Print edition: 
It’s a three-mile, round-trip walk from United Methodist Open Door’s Drop-In Center for the homeless to its clothes distribution center.
But that walk will soon be matter of only a few steps.
Open Door will be consolidating many of its services at one spacious location where it will also host other agencies that help the needy, a culmination of efforts that has taken nearly a decade to develop. The nonprofit will have plenty of elbow room when it begins operations at the renovated building, 402 E. Second St., on Jan. 31.
“It will be bright and roomy,” Open Door Executive Director Deann Smith said.
Open Door’s roots go back more than 30 years, but increasing needs have driven a demand for more space and better coordination of services.
A three-year campaign raised $5.4 million to complete the work for the new location.
With so much under one roof, Open Door will become one of the city’s largest one-stop service sites for the needy.
“That will be a big benefit for the clients they serve because they won’t have to go all over to get what they need,” said Beth Oaks, vice president of community planning and resources for United Way of the Plains. “And repositioning of other services in there hopefully will be key in getting those folks off the street and into services much faster.”
The Drop-In Center will slide over a few blocks from its current location at Third and Market, and the “Klothes Kloset” will move from 228 S. Ellis, east of downtown.
Original plans also had called for Open Door’s food pantry, the city’s largest food-box program, to move into a nearby building at Second and St. Francis. But the organization couldn’t raise enough money fast enough to buy the building before it was snapped up by someone else, Smith said.
Open Door may do a second fundraising so it can purchase something else near its new home or tear down the current food pantry, at 1611 N. Mosley, and rebuild.
“We’re not sure what we’ll do,” Smith said. “We want to talk to other community providers of food and get a plan. But what we have now is worn out, and we need more space.”
The old metal building needs a new roof and other repairs. About 32,000 families were served last year at the pantry, where intake workers use hallway cubicles to interview people seeking help.
“Not real private,” Smith said.
But the rest of Open Door’s services will join other agencies, including expanded health care, in spreading out across 36,000 square feet of space.
Vivion Moore breathes a sigh of relief.
She is the homeless services director for Open Door, which frequently has long lines standing outside the Drop-In Center waiting to squeeze inside for a noon meal, use one of the two showers or obtain other services.
“We’re very tight down there,” Moore said. “A lot of our people have mental illness, including anxiety, and it’s hard for them to be in there where it’s so crowded. It causes problems a lot of times when people accidently bump into each other. So hopefully a lot of that will be alleviated.”
When the 115 families that come daily look for clothes at the Ellis facility, which also houses Open Door’s administrative offices, they have to make their way through several rooms to find what they want. Now the clothes will be easier to find in one area.
There will now be eight showers, plus eight washers and dryers instead of three. Only 57 homeless people can be served at one time at the Drop-In Center, but the new site can accommodate 150. It will continue to offer only day services and won’t provide overnight stays.
Perhaps most telling of the changes is that the Drop-In Center name will be dropped, taking on a new label of Homeless Resource Center, because other agencies will have offices there:
• Salvation Army’s regional headquarters, offering services for families.
• Housing First, a joint city and Sedgwick County program that helps people get permanent housing.
• Kansas Legal Services.
• Comcare’s Center City program, which serves individuals who have a serious mental illness, is relocating its offices in 7,000 square feet of leased space.
• Career Development Office, a city-sponsored education program that helps develop job skills.
• Expanded health care with GraceMed joining Hunter Health.
The two community health clinics will have a much larger exam room than the one Hunter has squeezed into the Drop-In Center.
“The exams are important,” Smith said, “because we’re trying to keep them out of emergency rooms and hospitals.”
Open Door’s administrative offices will also be at the site, which will make coordination of services easier. Other service agencies may be added later.
“When you’re in a small space, you can’t do too many services,” Smith said. “This is certainly a dream come true.”
