The Coalition to End Homelessness in Wichita/Sedgwick County was awarded $3.2 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), funding all projects currently supported in Sedgwick County.
The Coalition, led by United Way of the Plains, is comprised of nonprofits, faith community, government entities, businesses, and other community advocates. Together, the Coalition works to resolve homelessness by identifying and eliminating barriers to housing, coordinating and providing client directed services and housing, and annually applying for HUD grant funding.
Andy Houltberg, Coalition Chair and CEO of Breakthrough Episcopal Social Services, shared his thoughts on the continuing work. “Homelessness has a simple solution: housing. This funding allows us to serve our most vulnerable unhoused neighbors through supportive services and directly housing them, from the street or from a shelter. However, while the solution is simple, the roadmap to preventing and ending homelessness across the full community takes the full community, not any one entity. The Coalition to End Homelessness strives every day to improve upon the work of the day before, committed to making homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring for all our neighbors.”
United Way President and CEO Pete Najera emphasized the impact of this grant in advancing the Coalition’s vital work. “As the lead agency for our community coalition to end homelessness, we are proud to facilitate this grant that supports so many of our community partners in our collective efforts to reach functional zero homelessness. This coalition continues to be a force for good for our unhoused neighbors.”
In case you need help with housing, here is a list of the agencies that will participate under the grant and the type of housing assistance they will provide:
Catholic Charities – Rapid ReHousing: Provides short-term rental assistance and supportive services to unhoused households.
City of Wichita – Housing First Evolution: Moves chronically homeless households into permanent housing and provides stability through indefinite rental assistance and supportive services.
COMCARE of Sedgwick County – Shelter Plus Care: Provides rental assistance and supportive services through community partners to chronically homeless and disabled homeless households.
HumanKind Ministries – Villa Central and Rapid ReHousing: Provides low-income housing units in an existing apartment building with supportive services for chronically homeless households, and short-term rental assistance and supportive services to unhoused households.
Mental Health of America of South Central Kansas – Permanent Supportive Housing: Provides indefinite housing assistance through leased units and rental assistance for chronically homeless households and those with both a substance use disorder and a severe and persistent mental illness.
Salvation Army of Wichita – Transitional and Rapid ReHousing: Provides rental assistance, transitional housing, and supportive services to unhoused families with children, couples, and single women.
United Methodist Open Door – Family Rapid ReHousing: Provides short-term rental assistance and supportive services to unhoused families with children.
United Way of the Plains – Continuum of Care Planning Project, Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), and Coordinated Entry: Ensures the coalition can share quality data across agencies, track progress to end homelessness and comply with grant requirements. Also helps the coalition to prioritize the most vulnerable homeless households for resources first.