During extreme heat, groups work to provide Wichita’s homeless with water, shelter

Last summer brought the hottest temperatures on record — then came this summer. Local volunteers are trying to help provide drinking water that homeless individuals need to survive in the dangerous heat.

This week’s temperatures are expected to hit triple digits multiple days, but there are differing perspectives on the best ways for the community to help the homeless when temperatures rise.

Of course, there’s the direct approach.

This year’s heat waves sparked a Wichita resident, Maggie Gilmore, to reunite a Facebook group that began last summer, dedicated to distributing coolers with water bottles all around Wichita. The volunteers plan the best spots for coolers — areas where homeless individuals are, bus stops and other unsheltered places.

“If I’m able to put a cooler in the same spot like three times within a week, then maybe someone will make a habit of checking there and know that there’s going to be water there at least some of the time. So that’s kind of the best we could hope for,” Gilmore said.

The group has functioned mostly on their own money and donations, with the exception of items donated by Wichita Habitat for Humanity, a Cargill employee and additional local individuals.

Gilmore said she has distributed at least 700 water bottles — and that’s not counting any of the water bottles distributed by all the other volunteers.

“I want people to think about it when they’re driving around and they see someone walking in the heat,” she said.

At the beginning of the summer, the city of Wichita said the public can shelter in any of the Wichita libraries, City Hall, community resource centers or park facilities. But Gilmore expressed her skepticism.

“I worked in a public library for five years and we had a lot of unhoused people who would come into the library, but I wouldn’t say they were, like, welcome,” Gilmore said, explaining further that some business policies may not allow unhoused individuals to bring their belongings.

City of Wichita communications manager Megan Lovely said in an email that homeless individuals “are part of our community like any other resident” and they “can bring their belongings into those facilities.”

Last summer, the city installed drinking fountains in Naftzger Park and Old Town Square, and Lovely said that there will be two additional drinking fountains installed downtown.

From Gilmore’s point of view, drinking fountains are just a drop in the bucket rather than a fix to the problem.

“But again, are those places where people, especially unhoused people, are going to feel welcomed, going to feel comfortable — probably not,” Gilmore said.

Help needed for the long haul

Josh Watkins, the homelessness services director at United Methodist Open Door, said it’s important to get homeless individuals connected to a broader array of resources, not just meet their immediate needs.

Watkins reported that August and September are the busiest months for negative activity inside the shelter, due to temperatures.

“The heat adds irritability and then that gets you into situations that you maybe wouldn’t have gotten into,” he said.

Throughout his two years as Homeless Services Director, Watkins says he’s seen many people drop off cases of water for the shelter just for it to not be used.

“With anything that people pass out — it’s great, and I love it and I’m glad people have the heart for it,” he said. But on the flip side, Watkins said he prefers when homeless individuals are referred to United Methodist Open Door where they can access programs that can help.

“There’s a lot of (unhoused) people throughout town that we have little to no contact with because they’re supported through means like that,” he said.

Open Door is the only day shelter for homeless adults in Wichita and it’s what Watkins calls “the front lines,” as the shelter may be the first point of contact that an individual has.

“I want everybody to come here and work with us. You don’t have to follow my rules; we can work together. But I want those organizations that want to provide food or snacks, I want all those people to come here and talk to us and ask us what the real need is,” Watkins said.

This story was originally published August 1, 2024 at 4:29 AM.