What is driving Wichita’s homeless population to record numbers? This year’s homeless count recorded 702 homeless individuals, the highest number recorded by point-in-time counts going back to 2011. Homelessness is defined as living in shelters, transitional housing or conditions not meant for habitation, including on the streets. This definition does not include people who may […]
homelessness
Posted inHousing, Local Government
Why Wichita’s work on homelessness means redefining who is impacted
Wichita’s homelessness task force is looking to learn from the past. At the March 22 task force meeting, Sedgwick County Deputy Manager Tim Kaufman reviewed the work of the previous task force that formed in 2006 to help homelessness in Wichita. Specifically, Kaufman discussed which recommendations were successfully implemented and which were not and why. […]
Posted inCivic Engagement
How are you spending 3-16? Wichitans asked to donate that day
What are you doing on March 16? The city of Wichita and the United Way of the Plains are inviting you to take part in and donate at the 316 Day of Caring, a date selected because 316 is Wichita’s area code, often used as a verbal shorthand for the city’s name. It also conveniently […]
Posted inHousing, Local Government
Wichita’s new task force will address homelessness. Who’s involved and what are their goals?
Update: the location of the meeting has been changed to Hughes Metropolitan Complex, 5015 E. 29th Street N., Room 138. Text in the story has been changed to reflect this. Concerned about the number of unhoused people living in Wichita and what is – and isn’t – being done to help them? A new task […]
Posted inHousing
In freezing temperatures, volunteers help count Wichita’s homeless population
With temperatures in the 20s before dawn on Jan. 26, tired-eyed volunteers with their breath freezing in the air began to gather in downtown Wichita at United Methodist Open Door. Each of them bundled up with warm clothes to keep the breeze from nipping at them.
Posted inHousing
Here’s how you can help ensure funding for Wichita housing programs
Before you can solve a problem, you must measure it. If you want to do something to help Wichita’s homeless population, you can volunteer to help count on Jan. 26. More than 100 volunteers are needed for the United Way’s annual “point-in-time” count of unhoused Wichita residents.
Posted inHousing, Wichitans You Should Know
Surviving the winter without shelter: What it’s like for one Wichita couple
Denise and Richard Dodd currently live next to a river in Wichita. We asked the Dodds how they came to live beside the river. This is their story.
Posted inHousing
At least 49 unhoused Wichitans died in 2022
The amount of homeless deaths reported in 2022 in Wichita was more than double than it was in previous years. Since 2006, Advocates to End Chronic Homelessness (AECH) has organized a memorial service to ensure that people who die while unhoused are not forgotten.
Posted inLocal Government, Wichitans You Should Know
‘Don’t treat them different’: One formerly homeless Wichitan on what the city needs
It started with a recipe he concocted on his own — Southern-style barbecue chicken spaghetti. But pretty soon, Joseph “J.W.” Harris was spreading the cooking gospel to his neighbors and friends at The Studios, a permanent-housing apartment complex for people experiencing homelessness. In April, he led his first cooking class at the complex on North Topeka […]
Posted inCivic Engagement, Watchdog
Wichita nonprofit strives to vaccinate at least 400 unsheltered people by June
Social distancing is not a homeless shelter’s strong suit. But several mobile clinics are popping up in shelters in Wichita to vaccinate as many unsheltered people as possible against COVID — especially as winter temperatures force scores of people inside. The city of Wichita approved a $50,000 grant for United Way of the Plains to […]