Wichita journalists share insights on deep housing reporting

The concrete foundation where Naomi Vertilus was standing certainly felt and looked solid, but she still felt edgy.

It was last September. and construction had begun on her family’s future home. As the walls went up, a radiant smile lit up the face of the nurse and mother of four – happiness tinged with anxiety. While owning an affordable, quality home had been Vertilus’ dream for 20 years, she was afraid to believe it was coming true.

“They can’t take this away from me, can they?” she tearfully asked.

Her fears were well-founded. Despite working full-time, Naomi had struggled to find decent housing. Her experiences included unexpected rent hikes, eviction threats and having to move when a landlord sold the rental. “I was used to saying, ‘Now what?’” Vertilus says.

Vertilus purchased and moved into her Wichita Habitat for Humanity home in January. Now she says, “At the end of the day this is mine, it’s ours, and no one can take it away.”

Her housing challenges and poignant questions highlight how affordable housing is out of reach for many Wichitans. Low wages, high rents and interest rates lock many out. Others have experienced an eviction or a job loss. The latest point-in-time data recorded 691 people are experiencing homelessness – almost certainly an undercount. There’s also a housing shortage.

This crisis resonates with the Wichita Journalism Collaborative. That’s why its 11 members are working together on an 18-month project to investigate and report on housing challenges through “Priced Out: The Future of Wichita Housing.”

The collaborative is a coalition of newsrooms and community partners. It was created to help meet news and information needs in and around Wichita. Partners are The Wichita Eagle, KMUW-FM, The Voice, The Beacon Wichita, The Journal, KSN-TV, The Active Age, Planeta Venus, Wichita State University’s Elliott School of Communication, The Sunflower student newspaper and the Wichita Public Library.

The Wichita media ecosystem is not unique in creating a collaborative , an association outlets can use to share resources, fill gaps and amplify their voices. They’re found across the United States and around the world. They’ve developed as the media landscape has been disrupted and there are fewer outlets and reporters to cover news.

As the collaborative dug into the housing crisis, some of the partners reflected on why housing was chosen as the focus. They talked about what they’ve learned, and they shared memorable stories, particularly about the people featured in them. They say there’s more to learn, including the root cause of the housing crisis, as well as providing solutions.

The ‘why’ behind the reporting

“I just think it’s (housing) one of the most important things in anybody’s life,” says PJ Griekspoor, who has worked as a reporter for The Voice, which serves the African American community. “Where they live and how they live and whether or not they can afford to live there.”

Celia Hack, a news reporter at KMUW, Wichita’s NPR affiliate, agrees housing is a central part of people’s lives. “And you don’t really realize that until you’re faced with not having it.”

“It’s a big issue for some of our readers, for senior citizens,” says Joe Stumpe, editor of The Active Age. “When they get to a certain age, there’s a lot of decisions to make regarding housing. Some of them may be very well-off and have options, and others are really limited in what they can do.”

Stefania Lugli, a reporter for The Journal, is focusing her reporting on people who are homeless. “I think a lot of people forget that you’re closer to sleeping in your car than you are to sleeping in a mansion,” she says.

The focus on housing drew me to the role of the collaborative’s coordinator. In my previous job at Wichita Habitat for Humanity, I met hardworking people, like Vertilus, who couldn’t afford decent housing. And like her, my eyes teared up the day she sought my assurance no one could take her house away.

‘The struggle … is universal’

Collaborative partners over the past year or so have written about 100 stories about housing and homelessness. Their reporting challenges the assumption that affordable housing is abundant in Wichita.

“I think people assume the Midwest is super cheap – which, relative to the East and West coasts, it is,” says Lugli. “But the struggle of affordable housing and homelessness is universal.”

Zillow puts the median home sale price in Wichita at $245,329, according to a May 27 article by The Wichita Eagle . That means the median mortgage cost, with a 10% down payment, would be $2,071, including property taxes and insurance.

Right now, it’s cheaper to rent rather than buy a house in Wichita. The average cost to rent in Wichita is $1,395 a month, according to data from Zillow. However, rents have also increased and are $295 higher on average than a year ago.

A story Hack produced for KMUW found that a severe shortage of new construction is a contributing factor to the cost of housing. In 2023, Wichita had, at most, half the amount of housing inventory of a healthy market its size. Local housing advocates estimate the city should have thousands more affordable units available.

“He (Alvin) sticks in my mind because I really was excited about how journalism got him even more involved than he was before.”

-Celia Hack, KMUW news reporter

The people behind the stories

Priced Out stories illustrate how the housing crisis affects people.

Hack met Alvin Mitchell when she covered retaliatory evictions. Michell is in his early 60s and supports himself by scrapping, hauling metal and cleaning out homes. He lives in Planeview, where he was born and raised.

Hazardous problems plagued Mitchell’s rental house, including windows that were cemented shut and a sinking kitchen floor. Mitchell asked his brother to contact the city and make a report on his behalf. The landlord was notified about code violations and given a timeline for repairs. Shortly after, Mitchell received a notice that his landlord wanted to terminate his lease.

Last January, the City Council passed an ordinance allowing landlords to be fined for retaliatory evictions. Mitchell testified at council meetings about his experience.

“He (Alvin) sticks in my mind because I really was excited about how journalism got him even more involved than he was before,” Hack says. “He went and testified at a City Council meeting. And has kind of tried to stay in the loop about what’s going on at the city.” Mitchell even attended the Greater Wichita Housing Conference in April and caught up with Hack afterward.

Lugli thinks of Theron, a disabled senior who shared his experiences with her in an article on the emergency winter shelter . Theron, in his early 70s, became homeless when he couldn’t afford his rent. His last name was withheld in the story to help protect his identity and access to services.

(Editor’s note: The story Lugli wrote on the shelter was recently selected to be a finalist for a 2024 Nonprofit News Award for “best investigative journalism” in the small division. The winners will be announced Sept. 18 in Atlanta.)

While Theron appreciated the shelter because it was better than the streets, he was appalled by the conditions. At times, there was one toilet for more than 100 people. Meals were tiny. Staffing was insufficient, and there was the danger of fights.

“He’s pretty much lived in almost every kind of housing that someone offers through a program,” Lugli says of Theron, but he’s struggled to maintain a permanent housing situation. His situation is a reminder that being homeless “doesn’t get cured just by being put up in four walls. There’s still a lot to take care of everything.”

Stumpe of The Active Age says Darlene Palsmeier ’s housing experience highlights the housing situation for many seniors: There are few affordable options for middle-income seniors.

At 66, Darlene’s annual income was $38,640. She hardly thought she was well off. However, when she applied for apartments in government-subsidized senior living communities, she learned she was above the income limit for residents by almost $3,000. Darlene needed to find a place quickly and ended up renting an apartment for $1,400 a month. That’s 40% of her monthly income. Government agencies and experts recommend spending no more than 30% of gross income on housing.

“There’s a huge shortage of affordable senior housing,” Stumpe says. “Every time they open one of these subsidized ones it immediately fills up.”

This shortage and the ensuing waiting list were highlighted in an article by The Wichita Eagle about the Central Landing senior housing community in west Wichita. There are 48 units and no vacancies. One hundred people are on the waiting list.

“I think there’s a lot of shame associated with not having stable housing.”

-Stefania Lugli, Reporter for The Journal

Obstacles to covering housing issues

It’s common for collaboratives to focus on one issue, such as housing. Partners share and publish one another’s stories. Reporters from different newsrooms may work together on an article.

But just because local news organizations can apply more talent to an issue doesn’t mean their work lacks challenges.

For example, Hack says she often struggles to collect data from government agencies, especially on evictions. It isn’t easily accessible or in an easy-to-use format.

Having a reporter focused heavily on housing issues, like Lugli does for The Journal, is a benefit for the collaborative, but it’s a new experience and it creates challenges.

“I feel like the obstacles I hit the most are with the city government,” as well as community leadership about homeless policy, Lugli says. “I think that stems from the discomfort of having attention where there wasn’t attention before. So, it’s just kind of trying to get used to one another. … I think it’s just kind of growing pains.”

Lugli also finds many people are reluctant to be interviewed. “I think there’s a lot of shame associated with not having stable housing,” she says. “Whether that means you’re homeless or you’re on a housing voucher or you’re in Section 8. I think people can be kind of embarrassed to admit that it’s a struggle.”

Seeking Solutions

Stories that provide solutions are important too.

Griekspoor cites her story in the The Voice on Bill Vann , a pastor who is revitalizing houses in one of the city’s most distressed areas, one structure at a time. Vann purchases rundown homes in the 67214 ZIP code. He rehabs and rents them.

Griekspoor admires Vann’s “passion for helping his community and wanting to give back.”

Vann has rehabbed 40 homes. He feels called to serve his community, and creating more affordable homes is one way to do this.

Vann also is a licensed contractor and does much of the work himself. When he can’t, he hires trade specialists from the community. “I try to make sure my dollars are going to circulate in our community before it leaves,” he says.

Stumpe points to the Eagle story on affordable senior housing built by Central Community Church. “You know, maybe it (a solutions story) inspires others,” he says. “What other kind of help is out there that can help keep them in their home, whether it’s Meals on Wheels or getting their house up to code?”

What the collaborative is learning

Partners look to COVID-19 and see its effects on housing today, four years later.

“I think what else is surprising is how much COVID protections in housing really benefited people,” Lugli says. “And it was truly a safety net for a lot of people, and seeing all of those be rolled back and expire, like, how damaging that is. And it’s sad that we can’t keep those up.”

Covering housing has made Hack aware that many people like Mitchell lack quality rental housing.

Lugli says that Priced Out has shown that housing is a complicated issue. “It’s not as simple as like, you get a house and like you’re, you’re done – your problem solved,” she says. “Because there’s utilities, there’s maybe rent increases.” Housing vouchers for programs like Section 8 have certain requirements that need to be met.

“There’s just so much that can happen once you get into a house that can just so easily slip you back into instability or homelessness.”

What’s next for the collaborative?

Lugli would like her work to provide clarity to the process people have to navigate when they need housing, especially when that process might be complicated or unfamiliar. Lugli also would like to learn more about housing policies: “I think one thing is that I feel like we still don’t know how decisions are made at a local or state government level.”

More connection with people in the community is needed, partners say. In February, the collaborative hosted a community listening session at the Kansas Leadership Center. About 125 people attended and heard from housing experts, shared experiences and suggested stories for the Priced Out series.

Future events could connect with neighborhoods or residents in an apartment complex. There could be conversations with landlords who have been involved in evictions. People who are homeless are not likely to attend a listening session, and so partners need to think creatively about how to tell their stories.

Partners also would like the collaborative to create a housing resource guide.

A goal of Priced Out is to make an impact in the community. The collaborative is working to determine what that impact looks like. It could be a story that leads to a policy change or having partners work together on in-depth stories. For now, partners say they are hearing more people talk about housing issues.

“I don’t know if it’s because of our work,” Stumpe says. “There certainly seems to be civic discussion about,” about housing,” at the same time as we’re doing the work.”

Lugli agrees. She says the collaborative and its focused coverage have expanded The Journal’s audience beyond people connected with the Kansas Leadership Center’s leadership programs. “I think having this new push towards housing and, for me specifically, homelessness has helped kind of elevate the Journal’s brand. … and include a more diverse audience.”

Collaborative partners are finding that a lot of Wichita area residents care about the topic of housing, and that having quality, affordable housing is important to the overall health of the community and its residents.

There’s a ripple effect to having a safe, affordable home. There’s money for necessities, emergencies and even some extras. It also creates stability.

Vertilus has been in her new house almost half a year. She’s moved beyond her early fear that this home might be temporary. Instead, she now finds joy in decorating. “Wherever we lived before, I never decorated,” Vertilus says. “I always felt it was a space we were borrowing. … I was afraid I was going to have to take it down.” But now, she says, “This is good; I can do this.”

Kathy Lefler serves as the project coordinator for the Wichita Journalism Collaborative , which is funded through a grant from the News and Information Fund at the Wichita Foundation.

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