ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

After being closed for a few months for remodel, Liberal’s Stepping Stone Shelter recently reopened with a ribbon cutting hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.

SSS Board President Ty Lewick said the renovations were made possible from a one-time allocation from the State of Kansas for much needed infrastructure upgrades.

Lewick said Development Director Lindsay Bennett, Board Treasurer Scarlette Diseker and Liberal Area Coalition for Families Director Sarah Mersdorf-Foreman in 2025 went to Topeka to lobby for a line item in the state’s budget, and this resulted in just more than $600,000 for Stepping Stone.

Lewick said some of the work included making the building at 300 N. Lincoln Ave. more accessible to those with disabilities.

“In the past, we were only able to accommodate one or two people in our ADA room for people with disabilities who couldn’t go up and down stairs,” he said. “That’s where the majority of our rooms are, and with this remodel, we now have two ADA rooms that can support a minimum of two people each.”

Lewick said this allows both disabled men and women to be housed at the same time, and he added the shelter’s dining room has also been increased in size.

“With the previous dining room we had, we could fit at most 15, and that was a squeeze,” he said. “Now, we can seat almost 40 into our new dining room.”

Another addition with the renovation was a family room on the first floor.

“That allows families who come in who have small infants or toddlers to stay on the first floor versus trying to get everybody up and down stairs with all their strollers and bags,” Lewick said. “It’ll make it much easier for families.”

Work on the renovations began in October 2025 and were finished in late February, and despite not being open to the public in that time, two employees kept things going in SSS’s north portion. Lewick said having the shelter closed for such a period of time was not as bad as he thought it would be.

“I worried we were going to have a lot of people coming for rooms to stay, but between Garden City, Dodge City and some of the other services here in town, they were able to take care of the few people who needed assistance with being homeless while we were shut down,” he said. “That was a blessing. We had a lot of people who had utilized the soup kitchen, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to help them while we were closed.”

Lewick said Stepping Stone,  LACF and local churches were able to get food boxes to those in need, though.

“When we reopened the soup kitchen for a week, we tested the new commercial kitchen to make sure we knew how everything worked,” he said. “It was something the community needed, and we’re excited they’re going to be utilizing that.”

Lewick praised the work of shelter staff, board members, Diseker, Mersdorf-Foreman and Bennett.

“I couldn’t be more excited for this time,” Lewick said. “When you’re able to help people, it makes you feel good.”

Lewick also serves as director of the Liberal Housing Authority, and he said often after applications are made to Stepping Stone and individuals get on their feet through programs at the shelter, an attempt is made to get them into the Housing Authority. He said this is a direct reflection of the shelter’s name.

“It’s a stepping stone,” he said. “We are the stepping stone to people being able to support themselves.”

Diseker also serves as city manager for the City of Liberal, and Lewick praised the work of herself, Mersdorf-Foreman and Bennett for lobbying the state for funding for the renovations.

“They all went to Topeka, and they had to speak with a lot of legislators to make this happen,” Lewick said. “That was the biggest hurdle. We honestly didn’t know if we were going to get over that hurdle, but through all of that hard work, we got it accomplished.”

Now, Stepping Stone can continue its mission of helping homeless people across the Five State Region.

“We have people come from Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas because we’re the only shelter around,” Lewick said. “It means we can get people off the street and give them the hand up they need to get back on their feet.”

In 2024, SSS faced significant challenges, as it was found the building on Lincoln Avenue required additional renovation to ensure the shelter was functioning safely and efficiently.

In 2023, the shelter did not receive the anticipated Emergency Shelter grant that would have covered operating expenses due to a lack of an audit. Lewick said finding funds remains a significant challenge, and working to find funding for March, the shelter is still in search of a full-time director.

“We approached the city commission,” he said. “What we would like to do is fund our director position through the city’s 1-cent sales tax. This past year, they funded us in operations, and what we would like to do is switch that over to funding for the director.”

Lewick said a director will be responsible for getting extra operating funds.

“That would allow us to provide some benefits we currently cannot,” he said. “As of right now, Sarah Foreman is the director. I’m her assistant. The city seemed receptive to the idea, but there’s some legal things we need to go through covering bylaws and a memo of understanding we need to get going before it will happen. We’re hopeful it will happen soon.”