Delano’s newest resident is going to be a favorite Wichita nonprofit

One of the many organizations that is finding a new way to work these days also has found new space in which to do it.

Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters is moving to the two-story former Crawley’s Office Furniture building at 624 W. Douglas in Delano.

With the foot traffic and visibility, president and CEO Mary Shannon said, “It is less about that corporate vibe . . . and more about being very community-centric.”

In 2017, she said the nonprofit’s board created a new strategic plan that “was all about customer service.”

It used to be that youth, their parents and volunteers would go to the Big Brothers office, but that was problematic, especially for the population the nonprofit serves.

“Many of them have no vehicles,” Shannon said.

So staff members began going out to places they serve. The pandemic amplified that.

Shannon said demands are different, so “we had to change our mindset.”

Now, 85% of work happens away from the office. With a results-only work environment, Shannon said turnover reduced and employees became more engaged than in the past with schedules and flexibility that honor their work-life balance.

“They were exceeding their goals and their numbers.”

The new, smaller building will be a place to convene and work when that’s what’s called for.

The nonprofit has sold its 30,000-square-foot building at 310 E. Second St., which it never entirely used. The 10,000-square-foot second floor was unfinished. Also, the organization leased part of its space to another group and, with the 15,000 square feet left, used only 10,000 square feet of that.

Shannon said the new, approximately 12,000-square-foot space will feature a lot of open spaces with multiple seating areas that will be conducive to brainstorming.

“We’ve really opened that up to where there’s much more light, which is great,” Shannon said. She called it “almost like a coffee shop kind of environment.”

Upstairs will be the heart of the building, with space for use by Bigs and their Littles along with other volunteers and members of the community, who can rent the space for the price of a cleaning fee and the opportunity to hear about the nonprofit’s mentorship program.

The early 1920s building once was home to a bowling alley, Civic Bowl, on the second floor.

“We did find some old pieces of the bowling alley,” said Hutton CEO Ben Hutton, who owns the building “It was kind of fun.”

Charles Crawley and Ralph Graham opened All Makes Office Furniture of Wichita there in the 1960s. That became Crawley’s Office Furniture, which Leo P. Schuckman Jr. and his wife, Janice, closed in 2015.

Hutton remodeled the building, including the second floor’s “really cool barrel-vault roof.”

“It just makes a really nice, wide open second floor,” Hutton said. “It’s a neat space.”

Shannon agreed.

“Whatever we do, we are not touching the ceiling.”

Shannon said the space will be a place to collaborate with community partners and businesses.

“We wanted in particular that second-floor space to be a place that is very welcoming and inviting and a place of celebration.”

Also, she said they wanted it to be a place to “help understand human connection.”

“Our greatest poverty as a nation is the poverty of human connection.”

Big Brothers has 65 employees statewide, and 35 will work out of the new site. It’s also where the Sedgwick County Big Brothers staff will be.

Last year, the nonprofit served almost 2,000 children statewide with one-to-one mentoring.

“Every single match is case managed,” Shannon said. “It’s a heavier lift.”

There are 1,000 kids on a waiting list to get matched.

Shannon said it takes only several hours a month to help.

“We need all the help we can get.”

To sign up or learn more, go to kansasbigs.org.

Shannon said a lot of Big Brothers staff members are in their late 20s and are excited about the new space, where the nonprofit will move this month.

“They love the vibe of Delano, and Delano itself has progressed so much.”

Curt Robertson of InSite Real Estate Group handled the deal on behalf of Hutton, which Shannon said “has been outstanding to work with.”

Hutton said he’s excited to have Big Brothers as both a tenant and a neighbor.

He said part of what makes Delano vibrant is the mix of businesses, nonprofits and others there.

The more diverse they are, he said, “The stronger the fabric of Delano is.”