Wichita City Council members have voted to approve an agreement with a non-profit group to manage the planned new Multi-Agency Center that will be a one-stop location for homeless shelter services and programs.

The agreement is with the MAC Board, Inc. and it will manage operations at the former Park Elementary School at 1025 North Main, which is now operated by HumanKind Ministries  as an emergency winter homeless shelter until the end of March.

The new public-private partnership and agreement between the MAC Board and the city is the next step in a community-based plan to work with local service providers to create a one-stop resource center for anyone experiencing homelessness or at-risk of being homeless to receive services designed to move people into housing.  Over the next year, the nonprofit MAC Board will continue working toward developing a fully functioning resource center with a name to be established, including developing a service model and continued collaboration with providers to develop a fully functional service center. 

The volunteer chairman of the MAC Board, Steve Dixon, said the Board will be working to hire an executive director and the goal is to have that person named by the end of June.

The seven-member board includes Wichita Mayor Lily Wu and representatives of local organizations involved in providing services to the homeless.

This spring, the City of Wichita’s development team of Petra, HFG, and McCown Gordon is scheduled to complete the MAC building design and then will begin the construction phase.  During construction, the MAC Board will work with local providers to continue a 24-7 low-barrier shelter in a different part of the building, while engaging local providers on the multiple services that will be available when the MAC is completed.