United Way briefs council on homelessness system; Second Light seeks multi‑year support as council presses for year‑round shelter capacity

United Way of the Plains and partner agencies gave Wichita City Council a full briefing on the local Continuum of Care and homelessness response, and council members pressed Second Light leadership and city staff for clearer, measurable funding conditions ahead of any multi‑year city commitment.

Pete Nura, CEO of United Way of the Plains and the CoC lead, described the CoC’s governance and data systems and said the coalition’s 2026 HUD grant cycle was roughly $3.4 million; he highlighted local performance metrics, saying the CoC’s average time from program entry to housing is about "51 days" for people who enter the CoC system and that the coalition reports an 82% two‑year housing retention rate for those placed in permanent housing. "Our goal is to put in a holistic system that makes homelessness rare, brief, and non‑recurring," Nura told council.

Matt Low, the CoC lead navigator, and other presenters described a layered model—street outreach, night‑by‑night shelter, rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing—and showcased a new Shelter Connect tool that publishes real‑time bed availability for shelters and program beds. They noted persistent data gaps where some partner providers do not enter information into HMIS, and stressed that coordinated entry and consistent HMIS use are critical to tracking exits to housing.

Council members repeatedly linked shelter availability to enforcement. Council Member Shepard said officers and outreach staff cannot enforce the city's unlawful‑camping ordinance when there is no accessible shelter: "If we had the shelter beds, which was what I was promised when allocating money, we wouldn't have that problem right there," Shepard said. Captain Moses of the Wichita Police Department described enforcement practice under the ordinance: officers are to call available shelters first and will not issue citations when no appropriate beds exist; the Hot Team (homeless outreach) handles many contacts but cannot cover every complaint.

Second Light Executive Director Dan Clifford described the shelter's current configuration and funding needs. He said Second Light currently operates roughly 170 installed bed spaces with a mix of 100 programmatic beds and about 30 night‑by‑night emergency beds; operating costs for a fully staffed, year‑round facility with surge capacity for winter shelter were described in the discussion in the $4–5 million-a‑year range. Clifford and city staff summarized a multi‑year request that would provide near‑term operating support (a $1 million ask to finish the fiscal year) and additional funding in subsequent years; council members asked for a written, line‑item plan with measurable outcomes and for conditions tying city support to expanded year‑round overnight capacity and to reporting on move‑ins and retention.

Council members also proposed outcome‑based funding approaches and matches (United Way indicated it would provide matching funds up to certain levels). City staff and Second Light committed to return with a written operational and budget plan that specifies how additional city dollars would be used, how bed types and counts would change, and what performance metrics will be tracked.

The council did not make a final funding decision at the workshop; members asked staff to return with clearer cost estimates, options for conditional or matched support and an agreement template that would link city dollars to specific capacity or reporting requirements.