Wichita city leaders say that when it comes to the beds available to shelter homeless people, they have question marks … but not hard numbers.
Investments made over the last year by Wichita city leaders into Second Light, a shelter and services facility in the former Park Elementary School building, have made headlines. The council has directed about $13 million to renovate the building and retrofit it to carve out space for congregate sleeping quarters and wraparound services.
The investments are intended to build out the city’s capacity to respond to its homeless crisis. But during a recent City Council discussion around stricter enforcement of Wichita’s camping ban, it became clear that city leaders don’t have a good sense of where people can seek shelter if enforcement increases…