SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (October 10, 2016) – Through a generous gift from Sam and June Hamra, The Kitchen, Inc. is excited to announce it has acquired land that will soon house a new emergency shelter and office space. The property is located at the corner of Glenstone and Chestnut Expressway and has frontage on both streets.
The acquisition of this land is the first step in the development of a new campus. The Kitchen, Inc.’s current facilities are several decades old and it would cost much more to renovate them. The budget for the new campus is $4 million and we are at 55 percent of our goal for the project.
As mentioned, the new campus will house the emergency shelter that consists of 13 apartments and one apartment for respite care. A second building will consist of office space for 26 case managers and will be the home to the operational staff, which includes the executive staff, human resources, accounting and development.
In the past 24 months, The Kitchen, Inc. has provided more than 400 units of permanent housing for over 600 individuals and families in our community. The emergency shelter is just the beginning of getting single women and families off the street. Once at the shelter, each person can then be directed toward the most appropriate housing option, whether that be permanent housing paid for by the individual or a program of The Kitchen, Inc. or other agencies and resources within the community. The goal is to be able to find permanent housing for people living at the emergency shelter within 90 days. Just last year, The Kitchen, Inc.’s emergency shelter assisted 229 people including 92 children. That’s 92 children who were able to call somewhere home other than the streets.
The support service building with the 26 case manager offices allows for up to 25 percent growth all while keeping client privacy in mind. In addition to the case manager offices, the first floor will also consist of four conference rooms to encourage streamlined collaboration between all of The Kitchen, Inc. programs and our community partners. The second floor will house the administrative offices, the boardroom and additional conference spaces.
