Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Knopf-Amelung.
Hi Sarah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My career and values have always been motivated by my passion for social justice. I first got this spark in high school when I began volunteering for a presidential campaign and started thinking more deeply about public policy and social issues. That carried into college and graduate school where I studied Urban Affairs and Sociology. My early career took me from an AmeriCorps experience working in after school programming in a public housing community, to research and training at the national and university levels on the intersections of houselessness, health, substance use, and mental health.
After those experiences, I feel incredibly fortunate to have landed at Amethyst Place, where I’ve been since 2019. Amethyst Place is a long-term supportive housing program for women and children recovering from generational poverty, substance use, and trauma. We operate 69 units of private, fully furnished apartments with complete wraparound support to help families heal and thrive.
I absolutely love what I do as Director of Strategy & Growth, where I help guide strategy for program innovations and obtain the resources and partnerships needed to implement them. I also ensure we are delivering high-quality services that generate transformational impact through quality assurance and program evaluation oversight. Most recently, I have started Amethyst Amplified, a new consulting wing to help other nonprofits scale up successfully in the areas of women and children, families in recovery, and supportive housing for special populations.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing is smooth or easy when you’re working to disrupt inequitable systems and generational cycles, but it’s certainly worth the fight!
The biggest challenge I have faced to date was pulling off a $17 million capital campaign to build our new 32-unit supportive housing campus. The odds were stacked against us when we didn’t receive an award of low-income housing tax credits like we had planned. Without tax credits, our fundraising goal ballooned from about $2 million to $17 million overnight.
However, our team deeply believed in our Noble Cause and did not take no for an answer (we still don’t!). We kept pushing and were able to pull off an incredible feat through 33 funding sources, all without the tax credits.
Our new campus opened in April 2025, increasing our housing capacity by 86%. We were able to go from serving about 150 women and children to 300 annually.
We also proved to ourselves and others that nonprofits can successfully lead the development of affordable housing. We hope to inspire other organizations to do the same and are even providing support for them to do so through our new consulting initiative, Amethyst Amplified. Our motto is “we learned the hard way, so you don’t have to.” It’s incredibly rewarding to help other organizations navigate challenges and find success.
We’ve been impressed with Amethyst Place, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Amethyst Place is a hidden gem, not just in Kansas City, but nationally.
We are the product of community leaders banding together in 1989 to help single mothers and their children overcome damaging generational cycles of substance use. Due to lack of safe housing after treatment, these women had no choice but to return to the same communities where their substance use began, threatening their recovery and the stability of their families. Founded in May 2000 by task force members, Amethyst Place has filled this gap for over 26 years and has been home to over 437 families, including 851 children.
Our Noble Cause is to inspire transformational healing and empower generations of women and children to achieve recovery, reunification, and resilience. Entering our program, families are unhoused, most children are in foster care, and moms are in early recovery. Yet annually, through our long-term supportive housing program at 28th and Troost, we help over 300 women and children overcome the interconnected cycles of poverty, trauma, and substance use to achieve multi-generational impact.
Our Supportive Housing Program provides safe housing through 69 fully furnished apartments and access to basic needs, with no maximum length of stay. Our Family Empowerment Program supports educational, career, financial, and wellness goals to help families overcome generational poverty. Finally, our Therapeutic Support Program helps families heal from past trauma, stabilize mental health, improve parenting skills, and build resilience. In 2025, our impact increased by 86% when we opened 32 additional units of housing at our 28th and Tracy Campus, expanding our reach to 300 women and children annually.
Our outcomes are truly incredible. In 2025, we reunited, stabilized, and healed 285 women and children; 92% of children in foster care were reunified with their mothers; and 93% of women maintained or re-engaged in their recovery – more than double the national average. You can check out our 2025 Impact Report for even more amazing outcomes and personal stories of success: https://www.canva.com/design/DAG_uisMolI/kxi8Cjn3Aj052tAXbuAcAw/view?utm_content=DAG_uisMolI&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=h21a0fd7957
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
There are so many ways to get involved at Amethyst Place. We were founded as a community-driven effort, and we operate with that same mentality today. From group volunteering opportunities like setting up an apartment for a new family, to serving as a mentor to women and children in our program, we have many options for folks to get involved in uniquely meaningful ways.
Additionally, Companies that Care is Amethyst Place’s signature corporate partnership program, designed for businesses that want to make a meaningful difference in the community while elevating their brand, deepening employee engagement, and demonstrating a strong commitment to social responsibility. Businesses can engage in many ways, including organizing donation drives, volunteering as a company, sponsoring elements of our program, and generating employment opportunities for our families, just to name a few.
Finally, we are always looking to grow our network of support and brand awareness. We welcome financial contributions of all sizes and also invite folks to follow us on social media, subscribe to our newsletter, and help spread awareness to your networks. Links to all of these options can be found on our site at www.amethystplace.org.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amethystplace.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amethystplace/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmethystPlace/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amethyst-place/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO2qPJB0mNm7frmd9E7Fb8w?reload=9
