How We Help – United Methodist Open Door

We have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the lives of the people we serve, every single day.

Our services are focused on those in our community who are living in poverty, and we aim to promote positive life changes, restore hope and and protect the dignity of every individual we interact with.

Food

In Kansas, under-employment and low household income are key factors in the high need for food assistance. 71 percent of families utilizing food pantries have incomes at or below the federal poverty level. 54 percent of families served through Open Door’s Community Food Ministry have yearly incomes of less than $10,000. In addition to challenges related to employment, 80 percent of families utilizing food pantries in Kansas have difficulty providing enough nutritious meals for their household. Open Door strives to provide the basics of good nutritional food. We offer two different food programs for those in need:

The Community Food Ministry, which is the largest community-wide, food-box program in the area, provides nutritionally balanced, emergency food assistance.
The Commodity Supplemental Food Program is the monthly food-box program for items provided by the USDA and distributed to income-eligible people 60 years of age and older.

Clothing

In Wichita, 15.4% of residents live in poverty, with some neighborhoods having more than 40% of the residents living in extreme poverty (2010 census).

Having clothes that are appropriate for the workplace or school can make all the difference in taking the next step out of poverty.

The Klothes Kloset provides free clothing for infants, children and adults. All clothing is in good condition, clean and gently used. The clothing is supplied through the generosity of individuals, businesses, the faith community and others.

Shelter

A one-day “snapshot” taken on Jan. 30, 2020, counted 619 literally homeless people in Sedgwick County. “Literally homeless” means just that. These people are surviving on the streets, in their cars, or in shelters. It does not include people living at hotels/motels or staying with family or friends. This count of homeless in Sedgwick County increased by 26 people from the 2019 count. The count was taken as part of the annual U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (H.U.D.) point-in-time count of homeless people in the United States.

There is a growing need to provide services to this vulnerable population, and Open Door offers assistance through the Homeless Resource Center as well as the Family Rapid Re-housing program.