This story is part of a series published in recognition of Supportive Housing Week, highlighting programs in Douglas County that combine affordable housing with services to help people maintain stability, improve their health and live independently. We are grateful to those who have agreed to share their experiences to show how this investment is making an impact.

Elisha, 31, describes the housing and supportive services that he receives through Artists Helping the Homeless (AHH), a regional nonprofit, as life changing.

“I come from homelessness, prison multiple times and I just couldn’t get it right,” he said. 

AHH founder Kar Woo and his team have helped Elisha transition from incarceration into the community with housing and a range of support services. They’ve helped him obtain essential documents such as his birth certificate and Social Security card and enroll in courses to become a certified personal trainer. They currently provide transportation to drug testing appointments, court appearances and his job.

More importantly, Elisha said, they offer peer support and hold him accountable. He’s living in a group home in Lawrence, called the Kairos House, where the house manager and Elisha’s housemates understand what he’s going through.

Elisha said this is his second time in the AHH program. Woo gave him a second chance.

He had previously been in the program, got sober, found employment and believed he was ready to live independently. Within six months, he lost everything — his sobriety, job, money and housing — and landed back in the Douglas County Jail. When he called AHH for help, Woo already knew he was back in jail and offered him another opportunity.

Elisha is now enrolled in the Douglas County Drug Court Treatment program and plans to move soon into AHH’s second-step group home in Lawrence, called the Meraki House.

“AHH is amazing. It’s like a family, and it’s comfortable,” Elisha said. “I’ve got my head back on right and focused again. Everything is going great.”

Douglas County’s investment in supportive housing began in 2019 in partnership with AHH to develop and operate a supportive housing project in collaboration with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office Reentry program. 

Beginning in September 2019, Kairos House began housing clients referred by Reentry staff who have a history of multiple bookings in the Douglas County Jail as a result of behavioral health and/or substance use disorders. Individuals referred to Kairos House also lack a safe or supportive housing environment to return to after their release. 

In 2021, AHH expanded services in Douglas County by opening a second home, Meraki House, to provide greater capacity and offer additional options based on individuals’ unique needs and stages of recovery.

AHH receives $376,686 annually from Douglas County to provide these services.