6 October 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – HumanKind Ministries Men’s Emergency Winter Shelter will not be an option for people in need of a place to sleep this winter.
The non-profit says an increase in homelessness is stretching them past their capacity to open the seasonal shelter. The City of Wichita is working with other non-profits to find a temporary solution, but they do not have plans set in stone.
HumanKind’s Men’s Emergency Winter Shelter served 463 men from November 2022 to March 2023. They said in a statement Thursday that due to an 18% increase in the number of individuals experiencing homelessness in Wichita, they would be challenged to operate an Emergency Winter Shelter this year.
As time to find a solution dwindles, Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple says he is confident the city will have an option open in November.
“We’re too good of a city to allow our neighbors who are living unhoused to freeze to death, and we’re working on a solution,” said Whipple.
His goal is to find an option that could serve hundreds.
“We’re looking for capacity for about 300 or at least around 200 because that in the past has shown us how many folks wind up in one of these shelters,” said Whipple.
The city provided $200,000 to help run the emergency winter shelter last season. The mayor says the city is looking for a short-term solution that could lead to a long-term fix.
“We might be able to obtain an asset and actually be able to convert that asset later down the road to temporary or permanent housing as well,” said Whipple.
Another men’s shelter that does not receive city funding, Union Rescue Mission, said the news made it clear that they needed to help. The organization is postponing renovations to their facility to be able to offer more room this winter.
“There would be an opportunity for us to delay construction on our remodel, which would allow us to keep the bed space that we would normally have,” said Union Rescue Mission CEO Dough Nolte.
The mission can take up to 100 men in need of an overnight warming shelter. This keeps individuals from extreme risks.
“Sometimes they are mentally unable to figure out what they need if they are on drugs or on alcohol and then you put a major weather event on that, a lot of times, they are at high risk for exposure, hypothermia, and death,” said Nolte.
The city of Wichita plans to have an announcement in the upcoming weeks.
If you or someone you know is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, click here to find a list of local resources.