Our Story

Our mission at Friend and Kin is simple. We purchase older buildings in need of repair and restore them for use by other community minded nonprofits.

Our first property is the old Longfellow school on south Elm Street. To date we have completed phase one, which is the restoration of the Special Education building on the south end of the block. That newly restored building is now occupied be KFAN (Kansas Family Advisory Network). KFAN is a faith based nonprofit organization that provides support by connecting the family's need with the resource regardless of income or social status.

Phase 2 and Phase 3 of construction are the remodel and renovation of the Main Building of the property. We will convert the North end of our main building into transitional housing for the homeless population in our local area by converting those five classrooms into two-bedroom apartments. When this project is completed we will have five apartments to offer residences with dignity to our neighbors. In the South end of the Main Building, we will restore eight classrooms, which we will lease to other local nonprofits at deeply reduced rates for uses such as GED assistance, After-School Safe Zone, English as a Second Language classes for our growing Hispanic population, and other necessary office space.