WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The former Park Elementary School, which became Wichita’s emergency winter shelter in November, will stay open 24/7 year-round for those experiencing homelessness. The transition from winter to year-round happened Tuesday.

The Multi-Agency Center , often called MAC, will eventually operate out of the old school at 1025 N. Main . However, designs must be finalized, and some construction must be done first.

So, for the initial launch phase of the 24/7 shelter, the nonprofit MAC Board is entering into six-month agreements with more than a dozen organizations for shelter, food, health, housing, and multiple other services.

HumanKind Ministries Inc. has been running the winter shelter. It has agreed to continue providing shelter in the initial six-month agreement until the MAC Board prepares a long-term request for proposal.

The Lord’s Diner has been serving dinner at the shelter Monday through Friday. It has agreed to start serving dinner seven days a week and lunch five days a week.

The organizations have signed on through Sep. 30. A scheduled request for proposal process will take place in the summer for service providers as needed.

“The amount of collaboration among all the providers is unprecedented and inspirational,” Steve Dixon, MAC Board volunteer chairman, said in a news release. “We already have a team of 14 providers supporting the mission, and as the site continues to be built, we look forward to all the partners who will work together to change how we care for our neighbors and reach functional zero homelessness.”

Functional zero homelessness is when the number of people entering homelessness is never more than the community’s ability to house them.

When construction on MAC begins, the shelter will remain open, but at reduced capacity. The MAC partner will continue to provide services during the construction.

“We look forward to communicating more updates with the community as we have them. A website will be in place in the coming months and construction announcements will follow,” Dixon said.

The City of Wichita approved the local nonprofit MAC Board as the new management organization. The city committed $6 million in ARPA funds to the development and construction of MAC. It also committed $5 million toward establishing an operating model and providing ongoing services for the first two years to be combined with private dollars.