By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Epworth Towers will begin a $7 million renovation of its 90-unit senior and low-income housing complex in July.

The complex, 2800 Augusta Lane, was built in 1980. Tax credits from the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation will allow for a top-down renovation of the building. Completion of the project is anticipated in October 2020.

The renovation will address mechanical and interior issues at the complex. This will include a new heating and air-conditioning system and mechanics for its elevator as well as new paint and decor for the common areas of the complex.

All of the apartments will be painted and receive new appliances, carpet and windows.

Debra Staab, Towers manager, said the complex provides clean, affordable housing, but the building is aging and needs updating. The Towers has made cosmetic upgrades to carpet and other aspects of the facilities over the years, but this will be the first major overhaul in the facility’s 40 years.

Staab gave the example of the windows, which are a crank style and do not function well during high Kansas winds.

In anticipation of the renovation, the Towers stopped renting to new tenants. As vacancies occurred, some tenants were moved to create a block of empty apartments in the southeast quarter of the complex where the renovations will begin. Once the apartments are completed, the Towers will move the tenants back into their original apartments.

Parking will remain the same for tenants during the renovation. Additional parking will be added as part of the project toward the end of the construction. The Towers office also is being enlarged.

Epworth Towers is a nonprofit entity for renters who are 62 or older or disabled and who meet income requirements. Rents are based on 30 percent of the renters’ adjusted incomes. Once the renovations are completed, the Towers will open rental applications again.

“Epworth Towers has a long history in the Hays community and is very excited to be able to complete these upgrades for the residents,” Staab said in a news release. “These improvements will allow Epworth Towers to continue to provide quality, affordable housing for many years to come.”

Staab said low-income housing is needed in Hays.

“We go specifically to the elderly and low-income,” she said. “They need to have places that are clean and in great condition. We needed to get the bones of the building up to standard. We never have a vacancy issue.”

Epworth Towers Inc. is working with Wichita developer Investment Resources Corp. and Accel Construction Co. to assist with the redevelopment.

The Western Kansas Child Advocacy Center has added a new medical mobile unit to its fleet.

The WKCAC serves 33 counties in western Kansas, including Ellis County. Although the WKAC has brick-and-mortar offices in Hays and five other Kansas cities, it does not have offices in many of the communities that it serves.

WKAC provides forensic interviews for children who authorities believe have been abused. The center can refer child survivors and their families for follow-up services. Some children return to the WKCAC for therapy services when needed.

The WKCAC already has a fleet of RVs that have been equipped to serve children and their families in the rural areas of its coverage area. The WKCAC Mobile Child Advocacy Center is the first mobile unit accredited in the nation.

The new medical unit includes a family area, where children can meet center workers. These “family rooms” are decorated in bright colors with kid-friendly decor and equipped with toys to help children feel at ease, said Victoria Brady, forensic interview and child and family advocate.

In the rear of the RV where sleeping quarters would be, the RV has been outfitted with an exam room. Nurses affiliated with the WKCAC perform head-to-toe wellness exams for children in the unit.

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“A lot of times that is healing for a kid to hear that their body is OK,” Brady said. “We find that is beneficial.”

The Department of Justice provided a Violence Against Women grant to support both the purchase of the mobile medical unit and the ongoing wellness exams.

The medical unit can also be used for sexual assault exams. In some cases, the exams are used to collect evidence.

In some cases no injury is found, but Brady said that does not mean sexual abuse did not happen.

In addition to the new medical mobile unit, which went into service in April, the WKCAC also has mobile interview units and mobile therapy units.

The mobile interview units are outfitted similarly to the medical unit, however, instead of an exam room in the rear of the RV, there is an interview room. The interview room is equipped with cameras, so law enforcement officials, officials from the Department for Children and Families and the county attorney can listen and watch the interview from behind a curtain at the front of the RV.

“There is a TV screen, so they can monitor the child’s body language,” Brady said. … “when they are answering my questions, if they are hesitant.”

The therapy mobile units allow therapist to travel to the children in need of services. They can park at a school or other location, so the child has minimal disruption in his or her routine.

None of the mobile units are marked to give families more anonymity.

Throughout its coverage area, the WKCAC served more than 500 children last year. Brady estimated the majority of the children were served through mobile units.

“I think it is important because we live in such a rural area,” Brady said of the mobile unit fleet, “and not all the families that we see have the means to come to us physically, so we are able to come to them. Parents are more likely to participate in services when you actually come to them.”

Brady said using mobile units or one of the CAC brick-and-mortar centers, is much less traumatic than having to go to a police station for children to be interviewed about their abuse.

“All of our CACs are very bright and colorful, and even the mobile units are just a very kid friendly environment,” Brady said. “They are greeted by myself and an advocate and when the mobile medical unit goes out there is an advocate with the nurse.”

The WKCAC accepts specific donations for bags of gift items the children can take home with them. It also accepts donations of office supplies and has tasks that require volunteers.

See the WKCAK wish list and volunteer needs by clicking here.

You can also find child safety resources on the WKCAC website. If you believe a child has been abused, contact local law enforcement.