48 Homes for Low-Income Seniors on Church Land: A Wichita Congregation’s Decade-Long Vision Is Complete

• Central Community Church in Wichita, Kansas, has completed a 48-unit low-income senior housing complex on its property.
• The project has 12 quadplex buildings and a clubhouse; construction began in summer 2020 and finished in May 2024.
• It was funded by Kansas Housing Resources Corporation tax credits and a Federal Housing Trust Fund grant.
• Mennonite Housing manages the complex.

A Wichita church has finished building homes for low-income seniors on its own land. Church of God Ministries reported that Central Community Church has completed a 48-unit senior housing complex.

The development consists of 12 quadplex buildings and a clubhouse. The vision was developed nearly a decade earlier; construction began in summer 2020 and was completed in May 2024. A ribbon-cutting on May 13, 2024 was attended by Wichita’s mayor, US Representative Ron Estes and city council members.

The project was funded with Kansas Housing Resources Corporation tax credits and a grant from the Federal Housing Trust Fund. It is managed by Mennonite Housing.

Pastor Bob Beckler said: “We want the residents to see and feel the love of Jesus. We’ve welcomed them onto our property, and now we are focusing on building a relationship with them.” Most residents are not church members. Students have delivered homemade cookies, and staff planned a summer watermelon feed.

The Wichita project shows how a church can provide housing without becoming a landlord itself: public funding pays for construction and a specialist housing group manages the homes, while the church contributes its land and its care for residents. Jamaican churches with spare land could look for similar partnerships with housing agencies and faith-based housing organisations. Seniors are a natural focus, as many congregations already care for older members. Patience matters too: this project took almost ten years from vision to completion. Churches should also agree in writing how the land is held, for example by lease, so that the congregation’s rights are protected for the long term. And they should plan how the church will stay involved with residents once the builders leave.

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