Housing Journey

  • Simply Hygiene Chose Us!

    I opened my email this morning to find an acceptance letter from Simply Hygiene! This was completely unexpected. I applied a year ago and have heard nothing. They have a huge backlog of applicants and got to mine. Simply Hygiene Simply Hygiene provides body soap, conditioner, deodorant, laundry detergent, lotion, maxi/mini pads, shampoo, tampons, toilet…

  • Christmas Party Time

    This is the IVY Home Christmas Party, and for many of the residents, it’s the first Christmas Party of their adult life. Ask many of them about Christmas, and they tend to ignore it. They don’t want to celebrate. It doesn’t take much thinking to know why. I’ve heard some of their stories. Childhoods that…

  • End of Life Care

    Hospice Care for a Resident Dying after Prison Drug Trial?!?!? This is my WTF moment. There’s no training for this. I know God put me here, in this spot, to catch people who were falling through the cracks in our society. But this? There’s a resident that we all love. Everyone does. For published media,…

  • Leadership Grant Recipient

    IVY Home is a proud recipient of the 2025 Leadership Transformation Grant from the Kansas Leadership Center. This grant will provide formal leadership training for each House Manager. Being a house manager is often a thankless job. You receive a discount on rent, but it’s an unpaid position with a large burden. The managers are…

  • Meet the Board

    IVY Home Foundation Board of Directors is seen in the photo below from left to right: David Harder – Director of CommunicationsRuben Contreras – Board Vice ChairJulia LeFevre – Board ChairIvery Kaufman – Executive DirectorSasha Edwards – Treasurer What’s the Point? A Board of Directors shares the responsibility for oversight, accountability, and vision casting for…

  • ‘Begin at the Beginning,’

    the King said gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’ – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Mid-life crisis People mock a mid-life crisis. Yet, even our wise King Solomon stopped to contemplate his life. It appears he did so many times over. His advice to the young is “…remember that you…

  • And You Get A Car!

    First car donation received We had our first car donation this summer. The timing was so perfect that it could only be God. A 2007 Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer w/ 213,000 miles Thank you so much, Megan. IVY sold the car for a minimal amount to House Manager, Darryl, who also performs maintence for every…

  • Numerous Firsts

    I’ve experienced an overwhelming number of firsts in Kansas in my first two years of housing people in recovery from trauma. What follows is my attempt to catalog these. The 1st Time I Ever: Rented 4 homes in middle class / upper class neighborhoods in Wichita Outfit homes like an AirBNB Bought a pack of…

  • Profile of a Resident

    Returning to Society after 40 Years I checked George (alias) into the house today. He’s beyond excited to join us after 40 years of incarceration. Read that. 40 years. I wasn’t born yet when he entered prison. Yesterday – prison. Today – hello world. George got a battery of do’s and don’ts, places he must…

  • Wichita’s 1st Nationally Accredited Recovery Homes

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE IVY Home Foundation (IVY) received accreditation at two male recovery homes (also known as sober homes) and one female recovery home. These are the first accredited male recovery homes in Kansas and the first accredited recovery homes in the greater Wichita area. Accreditation creates a standard for:• living conditions• safety• operation accountability•…