KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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A new transitional housing program in Lawrence not only serves Douglas County women in recovery from substance abuse disorder, but it also carries the memory of the founder's late brother.
Hannah Bolton founded the Cardinal Housing Network in 2024. The project is dedicated to her brother Sam, who passed away in 2021 after a battle with alcohol addiction.
The program began accepting residents to its house on New Hampshire Street in March and officially celebrated its opening last week. So far, two women have moved into two of the 10 available beds at the house.
“It takes a lot to re-center and be like, ‘I’m worth this, I’m worth fighting for my own recovery,' and to do that, you need a space to do it," Bolton said.
Bolton said she and her family looked at several avenues of recovery for her brother.
“It was brief, and it was not really followed with any sort of care plan," she said.
Case managers will meet with women residing in the Cardinal Housing Network, and Bolton partnered with Mirror, Inc., a local behavioral health care program.
Only 15 months apart, Bolton and her brother attended the University of Kansas together and have family ties to Lawrence.
“We started looking at the landscape here in Lawrence, and we were obviously having a hard time finding my brother a bed, well, I started looking at the number for women," Bolton said.
That's when Bolton said she noticed a gap in beds available for women in the area.
She said her brother went to a residential program in Aurora, Colorado, away from family. She says the Cardinal Housing Network allows women in the Douglas County community to remain with their family while going through the recovery process.
“This is strictly to meet the needs that we have here, which are so very high, but everyone is required to be referred by a Douglas County agency," she said.
Residents pay a $125 weekly fee that includes rent, WiFi, utilities, two meals per day, linens, and in-home laundry. Residents are encouraged to stay for at least 90 days and participate in group activities, and they have the option to remain in the house for up to two years.
The house was partially funded by the Douglas County Behavioral Sales Tax, which residents passed in 2018. Bolton said
"I was able to ask for about $383,000 to do some of the fire suppression, a lot of the safety initiatives," she said of the tax funds.
Later this year, Bolton's family legacy will continue to serve more women in recovery in Douglas County. She's turning her late grandparents' properties in Lawrence into seven apartments for women in advanced recovery and their children.
“Being able to remember why this all happened, and being led by the memory of my brother, is such an impactful thing," she said.
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