Helen Reicher understands housing insecurity firsthand. After decades of self-sufficiency, raising four children, and maintaining independence, an autistic burnout led to financial instability and housing loss. For about a year, she lived in a camper while waiting for her daughter to move to a larger home.

Currently, Helen lives with her daughter in Topeka, an arrangement of necessity, not choice, as independent housing remains unaffordable. This experience provides her with an intimate familiarity with housing insecurity. Her experience profoundly reshaped her perspective. She saw how quickly a self-sufficient individual could struggle and how difficult it is to navigate complex systems while grappling with exhaustion, financial strain, and survival demands.

Living in Topeka provides enhanced access to lawmakers and state officials impacting housing across Kansas. While her roots and professional focus remain in Wichita, living in Topeka lets her bring Wichita's housing concerns into state-level discussions.

Helen founded Kansas Helen, a statewide political and public affairs platform. Through this platform, she conducts in-depth interviews with candidates and elected officials, analyzes legislation, fact-checks political claims, and improves access to Kansas government. This work has built strong relationships in Kansas politics and government, giving WAHC a solid foundation for its state-level advocacy.

Subsequently, she established Exposing Wichita, focusing on local government, policing, public accountability, and issues affecting Wichita residents. She conducted public records research, monitored City Council and police matters, scrutinized public funds and government systems, interviewed individuals, and translated complex information. Exposing Wichita cultivated a substantial audience on Facebook and Instagram, which Helen seamlessly transitioned into Wichita Area Housing Coalition pages.

The work initiated with Exposing Wichita will continue through WAHC. The coalition will maintain oversight of Wichita government, policing, public accountability, and other local issues that affect housing, stability, civil rights, or the populations WAHC serves.

Professionally, Helen has extensive experience in bookkeeping, accounting, office management, payroll, human resources, and small-business operations. This comprehensive background helps establish WAHC's financial, administrative, and organizational foundation. Helen's education combines financial, business, communication, and political skills that support her work with WAHC. She holds an associate’s degree in accounting, a bachelor’s degree in integrated marketing communications, and minors in Political Science and Entrepreneurship.

As Director of Organizational Engineering, Helen constructs WAHC's infrastructure. She oversees the nonprofit's establishment, developing its administrative foundation, public identity, communications, and digital presence. She manages the website, branding, social media, podcasting, video production, and much of the behind-the-scenes work to turn WAHC from concept into a functioning organization. Her role will evolve as WAHC expands, with her primary objective being to build a strong foundation for future handover of these components.

Helen brings a unique blend of lived and practical experience to this work, combining a personal understanding of housing loss with a comprehensive grasp of organizational, financial, communications, governmental, and administrative systems. These experiences profoundly shape her approach to building WAHC.