The Plumb Place Steering Committee is considering several avenues as it looks to revive services that are no longer in the community now that Plumb Place is closed.
The United Way of the Flint Hills has been facilitating the committee’s development since Plumb Place closed its doors New Year’s Eve. Director Mickey Edwards had an update on KVOE’s Morning Show this week:
On top of that, the committee is determining what services can be offered without duplicating other services already in place through other agencies.
Ultimately, insolvency led to Plumb Place closing its doors at the end of last year. Financial struggles first came to light after Emporia Police announced an investigation into over $50,000 in missing funds dating from 2014 to mid-2017. Issues continued after the United Way briefly suspended funding in 2018 and eventually ended a better than 70-year partnership with Plumb Place in 2019 by not including the shelter as a community partner — a move to ensure community donations were used as indicated. Edwards has said Plumb Place did not reach back out to the United Way to resume the partnership. Plumb Place had modest fundraising success last year before coronavirus canceled all fundraising activities and subsequent grant requests were declined.
Starting in 1921, Plumb Place had served women ages 18 and over in crisis situations with an emergency shelter, transitional housing, case management, counseling and job services. It also had offered connections to other area services.
The steering committee currently includes representatives of Corner House, CrossWinds Counseling and Wellness, Kansas Legal Services, SOS and other community representatives. It is working with Kevin Flott, who was appointed as receiver by Lyon County District Court.
