MAC Board Inc. will take over operations of the current emergency winter shelter on April 1, the first step in establishing the multi-agency center.
By Stefania Lugli / The Journal and Celia Hack / KMUW
Editor’s note: this story has been updated with results from Tuesday’s council vote.
The Wichita City Council voted Tuesday to unanimously approve an operating agreement between the city and the Multi Agency Center Board Inc., the nonprofit created to govern a year-round, low-barrier homeless shelter. The vote comes four weeks ahead of the expiration date of HumanKind Ministries operations as an emergency winter shelter, whose contract with the city ends March 31.
MAC Inc. will take over as operator of the former Park Elementary on April 1. It is yet to be determined who will be staffing the shelter on that date, though the nonprofit is in conversation with different providers who could fill the role, according to MAC Board Inc. Chair Steve Dixon.
MAC Board Inc does not yet have an executive director, either. Dixon said the organization hopes to hire the position by the end of June.
The city is relying on a new nonprofit to oversee the multi-agency center as opposed to an existing one at the request of various community service providers, said James Roberts, the strategic initiatives manager at Wichita State University’s Public Policy and Management Center. Last summer, members of the Sedgwick County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition, the United Way and the Homelessness Task Force were surveyed about who they wanted to see operate the city’s multi-agency center.
In addition to the shelter, MAC Board Inc will help start up an on-site navigation center, where social service providers can connect with homeless residents. This portion of the facility is still under construction. Assistant city manager Troy Anderson estimated to council that construction would be complete in late 2025 or early 2026.
Ahead of the council vote, The Journal and KMUW sat with Dixon and Roberts. Roberts is involved in planning for the MAC through his work at the PPMC, which has contracted with the city’s homelessness task force.
Dixon and Roberts answered questions on the board’s composition, funding, client care and plans for the rest of the year, which includes hiring a CEO and transitioning into construction as the build out for the MAC begins.
Present funding for the nonprofit comes primarily from the city of Wichita. In December, Wichita allocated $5 million in federal COVID relief funds to MAC Board Inc. for the homeless center’s operations and maintenance in 2025 and 2026.
The city has also committed $500,000 towards its operations and will revisit future contributions for 2026 during their budget cycle, according to city spokesperson Megan Lovely.
Roberts said that a rough estimate for running the MAC would be $4.5 million annually, but that the number doesn’t account for offsets in donations or if service providers reduce personnel demands. As of today, it’s likely that the MAC has enough funding to operate through the end of 2026 – pending budget shifts as stakeholders navigate construction and staffing costs. The Board and Homelessness Task Force are working to attract private donors and apply for grants that won’t pull philanthropy away from currently existing nonprofits in Wichita.
Dixon also revealed the full roster of MAC Inc.’s board. It includes:
- Steve Dixon (Chair), CEO of P.B. Hoidale
- Robyn Chadwick, chair of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition and former president of Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph Hospital
- Jason Gregory, commercial real estate specialist with InSite Real Estate Group
- Kent Miracle, director of sales and marketing at The Print Source. He is a person of lived experience with homelessness
- Moji Rosson, director of growth strategies and community impact at Meritrust Credit Union. Previously on the board of United Way of the Plains
- Gary Schmitt, managing director, Government Affairs at INTRUST Bank. Previously on the board of United Way of the Plains
- Lily Wu, mayor of Wichita
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Your background with P.B. Hoidale is in building and servicing retail fueling locations across the Midwest. You also have years volunteering on the boards of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition of Sedgwick County and United Way of the Plains, as well as nonprofit work in leadership and re-entry from incarceration. What draws you into this type of community work? How did you end up as chair of MAC Inc?
It’s a firm belief, not only from my personal faith background, but also just learning from my dad and mom, that community involvement is super, super important. And that people that have been given opportunities to have influence can use that to help advance public good. I want to make sure that I am, and others, using the skills and talents we have to help people that might not be as fortunate as I am. I’ve been blessed with a very privileged life. I want to make sure I can give back whatever parts and pieces that I can specifically to the MAC board.
Back in 2019, one of the projects with the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition was really starting to revolve around what our strategic plan looks like. What would it look like to create something like the MAC in Wichita?
Initially, we had been asked at the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition: did we want to take on the MAC as a project as a board? We felt that was a little bit too narrow of a focus (for our work). We worked on mental health issues, substance abuse issues in addition to homelessness.
I had the opportunity to explore that with a couple of other board members, and when I was asked to join the board for the MAC I jumped on that. I see it as an extension of the work we did with the Sedgwick County Coalition to End Homelessness.
Language in the city council agenda says “MAC Board Inc. currently consists of seven community members with experience in community and non-profit services, housing, and addressing large-scale community issues.” How are those sectors represented on the board?
Moji and Gary were sitting on the United Way board. They left that position to join this board, partly because of time contrast. I was board chair at United Way. We have a lot of experience. The (MAC) board members have extensive experience working with nonprofits here in the city. We do not have a member that is currently actually working at a nonprofit. But, Robyn brings a lot of experience from health care. Kent has been a great advocate for persons of lived experience but also brings a business background to help work through a lot of the contract and ARPA funding agreements.
Has the search for the MAC CEO begun? How is it going?
First step of the plan will be to determine what type of role we’re actually looking for there. There’s really two main things that this person, this executive director, will be doing. One will be fundraising. We have a runway from the city with a great grant – the ARPA funding. But we know that’s not going to last forever and it does cut off at the end of next year.
The second piece of this is the actual operation of the shelter. We’re going to need somebody that has operational experience. What we’re going to do first as a board is work on what are the key traits that we’re looking for? What skills and talents do we need to bring to the table? Once we’ll do that, we’ll start the search. We’ll probably publish something locally initially first, to see if there are any good, viable local candidates. We would like to have the search complete by the end of Q2. However, we are all very, very committed. We aren’t going to settle.
Are there concerns that having one person as an operator and fundraiser might be a heavy lift?
Yes, we have definitely thought about that. We definitely agree with that assessment. Depending upon which direction we go with the executive director, we would look immediately to hire a number two person, or let that person actually hire with our assistance. We really feel that this operation, at least in the first year while the buildings are under construction, is probably enough. We also have a contract with PPMC to provide additional assistance on the admin side.
Why MAC Inc, instead of having the property remain a city or become a HumanKind institution?
Roberts: Once the location was concrete, there were discussions facilitated by the PPMC on how it would be governed. Service providers were asked, ‘would you prefer that a provider steps up and takes on this role? Would you provide that? Would you prefer that some other entity takes it on, or a new one?’ So this idea of a new entity that is not a provider itself came from those conversations. We asked members of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition, United Way and the Homelessness Task Force. That was (the providers’) preference.
At last week’s Homelessness Task Force meeting, it was said that on April 1st, the emergency winter shelter will become the city’s 24/7 shelter. Who is the operator of the location on April 1st? Who is staffing it?
Dixon: We have not finalized anything with any one provider. We are working with multiple different partners that are in the emergency winter shelter, but as of today, because we do not have an operating agreement with the city, we have not been able to formalize an agreement with any one provider. However, we’ve had extensive talks with several of the folks that are currently in there and have had very positive discussions.
Roberts: Steve and the board have been really deliberate in establishing the board as a governance entity in the fall and accommodating the new opportunity that was put forward in the fall with the reallocated ARPA funds. Then further establishing the board and setting up an operating agreement as a new entity. As we look into April and beyond, their intent is to start the conversation with folks who’ve been in that building. There is no stasis. April 1 also brings the transition of the facility itself towards more long-term facilities. There’s going to be an increment of time where it’s under transition. Accounting for each of those steps is kind of the priority.
What is the expected timeline for the public to know about the staffing status after Tuesday’s city council meeting?
Dixon: We will have something in place by April 1 without question. There have been ongoing conversations for the last several months. We’re looking at sharpening up the primary mission of the EWS – to help people get a place to get out of the cold, make sure they had a bed and food – to a building that will be under active construction with the goal to not only provide a place to sleep but a space to bring in additional partners on wraparound services. We will not be a fully functioning MAC April 1. That’s still a ways away.
The MAC’s been previously discussed as three sequential projects: the emergency winter shelter (EWS), the multi-agency center and then the buildout of low-income housing. Where does the navigation center – where social service agencies like the city and nonprofits can set up shop to meet with individuals needing them – fit in on the timeline?
Dixon: We are very, very close to finishing up exactly what the final design of the building layout will look like. Once that’s done, there has to be a process of approval by the city, working with Petra and McCownGordon on that piece of the puzzle. Until we get to that point, the timeline is a little fluid. We also don’t know what materials and construction schedule looks like. The important thing we want to make sure is done is being able to continue to provide shelter services 365 days a week, 7 days a week. As we transition out of being an active construction zone, we’ll have a much clearer picture. The navigation center is the last step to the puzzle. We want to make sure the shelter provision is done first.
Can you talk about the affordable housing piece as well? The city wasn’t able to get the tax credits it hoped for. Are those units still part of the plan?
Dixon: We note that as a separate project. The way the ARPA funding has been put together is that the first project was designed to get the EWS up and running. Project two is the MAC. Not only funding to renovate the school, but to operate it. Project three is the non-congregate piece, which I would see as not really wrapped up into the MAC.
Roberts: The board is taking one step at a time. Sort of getting through the EWS stretch and understanding the limitations and opportunities within the building right now. What is it allowed to do? How many people can keep safe every night? So the third project, there’s no concrete discussion in the board about what that looks like.
You’ve spoken at length about the ARPA funding and the $5 million having to be used by 2026. Is it accurate to say that today, March 3, we have funding and plans for it through December 2026?
Dixon: I would hope so. Part of what we’ve been learning from the operation of the EWS is there may be some shifting in budget. Do we have to hire more staff? More security? All those things, any person or step we have to add, will shrink the time window. We just reviewed a cash flow analysis last week. I can’t promise you through December 2026, partly because as we go through the transition and more of the building opens, we’re going to have a much clearer picture of how much staff we’ll need. We want to make sure that the MAC, the shelter, is a place that’s inviting, welcoming and treats people with dignity and respect. In order to do that, it may require more people than have been currently tasked with the EWS. If that’s the case, it may shorten our runway a little.
There’s a line in the lease agreement that says the operator can close the MAC if there’s “substantial reductions in funding from the city or other sources.” What is the current split on city/other when it comes to funding? Is there a goal there on how much to lean on city funds vs. other?
Dixon: Currently, the bulk of all funding right now is ARPA funding that came from the city. The city has made a commitment to some annual funding as well, but because they’re a city, they can’t make that last forever. We are expecting that the city will continue to do some form of funding long-term. We received a nice grant from the Kansas Health Foundation to explore what other new sources of funding we can go after.
We don’t want to pull philanthropic dollars out of the existing ecosystem. Our nonprofit partners are partners. We do not want to be pulling money out of their budgets. To run the MAC, we’re going to have to look for new sources of funding. The grant we received is allowing us to do that. Fundraising is front and center.
Roberts: In the early discussions and planning for this, the city put forward the idea of making a commitment annually. At that point, estimates were around $500,000 at least.
What is the estimated yearly cost for the MAC?
Roberts: In theory, with conversations with providers, we talked about it being about $4.5 million to run the building. But that number doesn’t include what happens if service providers come in to relieve some of that personnel capacity. What happens if offsets are there through donation? So, would I go out and say that’s the operating cost? No. I think what we really want to understand is what is needed from personnel to be able to achieve functional zero and work backwards from there.
Officials have previously said they hoped to gather philanthropic support from the private sector in Wichita. How has that been going?
Dixon: We are making connections with private donors. But we’re being very mindful of, if we’re asking somebody to donate, we don’t want them to shift money from one of our current providers and say ‘hey, we’ll give it to the MAC instead.’ We need help, so we’re asking, ‘can you step up and provide a new revenue stream?’ That work is ongoing. That work will never stop. There’s almost daily talks with different potential donors. A lot of donors are eager to see proof of concept, so we have some work to do. We have a great opportunity coming over the next several months to show people what this looks like. As we do that and the MAC idea really solidifies, I think people will get behind that once they see we’re doing what we said we’re going to do. I feel very strongly that we will be able to find private dollars and make this a public-private partnership.
There’s some information in the contract about how the MAC Board Inc will meet with the city monthly and be subject to certain KORA requirements. What sort of information can the public expect to receive from MAC Board Inc regularly? How transparent do you plan to be as an organization?
Dixon: We’ve been working for roughly six months on this project, working on a very, very rapid pace to get 501(c)3 status, get ARPA dollars committed and then finalize this agreement (presented on Tuesday). Those have been core pieces to the puzzle.
We realize that during that time frame, there’s not been as much communication, partly because it’s nuts and bolts. It’s not super exciting to talk about. There will be regular communication. We know that, especially with our provider partners, that’s very critical. They want to know how they fit in. That’s really been one of our key focal points over this transition period.
We have hired a communications firm. There will be a website and a communication set schedule actually set up I believe at the end of April.
One of the challenges that the emergency winter shelter has experienced is that it lacked location stability in the past, so that’s made it difficult for any lessons learned from its season to be reapplied since circumstances change in a new building. What have you gathered from these past few months of this operation? Any discomforts, challenges or learnings in terms of ensuring the highest quality of care for clients and also maintaining a content staff?
Dixon: One of the things about the EWS is that the numbers have been off the charts this year. There are many, many nights where they are housing close to 300 people, if not more. Part of the challenge this year has been, what does it mean to put 300 people in one space at one time? Some of the challenges have been literally, how do you provide enough budget for food? How do we handle things like laundry? Activities for people during the day?
The other part of it is there’s another set of stakeholders external to the building: the neighborhood that it sits in. There have been some challenges there. Trash, loitering, other things. How do we address those issues with folks, both business and homeowners? We’re meeting with stakeholders usually two to three times a day. We want to continue to provide guests with the dignity I think they are receiving today. The staff at HumanKind has done a wonderful job of really trying to work with people, but there are some challenges in terms of mental health care, physical health care. Such as how do we deal with somebody that has a chronic condition that needs respite space?
Roberts: All this charts towards being a community that means functional zero. When we come back to this idea of continuous improvement, what do we learn? Location, stability is a big deal. We’re in the stages of developing a multi-agency center as part of continuous improvement. This is what the community identified. There’s also folks outside of MAC details, in the COC and other organizations, that make improvements in outreach, public safety coordination and our coordinated-entry system. When there’s a new facility, that work is going to be really complimentary.
Roberts: There are going to be things that we try. There may be things that we try that don’t work as well as we want. But the whole goal to remember is, what do we learn from each of those things? How do we accelerate that learning?
Many people experiencing homelessness lack trust with officials or engaging with resources such as seeking a shelter bed. How do you hope to gain the community’s trust from your position?
Dixon: We have to meet people where they are. We have to understand the challenges they’re facing as to why they don’t want to come. A significant portion of our unhoused population right now have pets, and we don’t have space for them. There’s other concerns regarding victims of domestic violence and them sharing shelter space with a potential abuser. There’s also those who cohabitate with someone, like a significant other, and we don’t allow people to sleep together. We spend a lot of time working with street outreach teams, like the Homeless Outreach Team and United Way to really get to the root of why people don’t want to come in. Then we knock those barriers down one by one.
Every person that walks in that door needs to be treated with respect and dignity. There’s a lot of word-of-mouth in this community. As we build success, as we change the focus from emergency shelter to getting people housed, I believe that trust factor will go up. I get why it’s not there right now. People are in survival mode. Our job is to help provide a place where they can get out of that mode and start to really think about what their next steps are going to be.
This article was co-reported by The Journal and KMUW as part of the Wichita Journalism Collaborative (WJC). The WJC is a partnership of 11 media and community partners, including KMUW. The WJC dedicating coverage to shed light on the pressing issue of housing in Wichita.
This article was republished here with the permission of: KLC Journal