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19 July 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The Salvation Army of Wichita will close its 30-day emergency shelter for women and families on Aug. 11, which could impact other emergency shelters in the city.
The 28-bed facility will transition into a recovery home where unhoused people dealing with addiction can stay for up to a year. They’ll also be connected to employment and legal help.
The facility will open with just a few beds, then expand later.
“Over the next hopefully three to six months, we will branch that out to having a 28-bed program,” said Major Merrill Powers, The Salvation Army South Central Kansas Area Commander.
Some expressed fear the closure of the emergency shelter could add to an existing shortage of places for people to go.
All shelters in the city are already at capacity and turning people away daily, according to United Way of the Plains.
“We are expecting that those individuals are going to need to find shelter in other places, and some of them may end up unsheltered,” said Matt Lowe, United Way of the Plains Community Impact Manager for Basic Needs Programs.
A recovery home model is easier to support financially, according to The Salvation Army.
“We have funding sources for that, where there are not significant numbers of funding sources for emergency sheltering,” said Powers.
The new recovery home has a start-up grant that will fund it through its first year.
Leaders with the united way are concerned about the impact the closure of the shelter will bring. They are working to find a temporary location to house the people affected.