Centralized campuses are a common answer to the homeless crisis. Wichita has plenty to learn from

Residents showed up to public meetings in droves with a myriad of questions when they learned Wichita’s first multi-agency campus and center for homeless resources would likely go into a former elementary school in their neighborhood .

Common questions included: Where is this idea coming from? What will security look like? What does low-barrier shelter mean?

One of the things they were told is that Wichita won’t be the blueprint.

The multiagency center, or MAC, will be new to Wichita, but the concept of it — a dual resource center and shelter — has been tried and tested for years in cities across the country, from Eugene, Oregon to Bowling Green, Kentucky .

Since the June announcement few developments have been announced. The most recent progression is city council voting to enter an option agreement on July 2, meaning that the former elementary school is officially being explored as a potential site for the MAC. The future timeline remains murky, but officials are aiming to have emergency shelter beds ready for the winter season.

In hopes of answering residents’ questions, The Journal connected with similarly-operating navigation centers in three cities — San Antonio, Phoenix and Reno, Nevada — to learn more about how their resource got started and the impact it has made on its community.

The Journal also had some questions of its own, particularly as it relates to whether homeless people are allowed ways to provide input on the operations of such centers. This past winter, The Journal reported on the concerns clients had about care and conditions at the temporary emergency winter shelter the MAC will replace.

In these interviews, one parallel became clear: all these centers were in direct response to a local homelessness crisis and they battled community friction in their operations, whether that came from business owners, nearby residents or negative perceptions on homeless people. No center has stopped increases in homelessness. In fact all are experiencing an increase in it as their shelter space struggles to keep up with a record-high number of homelessness nationwide and a shortage in affordable housing.

What will make Wichita’s MAC distinct is its likely location at the former elementary school. The future MAC will be in the middle of a residential neighborhood, with private residences surrounding the campus. The Journal did not find any similar centers located in as dense of a residential spot. But, all three campuses in this article were located for their proximity to several homeless resources and their downtown areas, just as Wichita’s MAC will be. Also, as of publishing, the MAC does not seem to have any start-up money coming from the private sector — only American Rescue Plan Act funds.

A light, though: these navigation centers correlate with a downwards tick in unsheltered homelessness (Phoenix, for example, saw a 19% drop since 2022 ) and are encouraging community buy-in from both public and private sectors — small but mighty steps towards the goal of reducing homelessness.

Keys to Change , Phoenix, Arizona. Offers low to no-barrier shelter and a resource center. Served about 13,000 unique individuals in 2023.

Setting: Within downtown, in the Capitol Mall zoning-overlay for an area zoned for industrial usage.

Funding: Opened in November 2005 from a public-private collaborative effort between Maricopa County, the city of Phoenix, the downtown business district and the Phoenix Community Alliance . The campaign totaled $25 million.

According to Amy Schwabenlender, the CEO of Keys to Change, the campus opened when downtown Phoenix was counting over 1,000 unsheltered homeless people who clustered in the area due to the density of service providers.

Community relationships : The 13-acre campus underwent a zoning process in 2019 to add more shelter beds, when, in that process, there was “lots of neighborhood feedback” about stipulations that residents felt they were promised in 2005, such as building additional campus locations so that not everyone in the county would go to Keys to Change.

“There was some impression by business owners and residents in the area that there was going to be something more that would happen so this wouldn’t become the epicenter of adult homelessness,” Schwabenlender says.  “We definitely heard from all the neighbors about all the things they hate about homelessness, the things that have affected, you know, their business, whether or not they feel safe where they live, etc, etc. They felt like people make promises all the time and those elected officials aren’t necessarily still in place and no one created that path for accountability.”

A document listing 29 stipulations promises changes such as cleaning the neighborhood twice a day, which is currently being upheld with the city’s ARPA funds.

How homelessness has been impacted: Phoenix, like the rest of the country, is seeing homelessness trend upward as its housing prices continue to rise, although it did see a dip in people experiencing homelessness in this year’s Point-in-Time count. 2024’s PIT counted 9,435.

This year Keys to Change changed its name from the Human Services Campus and is going under a “rebranding,” as Schwabenlender calls it. She is candid about the fact that Phoenix has had a bit of a spotlight for its homelessness crisis, pointing out that the city is involved in two lawsuits, one from the ACLU about throwing people’s possessions away in encampment sweeps, and the other from local businesses and property owners about downtown encampments. The city was also the target of a Department of Justice investigation, where federal officials said local police were abusing homeless individuals.

Schwabenlender hopes that one day the campus will extend to multiple locations to diffuse the concentration of services near downtown.

Do homeless patrons get input on operations ? Clients can file and submit grievance forms and Keys to Change staff regularly hold client town halls, Schwabenlender says. The campus also has a partnership with Arizona State University where student interns can hold client focus groups, one-on-ones or survey them on the quality of care and case management.

Haven for Hope, San Antonio, Texas. Low-barrier shelter and resource center. Served 9,457 in the last fiscal year.

Setting: 22 acres in the poorest zip code in San Antonio. The land was “basically abandoned warehouses” in a rundown area of town, Terri Behling, the director of communications, says. She adds that the area already had a congregation of homeless people as the county jail and a transit hub was nearby. It cost about $100 million to get Haven for Hope up and running.

Funding: Currently, Haven’s operating budget is around $30 million a year, with about 68% of it being publicly funded. The rest of its budget comes from private funds.

Behling says that a small founding committee visited over 200 cities to see what worked and didn’t work when it came to homelessness resources. The committee found that cases where there was shelter and resources co-located had the most success, forming the idea of Haven for Hope as a one-stop shop .

Opened in 2010 after former Mayor Phil Hardberger announced battling homelessness as a municipal priority during his 2006 State of the City address.

“Our founder, Bill Greehey, at the time was chairman and CEO of New Star Energy. So being an oil man in Texas, he had a lot of clout in the city and was very well known as a big philanthropist,” Behling says. “He contacted the mayor and said ‘are you serious about doing something on this issue?’ The mayor said absolutely, and Mr. Greehey said he wanted to be involved and get the business community involved. The mayor said, ‘okay, you’re chair of the committee!’”

Impact on homelessness: The campus has two shelters, one low-barrier and another that requires ID, sobriety and a commitment to engaging in housing and income planning. Each shelter has the same access to the campus resources, but the low-barrier shelter has the option for clients to opt-in engagement of services rather than it be mandatory. Behling says the campus serves an average of 1,700 clients a day and has been operating overcapacity for two years.

“I would say that’s the biggest challenge San Antonio is facing as we have not increased shelter capacity since Haven opened,” she says. “So even though our numbers are relatively flat when you look at year over year, there’s still an increase in homelessness nationwide. We’re seeing more families, more young adults, more senior citizens experiencing homelessness.”

“We really want to change the face of homelessness because it could be either one of us,” Behling says. “I could be in a car accident, not be able to work for six months, lose my job, have all these medical bills to pay up, get behind on bills, lose my house and find myself at Haven just as easily as the next person.”

Behling says that since the campus isn’t immediately surrounded by residents, there hasn’t been a lot of neighborhood friction with Haven for Hope itself. However, she says that other agencies — though not necessarily partners operating at Haven — are being met with “a lot of resistance” against affordable housing properties going up near neighborhoods. There is a challenge in gaining public support for permanent supportive housing units.

“There’s the misperception that ‘the bad people’ are going to be living in those places,” she says.

Behling says that downtown and unsheltered homelessness has decreased since Haven has opened but that, like the rest of the nation, homelessness is going up, especially among young adults and seniors. In the last fiscal year, Haven for Hope served 9,457 people — the highest number served since Haven opened in 2010.

Security: There is fencing around the property “but it doesn’t look like a jail,” according to Behling. The campus has a full time safety team of 55 “Life Safety Team” members that carry weapons as level 3 security. Officers on campus also carry Narcan as first responders.

There are over 300 staff members specific to Haven for Hope, with 20 partners permanently on site for clients to work with, but Haven works with around 77 agencies in total, Behling says. On any given day there are about 500-600 employees on site.

Concentration of homeless people: A concern that’s been raised several times at Wichita public meetings regarding the MAC is whether the opening of one will attract people experiencing homelessness from all over the state — especially from more rural areas that lack the wealth of resources Wichita has.

Behling says Haven for Hope has a requirement that any client who goes to their ID-requirement shelter has to have been a Bexar County resident for at least nine months of their life, along with a commitment to actively work on a housing and income plan. That said, the campus does have a family emergency program that extends to those not from the area. Behling adds that any migrants who show up for shelter are referred to the city of San Antonio’s Migrant Resource Center.

Do homeless patrons get input on operations? Behling says there are signs around Haven where clients can scan a QR code to report a facilities issue or provide feedback. Haven holds quarterly town halls for clients to attend. She says the majority of complaints are about maintenance issues, which Haven is currently trying to catch up on after 14 years of operation.

Behling adds that clients tend to complain about the food a lot, too, which is actually operated separately from Haven for Hope. The low-barrier shelter has hot meals served by a local bistro whose chef has lived experience in homelessness. Clients love that food but the other shelter has (also hot) meals provided by the San Antonio Food Bank, which clients don’t. Behling says the campus does share the complaints with the food bank but that the nonprofit has a “certain dietary formula” it must comply with.

San Antonio’s continuum of care also has a number of advisory committees with people with lived experience.

Behling has a favorite example of when the campus took heed of clients’ concerns: “The pigeons!”

“It’s so fun to talk about the pigeons,” she says. “We had some extremely plump pigeons around Haven. Just a whole lot of them. So we were getting a lot of complaints, rightfully, because they were flying into the cafeteria. Bird droppings and different things. It’s not pleasant.”

In response to the complaints, Behling says Haven brought in a “pigeon wrangler” to remove 500 pigeons from the property and relocate them. The campus has also added netting over their open courtyard as well as perching barriers along their rooftops.

Cares Campus , Reno, Nevada. Low-barrier shelter and resources. Has served over 10,000 unique clients in the last 13 months.

The Cares Campus formed after COVID hit, when the city of Reno’s sole homeless shelter was strained by an increase in homelessness and social distancing restrictions. The project was financed by the city of Reno, the neighboring city of Sparks and Washoe County. All three went in on a parcel of land. Reno built the shelter and then the county took over operations once the campus opened in May 2021.

According to Bethany Drysdale, the communications manager for Washoe County, Reno has the responsibility of developing affordable and supportive housing while the county assumes work regarding homelessness.

Setting: The campus sits tucked between freeways in an area Drysdale describes as “kind of industrial, kind of commercial, but very close to downtown” where there are several nearby casinos.

Funding: Took over $12 million in startup costs in 2022 and plans to spend around $20 million for this year’s operations. Drysdale says private fundraising for the Cares Campus has been very successful. People recognize the necessity of the project, she says.

“I think in the larger realm of the area, people recognize that we need this. We need the mental health services. We need a place for people to go. We need the supportive housing,” she says.

Community feedback: Drysdale said initial reaction to the campus was mixed, with tensions high in 2021 after the only mental health inpatient hospital closed. Washoe County bought the former hospital in 2023 but it will take a bit to reopen it again.

Drysdale spoke frankly, saying that nearby Fourth Street had an increase in problems related to homelessness. People were trying to break into businesses, she says.

“You drive down the street and it is noticeable, the increase in homelessness along that street,” she says. “So the business owners and people in that area, some of them are very vocally against having the Cares Campus right there.” She defends the campus by saying that it’s important to look at the long-term, as the county and city are in a time of transition. Especially so while the mental health hospital undergoes renovations, so, “yes, it’s going to look worse before it gets better.”

Drysdale also adds that the state of Fourth Street predated the Cares Campus. “It’s never been a place where you want to go.”

Impact on homelessness: Like other cities, Reno’s numbers of those experiencing homelessness climb , then go down, then climb, then go down again. Drysdale says there’s been significant improvement in reducing veteran homelessness, a population that cities commonly tackle first in reaching functional zero.

“If you look at the through line of the numbers, we’re making progress in decreasing unsheltered homelessness,” she says. Both Reno and the city of Sparks separately passed no camping ordinances prior to the recent Supreme Court ruling , which allows law enforcement more teeth in sweeping them.

The hope, she says, is that officers can encourage people to go to the Cares Campus rather than stay in encampments. As of her interview with The Journal, Cares did have shelter beds available for homeless people to utilize.

“Nobody wants to tear down tents that people are living in. That’s not what we want to do,” she says. “We want to get them off the street to begin with. The camps are not a good place for people to be.”

Fear of attracting outsiders: Drysdale says the campus doesn’t have the numbers to validate the fear of people outside of Reno coming to the city for resources, but acknowledges that it was a concern when the campus was being built.

“We’re three hours from San Francisco and we got some media coverage there about how great our campus is. People are really scared that people are going to be bussed and dropped here,” she says.

Drysdale adds that there was an incident with a nearby rural community that was advertising the Reno campus and shuttling people there .

“We sent a letter saying ‘you can’t be doing this.’ They receive state and federal funding for homelessness, so sending their homeless to us but collecting that money is a problem,” she says. “So we’ve seen a little bit of it, but we don’t have the numbers to really track it. We’re trying to improve that.”

Do homeless patrons get input on operations? The campus has a participant steering committee where current clients get together to talk about issues that come up, such as bathroom maintenance issues or if an additional shower is needed.

“We’re not going to rearrange everything based on that feedback, but they’re able to give that lived experience feedback of what’s working and what’s not,” Drysdale says. “We have people who have exited into housing and go work for our programs.”

Drysdale acknowledges the difficulties of ensuring a high-quality stay for every client.

“If you do a Google search I’m sure you can probably find complaints,” she says. “I mean, I don’t know, but we’re trying to provide the best shelter that we can. I hope that it’s better than the alternative of living in really, really unsafe conditions.”

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Collecting questions on Wichita’s future MAC

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