With official Community Partner status secured through the United Way of the Flint Hills last week, Southwick House continues early processes to restore services to women in crisis following the demise of Plumb Place nearly three years ago.
KVOe’s Talk of Emporia on Monday featured a conversation with Southwick House CEO Susan Brinkman. She says Community Partner status was a big early step for Southwick House– and the new agency had to take several steps to gain that status.
With Community Partner designation, Southwick House can apply for United Way funding for the 2024 and 2025 operations years if the application is filed by Dec. 1. Brinkman says the agency plans to apply, with the understanding it might have to return or not accept 2024 funds if it hasn’t found a home for Southwick House.
While a location is pending, Brinkman and the Southwick House Board of Trustees has been busy building the policy foundation.
Accounting irregularities, which led to the disappearance of over $50,000 back in 2017, were well-publicized, but Brinkman says Plumb Place also suffered after regulation changes from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development — which said 100-year-old buildings like the former Plumb Place home at 224 East Sixth could not “meet the needs of women in the community and still maintain their funding source.” This meant the loss of over half the agency’s total funding. The inability to shelter women and children in crisis, on top of COVID-19 issues and the loss of United Way Community Partner status, sealed the Plumb Place fate at the end of 2020.
The HUD funding model now allows for four different categories of housing — permanent supportive, rapid rehousing, transitional or emergency sheltering. Brinkman says the current plan is to utilize transitional housing for up to 20 women in a congregate setting. The goal is also to have separate space for women and their children or even nuclear families in crisis settings. Brinkman says Southwick House will follow Plumb Place’s work to offer case management and other services for those using its facilities.
