How a Wichita business is giving ‘addiction the bird’

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Sticky Bird Addiction Chicken, at 616 S. Tyler Road, is a business in Wichita working to tie in good food and a good cause. It’s a newer business, helping break old habits. Co-owner Jeff Miller says its name is a double entendre.

“We have a small engine that will allow us to generate awareness to DCCCA (Developing Caring Communities Committed to Action) as well as help with their mission, allows us to serve the community,” Miller said.

“It means so much to us because it means everything to our clients,” Donna Gorman, the program director of behavioral health for DCCCA, said.

Gorman says 1% of Sticky Bird’s sales go to DCCCA, which helps people in recovery following treatment.

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“Our funds are specifically earmarked for helping young mothers stay with their children as they fight addiction,” Miller said.

DCCCA’s Women’s Recovery Center is equipped with daycare and a nursery and works with USD 259, busing kids to and from school.

“Many of our moms come to treatment with children, and some are even homeless, and they come in with what they have, and that funding helps get that emergency formula get those diapers,” Gorman said.

“We have also purchased school supplies for kids that come in in the middle of the year, shoes, and haircuts. These are the things that allow a mom to feel hope and to allow a child to go to school and not feel different because they don’t have the basic support.”

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DCCCA says these partnerships help meet needs most people don’t realize exist, like getting proper identification.

“Because if they don’t have ID, they can’t get employment, and if they don’t have employment, they can’t pay for housing, so these are the gaps that Sticky Birds help us meet for our clients,” Miller said.

Gorman says recovery begins in the community, and Sticky Bird is leading by example with what it’s doing inside and with the words displayed outside.

“People think about it and say ‘give the bird addiction,’ and it gets twisted up in their head, and then, it sticks,” said Miller.

Gorman calls the support a “godsend,” and they are grateful for it. The eye-catching mural displays a powerful message aimed at breaking a stigma.

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