The Kitchen, Inc.

🏠 The Kitchen, Inc.
The Kitchen, Inc. is a Springfield, Missouri nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness in the Ozarks. Founded in 1983, the organization offers a range of programs:

Emergency shelter and community housing for families, individuals, youth, seniors, and veterans

Affordable housing developments (over 260 units)

Case management and support services to help clients overcome barriers to stability

Home At Last, a program serving homeless veterans and their families

Located at the O’Reilly Family Campus (730 N Glenstone Ave), The Kitchen, Inc. offers wraparound services aimed at making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring

🧒 Rare Breed Youth Services
Rare Breed is The Kitchen, Inc.’s youth-specific outreach program. It caters to homeless or at-risk youth aged 13–24, offering a low-barrier, drop-in model at 301 N Main Ave, open weekdays .

Key Services:
Immediate access to hygiene items, showers, food, clothing, laundry, Wi‑Fi/computer lab, art & music studios, workout room, and a parenting nursery

Housing navigation, including shelter placements and assessments

Case management linking youth to medical, dental, educational, training, and mental‑health services

Daily life‑skills groups (covering topics like anger management, healthy relationships, tenant rights, hygiene, etc.)

Trauma‑informed, youth‑development approach, emphasizing flexibility, choice, and cultural competence

Rare Breed also coordinates with community partners like the Ozarks Alliance to End Homelessness and the Homeless Youth Task Force