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Community members and Heartland organizers speaking at public events.

Organization

Programs + Impact

Learn about The Heartland Center's programs supporting tenants and workers through eviction defense, fair housing advocacy, wage theft representation, and community organizing and education in Kansas City.

Stable Homes Program

Stable Homes Program

We collaborate with partner organizations to preserve stable and affordable housing options, prevent displacement, and enforce tenant protections provided through affordable housing programs like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.

Heartland prevented more than 30 households of low-income, senior, and disabled tenants from being evicted from their homes in Springfield, Missouri with an injunction victory in August 2026.

Heartland Action Committee

Heartland Action Committee

Heartland supports leaders from the base of workers and tenants we've represented through our Heartland Action Committee. Members build organizing, storytelling, and advocacy skills that strengthen campaigns for lasting change.

Heartland has convened over 7 meetings and Know Your Rights Trainings with workers and tenants, supporting them in building community power for lasting change since December 2025.

Worker Power Project

Worker Power Project

Our team of experienced attorneys provide legal services to low-wage workers, regardless of immigration status, income, or employment. We fight for workers experiencing wage theft, workplace discrimination, unsafe working conditions, and unemployment issues.

Heartland has won back over half a million dollars for workers since our founding in 2016.

Safe Homes Program

Safe Homes Program

We represent tenants in the Kansas City metro and Missouri facing unsafe housing conditions. This work includes class action lawsuits, demand letters, and impact litigation that holds predatory landlords accountable and creates lasting change to ensure families across Missouri have access to safe, healthy places to live.

Heartland won almost $4 million in damages back to tenants in a class action lawsuit settled in August 2026.

Eviction Defense Program

Eviction Defense Program

Our Eviction Defense team implements Kansas City's “Right-to-Counsel” program, providing full-scope legal representation to tenants facing eviction, regardless of income.

Since Kansas City’s Right-To-Counsel legislation was implemented in June 2022, more than 85% of tenants represented by Heartland have avoided eviction. By contrast, tenants without legal representation overwhelmingly lose their cases and often face lasting barriers to future housing.

Stable Homes Program

We collaborate with partner organizations to preserve stable and affordable housing options, prevent displacement, and enforce tenant protections provided through affordable housing programs like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.

Affordable housing only fulfills its promise when it remains financially accessible and the rights of residents are protected. Heartland works alongside tenant leaders, nonprofit partners, and public agencies to preserve affordable housing, prevent displacement, and enforce protections for tenants. We combine legal advocacy, policy work, and community partnerships to protect affordable homes, strengthen communities, and ensure these critical housing resources remain available for the families who depend on them.

Heartland Action Committee

Heartland supports leaders from the base of workers and tenants we've represented through our Heartland Action Committee. Members build organizing, storytelling, and advocacy skills that strengthen campaigns for lasting change.

By developing leaders from the communities most affected by injustice, we help ensure that those closest to the challenges are also leading the solutions. Heartland brings together community members who are ready to turn lived experience into lasting change. Workers and tenants receive training in leadership, organizing, public speaking, and storytelling and have the opportunity to work alongside Heartland staff to advance campaigns that strengthen housing and workers' rights.

Worker Power Project

Our team of experienced attorneys provide legal services to low-wage workers, regardless of immigration status, income, or employment. We fight for workers experiencing wage theft, workplace discrimination, unsafe working conditions, and unemployment issues.

We believe lasting change happens when workers have both strong legal representation and the collective power to advocate for themselves. Heartland represents low-wage workers in the courtroom and is a partner in building power in their workplaces and communities. Along with sister organizations such as the Missouri Workers Center and Jobs for Justice, we fight wage theft, support worker organizing, educate workers about their rights, and provide legal advocacy that strengthens campaigns for economic justice.

Safe Homes Program

We represent tenants in the Kansas City metro and Missouri facing unsafe housing conditions. This work includes class action lawsuits, demand letters, and impact litigation that holds predatory landlords accountable and creates lasting change to ensure families across Missouri have access to safe, healthy places to live.

Heartland uses strategic litigation to challenge unlawful housing conditions and hold predatory landlords accountable. Our attorneys pursue legal strategies that not only secure justice for individual tenants. They improve living conditions for entire apartment communities and establish stronger protections for renters across Missouri. At the core of this work are tenant leaders and organizers who join us in our belief that every family deserves a safe, healthy home, and that lasting change requires changing systems, not just outcomes for one client.

Eviction Defense Program

Our Eviction Defense team implements Kansas City's “Right-to-Counsel” program, providing full-scope legal representation to tenants facing eviction, regardless of income.

Heartland played a role in securing Right-to-Counsel for Kansas City tenants and today, provides free legal representation to those facing eviction, helping families remain in their homes. Our attorneys represent over 500 tenants each year, negotiating with landlords, defending cases in court, preventing eviction judgments, and connecting clients with rental assistance and other resources. Our goal is simple: when someone’s home is at stake, they should not have to face the legal system alone.

Our impact

Cases won for workers & tenants
731+
And counting.
recovered for workers and tenants
$1M+
On the eviction docket
Every Thursday
Our team shows up for tenants weekly.

Press releases

20265 appearances
20242 appearances
20232 appearances

Supporting documents

Official letters and source documents related to our public advocacy and legal work.

  • Heartland Center for Jobs & Freedom

    Good Jobs and Affordable Housing for All Coalition Letter on Stadium CBA Negotiations

    The coalition’s letter assessing stadium community-benefits negotiations and announcing its departure from the Jackson County CBA table.

    Download document

  • Heartland Center for Jobs & Freedom

    Stonegate Tenants’ Demand Letter

    Stonegate tenants’ formal demands for property-wide action on unsafe, unsanitary, and uninhabitable conditions.

    Download document

Press hits

202612 appearances
202514 appearances
20243 appearances
20239 appearances
20223 appearances
202116 appearances
20202 appearances

Annual Reports

Annual Report 2025 coverAnnual Report 2025 (opens in a new tab)2025Annual Report 2024 coverAnnual Report 2024 (opens in a new tab)2024The State of Eviction 2024 coverSpecial Report: The State of Eviction 2024 (opens in a new tab)2024Annual Report 2023 coverAnnual Report 2023 (opens in a new tab)2023The State of Eviction 2023 coverSpecial Report: The State of Eviction 2023 (opens in a new tab)2023Annual Report 2022 coverAnnual Report 2022 (opens in a new tab)2022Heartland Center for Jobs & Freedom2021 Year-End Report2021

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