Southwick House Receives Hopkins Family and Lions Club Cleve Cook Grants

Emporia, KAN. – Southwick House received news last week of grant awards from the Hopkins Family Foundation and the Lions Club Cleve Cook Fund totaling $75,000. The funds will be used toward the construction of a new 9,000 square foot transitional housing shelter.

The EL and Z Irene Hopkins Family Foundation is long known for generously supporting all activities related to children and families in Lyon and surrounding counties.

“Our family is so happy to support the building of Southwick House” said Michelle Hopkins-Molinaro, Foundation Trustee. “Our mission is to support programs that tangibly improve the quality of life for children and families, and transitional housing is important.”

In addition to the Hopkins grant, Southwick will be supported by a multi-year gift from the Lions Club Cleve Cook Fund totaling $50,000.

The Lions Club, chartered in 1921 in Emporia, has supported numerous quality of life endeavors over the past 100 years and was an important organization to longtime successful agribusiness man, Cleve Cook.

Previous Lions Club endeavors have included the Emporia Zoo, Camp Alexander, and the Emporia Public Library among others.

“This is a really good fit for the Lions Club Cleve Cook Fund,” said Dave Eldridge, Lions Club member. “The Cook family descendants continue Cleve’s generosity to make the world a better place.”

Southwick House President, Jeremy Dorsey said, “These gifts are very important to our ongoing efforts to provide low-barrier transitional housing for Lyon and surrounding counties. I am grateful to these families and their visions of a better world.”

The capital campaign to raise $3.6M passed the halfway mark in March of this year and the project is on track to break ground in Spring of 2026. When completed, the home located at 115 E. Logan Ave in Emporia will have a capacity of 42 residents.

For more information or to make a donation please visit www.southwickhouse.org