A renovated historical home has joined Cardinal Housing Network’s transitional housing options for women recovering from substance use, this time allowing residents to live with their children.
Hannah Bolton, the director of Cardinal Network, founded the organization in 2024 to increase recovery options for women, who have a fraction of the beds available to them compared to men in Douglas County.
She was joined by Douglas County Commissioner Shannon Reid, housing partners and community members for a ribbon cutting Thursday to commemorate the building’s entry into Lawrence’s supportive housing stock.
Bolton’s brother Sam, who died while seeking recovery housing, lived on in every square inch of the first Cardinal house she opened at 1046 New Hampshire St. The newly opened house, however, is a love letter written in rainbow paint to Shannon’s mother, Sue Reid, who died in 2023.
Shannon said Sue was a tenacious woman who never backed down.
As a young woman, Sue had a heroin addiction. While in a sober living house in Emporia, she unexpectedly got pregnant with Shannon at 25.
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Shannon said that Sue hadn’t thought motherhood would be in her cards, but she saw the pregnancy through while at that house.
“That only way that she could do that was with the support of the people that she had met in the sober living facility and the friends that she had started to develop relationships with, people that gave her hope that it was possible to have a different kind of life than what she had up until that point,” Shannon said.
She said that challenges with addiction and homelessness are threads that touch many people’s lives, and Bolton’s work is imbued with personal understanding.
“It’s really important to her because of her lived experience and because of her family’s experience with folks that they love struggling with addiction, struggling with mental health, struggling with homelessness, struggling with instability, and those are all things that I relate to,” Shannon said. “And that I know, frankly, most people in our community have either experienced directly or know somebody that they love dearly that has experienced that.”
1128 Ohio St. is named “Lil Blue” for Bolton’s grandfather, who purchased it in 1992 and managed the property. Bolton said he could be spotted in his hallmark blue Geo Metro car, always happy to get distracted with a chat. The building is part of a network of homes on the block that has remained in Bolton’s family for decades.
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Yet Li’l Blue has an even longer-standing legacy within Lawrence. Built in 1896, it housed Joseph S. Boughton, who purchased a collection of 60 books that would grow into today’s Lawrence Public Library.
These days, the porch hosts a brilliantly colored bench called “Through the Lens of Hope,” painted by 2025 Van Go student apprentice Nikeyah Brunello. Shannon commissioned the bench to honor Sue and her abundant love of creation.
“I think more than anything, art is what heals her soul,” Shannon said.
The interior of the historic building is further homage to Sue’s legacy, painted to match the bench in sunshine yellows, sage greens and blush pinks.
Li’l Blue has a ground-floor and top-floor apartment, each of which will host a family. Women with their children are able to stay for up to two years, and can live there using Douglas County’s flexible housing pool vouchers, which Bolton said they pay 30% of their income toward. They will receive support and case management through Family Promise.
Bolton said the renovations to the house were primarily funded through Douglas County’s behavioral health sales tax. She and her mother were on their hands and knees, scrubbing the building and making final touches. Now that renovations are complete, she can apply for historical tax credits.
“Everything that we did in terms of the historical preservation of it is all in alignment with the time period, which is very, very expensive. Cedar siding is probably the most expensive thing you could purchase,” she said humorously.
Rebecca Buford, the executive director of Tenants to Homeowners, attended the Thursday ceremony.
“What we’re also finding is because housing is so unaffordable, the folks that struggle the most with stability and housing, that may need some supportive services to stay housed, are really disparately impacted,” Buford said.
She added that supportive housing targeting a specific group — like women with children — is crucial “because we all have times in our lives that we need community support.”
Li’l Blue isn’t where Bolton’s work ends. She’s renovating another family home right next door at 1126 Ohio St. to eventually serve the same purpose.
L’il Blue started its renovation journey looking like 1126. Where 1126’s molding is crumbling, windows cracked and appliances outdated, the newly unveiled house is freshly painted, stocked with warm furniture and looks ready to be a home.
“This is a really important project for our community,” Shannon said. “It’s really beautiful for me to feel a tiny part of it, and I’m just excited to see how this place can be a safe landing spot and a place of healing and tenacity-building for more moms and children in our community.”
Bolton and Cardinal House are looking for volunteers, as well as donations of household necessities, utilities, art and more to round out 1126 Ohio St.
Donations can be made through cardinalhousingks.org or via Venmo using the handle @CardinalHousingKS. For more information about donation needs, contact Cardinal at hannah@cardinalhousingks.org or 308-379-6487.
Details from Li’l Blue
1126 Ohio St. before renovations are completed
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Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.
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