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16 February 2024
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – About one year ago, the Wichita Family Crisis Center expanded, going from eight bedrooms and two bathrooms to 24 bedrooms with bathrooms. Despite having triple the capacity, they are still always full, and more clients need help than they can serve.
“It’s really surprising,” Amanda Meyers, Wichita Family Crisis Center CEO, said. “I guess it isn’t surprising. We sort of knew that these numbers were that high, but that the demand was so quick and so fast.”
Meyers says 2023 was a rough year, and it’s hard to pinpoint why they are seeing an increasing need.
“I can only answer kind of anecdotally,” Meyers said. “I think it’s hard when the economy is hard. You know, if people are in financial, stressful situations, then obviously that exacerbates an already, you know, kind of abusive home life. So, I think that that’s a contributor. And also, you know, if there’s substance abuse or mental health issues in the relationship, that makes things worse. And I know that’s a community-wide problem right now.”
The new facility has a teen room, playroom, workspace for adults, and kitchen where people can cook together. There is also an outreach department with a separate entrance that maintains the safety of clients.
“We can work people who don’t necessarily need shelter but still need services, classes, groups, all those kinds of things,” Meyers said. “Having space allows us to do more on-site, so it shortens their need to stay. You know, as you can imagine, if we don’t have the room to do things on-site, then we’re always going somewhere else. And that just takes extra time, and people want to move on. You know, they want to move into their new independent apartment, and so having the space to get as much as we can down here helps that process go faster.”
Meyers says federal funding makes up a majority of their budget, but last year, there was a 45% decrease, and another 45% is expected to be cut this year in the Victims of Crime Act grant.
“We’re trying to shore up the difference in the state general fund, which looks like we may, but we’re asking for more than level funding,” Andrea Quill, Domestic Violence Association of Central Kansas CEO, said. “Level funding won’t assist us with, you know, obviously with inflation, and the increase in services comes an increase in expenses. And so we’re also, like many other organizations around the state, we have been struggling to find employees. So we’ve been trying to get salaries up to maintain level funding will affect all of our operations because we won’t be able to provide increases, cost of living increases. You know, it really does make a difference because the more people you’re serving, the more time you’re spending with them, the more staff you need, the more resources you need. And so we are hopeful that our legislators will listen to our pleas for not just level funding, but to increase our funding and the state general fund.”
The DVACK covers 10 counties, and the CEO says there has gradually been an increase in her 18 years there. Quill also says they can’t pinpoint a reason why.
“Maybe because we are raising awareness, we’re working hard to raise awareness in our communities that we’re here,” Quill said. “Cause a lot of people, even though we’ve been here since 1980, they still don’t know that we’re here. We’re working on social media more than we ever have before, so publicizing our work there, advertising our services, all of that probably makes a difference, I imagine.”
DVACK has been in their current facility since 2019, where they can house 36 people. Previously, it was only 18.
“Think of how we’re all serving more victims and the amount of food that we have to pay for,” Quill said. “I just think people don’t realize that. I mean, everyone complains about their own personal cost of living and how food has risen. But we’re housing 36 individuals, and we have to feed all of them. And we have to have all these supplies for all of them. It’s hard to ask our type of an organization to maintain level funding when the expenses just continue to go up. It’s really impacting all of our organizations now.”