15 November 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Sedgwick County Commissioners will decide Wednesday whether to allocate $200,000 for operational costs to HumanKind.
“Mental health, substance abuse, homelessness, they all kind of interact with each other,” Commissioner Sarah Lopez said. “And just nationally, there’s a shift going on with counties that they’re getting more involved in homelessness because it’s a public health crisis, and we are the health department.”
The county has $1 million dollars set aside each year for mental health in the general fund, so this money wouldn’t impact the budget.
One of the concerns brought up at the last commission meeting was busing for students since there are schools in the area. That would cost a total of $45,000.
Commissioner Lopez says the shelter will be an ongoing conversation.
“Make sure that people in the area feel like they’re being heard. That’s going to be really important,” Lopez said. “So I am glad that this is going to be an ongoing conversation. It’s not just, this is our plan, and that’s it, and nothing is going to adjust and change. And I think once they get moved in, and people see what’s really happening, there needs to be more conversation.”
The Boys and Girls Club is down the street from the new shelter location, and the vice president of marketing, Ashley Hatman, says they are prepared.
Giving them a safe environment to thrive and grow and learn is our number one priority.
“We are doing everything we can to make sure it stays a safe place,” Hatman said. “We have a front playground. It’s the winter months, so we probably weren’t going to use it anyways, but we won’t be using it during this time just to ensure that we stay within the building and stay within our safe lockdown areas.”
The Boys and Girls Club has been improving security measures for the last few years. They have a secure entrance, new safety policies and membership requirements and cameras.
“The kids are just our number one priority, and figuring out what new measures we needed to add on was a big thing, but we felt really confident in the measures we’ve been putting in place over the past few years to ensure kids are safe, and safety was just our top priority,” Hatman said.