falling victim to a crime, whether it be trafficking or rape, or assault, or them fall into homelessness permanently increases by 80%.

- Youth in this time in general are having a hard time with housing.

But like more of the unique part of being LGBT is there's the like less family support, and having to like build that support on my own.

It's often where I have to...

I feel like I have to rely a lot more on community resources that are like so hard to find, regardless of just like it being affordable.

It also, like there is that comfort peace of knowing that you're in an area that you feel safe as an LGBTQ individual.

I called a lot of shelters.

There's been some worry as like an LGBTQ person to call ones that have to do with a religious affiliation.

Not that like all Christian people are against LGBTQ but there have been churches or similar things I've been to that have been discriminatory because of that.

And so there was like that fear with some of the shelters that that would be not acceptable if I called them.

- We are the largest homeless shelter provider between here and Chicago, and Dallas.

We focus more on person first model than housing first.

There's some qualifications.

But the word has gotten out to, you know, to the LGBTQ plus community.

We are friends, we do have a wonderful program that we help work through those individuals and help them.

What are your goals?

What do you want?

Is this lifestyle working for you?

- We follow what is known as a housing first model here at Save Inc. We aren't going to really place any barriers in your way.

We don't think that you can address any of your issues until you're stably housed.

So we are going to first, housing first.

We're gonna put you in housing, and then we're gonna wrap you in services.

- The more I keep pushing to make the world a better place for me, I'm also making it a better place for others like me.

And I like wanna be around to see that.

Especially like for my little siblings and other like LGBT kids.

- Hello, and welcome back to Tap List.

I'm Cassie, your local beer enthusiast.

Do you like beer?

Do you like whiskey?

Maybe you like both.

In that case, we have some whiskey barrel-aged beers to talk about with you today.

Once a whiskey is aged in barrel, breweries can go out and take those barrels and aged their beers in them.

So those are gonna be those big, full bodied, high alcohol beers, and then traditional Tap List fashion.

Let's blind taste these bad boys.

That's Boulevard Quad.

Okay, first one.

Hmm, okay.

Lots of fruit happening here.

This is let like a raisin at the movie theater.

It smells chocolatey, and raisiny, and dark like plummy fruit.

Oh yeah.

I know that none of these beers have chocolate in them.

This beer tastes like it could have chocolate in it for sure.

And you know, it wasn't as like silky and creamy mouth feel as I had expected.

There's definitely some hops in there, and there's definitely a good amount of effervescence to keep your tongue excited about the next taste.

It's not like a milkshake and like desserty and it's nice.

Okay, let's go to this one.

Dare to say this beer darker than the first.

Hmm, different fruit.

I feel like this one has a more like jammy blueberry kind of like, you know that pie filling that's like sweeter and more like an overripe berry.

I think this one gives the impression that's it's a little bit sweeter than the first one.

And this one, I feel like I can get some more of those whiskey vibes from it.

And more of that, like oaky barrelness than the first one.

A little sweeter, a little more desserty.

Also very good.

Oh yeah, that one feels like you're having a little whiskey with your beer for sure.

Okay, beer number three.

Sorry, I feel like I smelled too many things.

Now I have to like really let this one breathe.

It's like a little lighter fruity notes.

Definitely some like herbal quality.

That's what it is.

Oh yeah.

It feels quite different too.

It is slightly lighter buddy but not much.

More happiness for sure.

But it's sweeter in a fruitier sense.

Let's take another sip.

This one's difficult to describe.

Oh, like a caramel, more like caramel and raisin together.

I don't know if that's a thing.

But like not the chocolate and raisin but caramel and like a little dark dried fruit.

But I would say this one is probably, gives you the impression that it's a little bit sweeter than the other top two.

I think this one has the higher alcohol, 12.2.

I think this one is the second highest, 11.8.

I think this one is the lowest at 11.

Those numbers are very close together.

So, I'm not too worried about being oh, but.

Oh, I got it right.

- [Lady] You killed it.

- Well, also I was gonna say if I had to pick a favorite, I might pick this one.

Every sip makes you wanna have another sip.

You know, it's got enough like, the finish is dry.

It completely leaves your tongue.

And you're like, oh, I think I want another.

But it's sweet at first and then kind of dissipates.

Dragon's Milk, Boulevard Stout, Barrel Quad.

- [Lady] Oh my God.

- Knew it, called it.

How do you like me now?

So all like three of these beers are available in Kansas City year round, But let's be honest, 'tis the season to drink your whiskey barrel-aged beers.

So when are you gonna have one?

What's your favorite one in town?

♪ It's high time ♪ ♪ To slow my roll ♪ ♪ Let the grass just grow and lean way back ♪ ♪ It's a fine time ♪ ♪ To let it all go ♪ ♪ I've been too low, so it's high time ♪ ♪ Been missing my roots ♪ ♪ I'm getting rid of the flash ♪ ♪ Nobody needs a thousand-dollar suit ♪ ♪ Just to take out the trash ♪ ♪ Ain't gotta be alone to feel lonely ♪ ♪ I'm gonna turn off my phone ♪ ♪ Start catching up with the old me ♪ ♪ It's high time ♪ ♪ I slow my roll ♪ ♪ Let the grass just grow and lean way back ♪ ♪ It's a fine time ♪ ♪ To let it all go ♪ ♪ I've been too low, so it's high time ♪ - All right.

♪ I've been all wrong ♪ ♪ Just wanna feel alright ♪ ♪ Tomorrow, I might come crashing down ♪ ♪ But for tonight ♪ ♪ It's high time ♪ ♪ I slow my roll ♪ ♪ Let the grass just grow and lean way back ♪ ♪ It's a fine time ♪ ♪ To let it all go ♪ ♪ I've been too low, so it's high time ♪ ♪ I'm gonna let it all go ♪ ♪ I've been too low, so it's high time ♪