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Episcopal Social Services moves as arena work begins

By Melodie Woerman
Editor, The Harvest

Episcopal Social Services in Wichita has moved into a new home, or at least a place they can call home for the next three years. During that time the agency plans to raise the money needed to build a permanent facility.

ESS, a diocesan institution founded in 1983, offers a variety of programs to Wichita’s poor.

ESS purchased and remodeled the old Breakthrough Club, located about a mile from its previous site. They were forced to move when Sedgwick County commissioners voted to build a new 15,000-seat entertainment arena in the section of downtown Wichita where the ESS facility stood.

A monthslong battle with the county over an adequate purchase price ended in February when a judge awarded ESS $1.3 million for the building it had occupied since 1988.

ESS executive director Sandra Lyon said a little more than $500,000 was used to purchase the new building and remodel it to better suit the agency’s needs. Even at that, it’s going to be a tight fit to serve the more than 7,000 clients they see each year.

The old building had 12,500 square feet of program space; the new one offers about 10,000. That means they’ve had to get creative, according to Shannon Wedge, ESS’s director of public relations. They’ve turned some old storage closets into small offices and divided larger spaces into smaller ones.

Even with those limitations, Lyon said the agency is delighted to have a new home. “We are blessed to have something downtown that’s on the bus route and has high visibility,” she said.

Bus access is crucial for the agency, since most of their clients don’t have cars. They do need parking for their many volunteers, however, and Lyon said this location offers that. The building comes with 28 parking stalls and is located adjacent to Old Towne, a redeveloped shopping and restaurant area that has ample parking.

Lyon said the county had given the agency until July 6 to vacate, but they moved June 22-25 and reopened in their new location June 26. Lyon said she thought ESS was about the last resident to leave the area that will be demolished so construction on the arena can begin this fall.

Agencies share a history
Episcopal Social Services and Breakthrough Club shared a history long before they shared a building. ESS started Breakthrough Club in the late 1980s to provide social and vocational assistance to people with mental illness.

Breakthrough Club became a separate agency with its own building in 1992. It recently moved to a larger facility, opening up its building for ESS.

Lyon said within a few months the ESS board of directors hopes to launch a multi-million-dollar capital campaign for a building that will meet the agency’s needs for space and accessibility. She said early plans are ambitious, as they hope to raise the money and build a new facility within three years. But in order to serve the growing number of people in need in Wichita, they have to make it happen.

Lyon said it is a relief to have the agency’s building situation finally settled, at least for a while. “Very soon we will be back to paying attention to our programs and the people we serve,” she said.