08/28/2026
Congratulations to Ninth Street Missionary Baptist Church and Family Promise of Lawrence on Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for Promise Heights, a new three-story residential building near Ninth and Tennessee streets.
Douglas County is honored to have contributed $900,000 in behavioral health sales tax funding to support Promise Heights, which will provide six units of transitional housing for families served by Family Promise.
Family Promise Executive Director Brenda Wahl said she attended this week’s county commission meeting, where someone asked: “Why does the county have to give money to all these organizations for housing?”
Wahl addressed that question at the ribbon-cutting ceremony:
“Because families looking for housing who are low-income and income-limited, who have an eviction on their record, who don’t have a salary that’s three times the rent, don’t have a co-signer, who can’t afford move-in costs — these families will be homeless if our community doesn’t come together to provide sufficient affordable and supportive housing. When they are evicted or pushed out of their leases, they do not have the means to get into safe, sustainable housing. So they live doubled up if they’re lucky, seek shelter, sleep in their cars, camp at the lake. With their children. This cannot be.
“But it is. It does happen, and we receive those calls every day — an average of eight calls a day from families seeking shelter or housing.
“This is why Family Promise has a whole spectrum of housing services: prevention so families don’t lose their housing in the first place; diversion for those who don’t have housing but are the lucky ones who have a safe place to stay doubled up; shelter for families with nowhere else to go; temporary housing as a step between homelessness and permanent housing; stabilization to provide supportive services for families who have worked hard to get into housing in the community — and finally, housing. That’s what Promise Heights is. It is housing with lowered barriers and case management supports, made affordable through Section 8 vouchers or lowered rent to match their income.
“Housing is the solution to homelessness. Lack of affordable housing and barriers to affordable housing create more homelessness. This is why all these amazing partners, including the City of Lawrence, and Douglas County have come together to bring this dream to life.”
CSH
