A new community resource center will open this week that will help Eudora residents identify services they may need. 

The United Way Eudora Resource Center will be staffed by Mary Kirkendoll, the AmeriCorps Eudora community navigator. Kirkendoll aims to help residents connect with resources and other nonprofits in Douglas County that can help with needs in the community. 

“So because of this position, it has helped me connect with a lot of nonprofits in Douglas County, and most of them are situated in Lawrence,” Kirkendoll said. “So there’s kind of a gap because there’s a little bit of a barrier sometimes in people from other small towns, like Waldo and Eudora, to feel like they have the right to utilize the resources in Lawrence.” 

Kirkendoll hopes that through her position she can help either bring more of the services from the county-level into the new resource center or directly connect residents with those services, instead of people having to cold-call organizations. 

“For a while, it will still be capacity-building behind what are the needs of people,” Kirkendoll said. “It will be direct service, so people will be allowed to come into the space and talk to me as the community navigator and ask questions. I can help direct them to resources … and whatever they need.” 

The new resource center will be based at the Lodge on Main, 726 Main St. The Lodge on Main will still also be an event space for residents who would like to book it.

But since typically the event space hasn’t had as many events during the day and the week, they were open to allowing it to be an office space for Kirkendoll for set hours. 

“We really want to see this be sustainable in the future,” Kirkendoll said. “And we’ll probably end up at a different location, but this is a really good test spot for us to be in downtown Eudora and to have set hours.” 

The resource center will be open 10 a.m. to noon Monday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Wednesday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday. 

The new resource center is funded by a $10,000 grant from the Douglas County Community Foundation. United Way of Douglas County helped write the grant. The funding will be used for rent and office supplies, Kirkendoll said. 

Daniel Smith, United Way of Douglas County’s director of marketing & resource development, said the resource center fills a gap that ensures Eudora residents have a direct connection to resources in the county. 

“Being able to have a resource center in Eudora is really essential,” Smith said. “We talked with a lot of people in Eudora about access to services, and sure for a lot of things they could drive to Lawrence and receive services … but to us that’s not equitable accessibility.” 

A previous version of the resource center was located at 706 Main Street as an experiment. At that location, Kirkendoll focused on collecting donations and conducting community pop-up projects. It closed in late December. 

The new location will open Thursday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 12:30 p.m.

Reach reporter Nicole Asbury at [email protected].

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