The Plumb Place, 224 E. Sixth Ave., is a resource for women — a place to go if they don’t have a home — and the organization provided 7,075 total days of service in 2007. 1,657 of those days were uncompensated.
Jill Wheeler, executive director of Plumb Place, said the only criteria for the home is that the women need a shelter and they are over 18 years old. Plumb Place has room for 22 women, Wheeler said. Its mission is far-reaching. In 2007, Plumb Place served residents from 12 different Kansas counties, five states and three countries.
Wheeler said there are three different types of housing available at Plumb Place — emergency shelter; transitional housing, which is up to two years; and a very limited number of rooms for women to stay for more than two years.
“A majority of our residents are into the transitional housing program,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler said Plumb Place sees people from many different situations — even people who are passing through town and their car breaks down.
“You have a choice to either fix your car or stay in a hotel,” Wheeler said. “What are you going to do?”
To be able to live in Plumb Place, residents must go through an application process. Rent is determined on a sliding scale, Wheeler said.
“We do have house rules that need to be followed, as with every shared-living situation,” She said.
Plumb Place runs at capacity 96.7 percent of the time, Wheeler said. The home usually has a short waiting list, she said, but it usually goes quickly.
Programs at Plumb Place are designed to fit each individual resident’s needs, from honing financial skills to independent living skills.
“Everybody that comes in, we do a needs assessment,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler said Plumb Place is planning on expanding its programs for the residents and start offering programs such as computer classes and resume preparation.
Residents are paired with community resources as much as possible, Wheeler added. The most common organizations the Plumb Place refers residents to include the Mental Health Center of Northeast Kansas, Kansas Legal Services, the Salvation Army and the Flint Hills Community Health Center.
There are many volunteer opportunities at Plumb Place, Wheeler said. The organization has a great need in several areas including data entry, outside clean-up and help getting the resource library put together. Plumb Place also could use donations of non-perishable food, household items (pots, pans, towels, sheets and other items needed to set up a home) and clothes of every kind.
Plumb Place tries to send as much as it can with its residents who are setting up new homes.
“Anything we can send with somebody,” Wheeler said. “A lot of women who come here come with a trash bag full of clothes. That’s all they have.”