By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Sunflower Diversified Services CEO Jon Prescott met former Housing Opportunities, Inc. (HOI) Executive Director Vicky Dayton at a chamber coffee in Larned nearly three years ago. Prescott told Dayton that he was in desperate need for housing for Sunflower’s clients.
Sunflower helps children and adults with developmental disabilities. HOI provides affordable housing to those 55 and older with low to moderate incomes.
Dayton has since retired, but Callie Miller has taken over the HOI director position and teamed up with Sunflower to construct a 28-unit complex in Great Bend that will house Sunflower adult clients.
Prescott
said Sunflower currently has two group homes and deals with 37 landlords in the
area that their clients rent from. Many of those rentals will come available following
the completion of Cambridge Park.
"If someone is looking for a bigger home, there will be two them available within the next two years," said Prescott. "This will also open up several other homes that could be nice starter homes. This is going to open up 30-some homes in town."
Cambridge Park will be located on 24 acres south of Walmart and east of the University of Kansas Health System – Great Bend Campus. The project will extend Grant Street from 6th Street to 2nd Street. Sunflower clients will get first priority of occupancy with income limits between $13,000 and $30,000 annual salary for a one-person household.
Miller said along with four, 2-bedroom duplexes;
two, one-bedroom duplexes, there will be two large buildings with single studio
residencies.
"It basically a really large duplex with four units on each side," said Miller. "Each unit is a studio-style apartment with its own bathroom and small kitchenettes. Each side of that building will have a common living area, laundry room and kitchen."
There will also be an office in the middle that connects both sides that will also serve as a tornado shelter for all the residents.
The units will be handicap accessible and meet specific needs of Sunflower’s
clients with disabilities.
Cambridge Park for Sunflower clients will be the first of four phases on the
plot of land south of Walmart. Miller mentioned three more housing projects,
not necessarily Sunflower related, will be located on that land in the future.
Listen below to the full interview with Prescott and Miller discussing the new housing project. The "Sunflower Show" aired on 1590 KVGB & 95.5 FM Nov. 10, 2021.