By ALIN HETT
Hays Post
A commercial kitchen and a place for people to sit down and eat are among the features First Call for Help hopes to include in a future building in Hays.
Macey Pfeifer, executive director of First Call for Help, said the agency would like to have a bigger space to host soup suppers and eventually offer weekly dinners for people who need a meal.
The organization’s current building on 13th Street does not have a kitchen for staff and programs.
“We would have a commercial kitchen area,” Pfeifer said. “We could do kind of like soup supper nights on occasion, and have a seating area for people to come in that may need a meal for that night.”
The meal space is one part of a broader vision for a building that could help the agency meet growing community needs. First Call for Help serves low and no-income households throughout Ellis County with essential resources and emergency financial assistance.
“We have everything from a food pantry, hygiene supplies to diapers,” Pfeifer said. “We do both of the Laundry Love programs here in town at both of the locations at the laundromats. We also run the local Meals on Wheels routes here in Hays, and in collaboration with Hays Med, we give out public transportation tickets with the ACCESS van.”
Pfeifer said people who seek help are not always unemployed or without other support. Many have one or two jobs, she said, but still struggle to cover basic expenses, especially if they are raising children on their own.
“Once you’re kind of in a financial hole, it’s really hard to dig yourself out of,” Pfeifer said.
Pfeifer said First Call for Help does not require proof of income for most of its regular services. The agency began requiring income verification for financial assistance this year, after demand outpaced the funds available. Pfeifer said the change is intended to help the agency distribute that money to more people.
The agency’s current building presents practical challenges, too. Pfeifer said there is little room inside, parking is difficult and visitors have trouble getting in when another vehicle is parked in the available space.
“Our community's need is growing with the rise of the cost of everything,” Pfeifer said. “Just in regular everyday life, essential resources have become kind of hard for people to get. That's our purpose, and if anyone's ever been to our building, we have no space.”
Some program supplies are stored away from the building. Pfeifer said most of the supplies for Backpacks for Kids are kept at Joe Bob Outfitters north of town. She also gave praise to the Beckner family, who provides the rental space as an in-kind donation.
With a larger building, Pfeifer said she and the board also hope to expand First Step, the organization’s transitional housing program, which is at the north end of the existing building.
The organization is in the early stages of planning and has no specific building, location or construction plans. Pfeifer said its goal is to find a site in Hays that is accessible to the people it serves, rather than one that would require them to travel to the edge of town.
“The building will be in Hays,” Pfeifer said. “Our goal is to have it in a place that's very accessible to people, so they're not walking really far, like on the outskirts of town or something like that.”
Pfeifer said First Call for Help is beginning its fundraising effort by applying for the 2027 Kansas Community Service Tax Credit Program. The agency is seeking pledge forms, not donations, as it works through the application process.
Under the program, a donor who contributes at least $250 could receive a Kansas tax credit equal to 50% of the donation. Pledges are being accepted through Jan. 31, 2027.
Pfeifer said additional fundraising events are expected, but details have not yet been set.