Camping much easier in Fayetteville

For the homeless, Benton County is not the place to be.

By David Lanier Special To The Daily Record

Posted: May 22, 2009 at 6 a.m.

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Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a series of stories exploring homelessness in northwest Arkansas. The stories are written by David Lanier, a former sports editor of The Benton County Daily Record, who has been homeless for the better part of the past five years.

Two homeless people who attempted surviving in the wilds of some Bentonville woods much prefer camping in Fayetteville.

Treena Templeton and Spencer Craft found Benton County doesn’t have the things that homeless souls need.

“Bentonville has nothing to offer except The Salvation Army,” Treena said. “There’s nowhere to eat except The Salvation Army. That’s why we moved to Fayetteville. You can go to a church every day of the week and get something to eat. Plus, it’s a long walk to The Salvation Army (on Southwest I Street in Bentonville, with no transit bus service directly to the facility).”

Treena and Spencer went to eat at the Bentonville Salvation Army in 2005, unaware of the weather forecast.

With the winds whipping violently on their trek down I Street, they heard the sirens blaring prior to an advancing tornado.

“That was quite an adventure,” Spencer said. “We were lucky a friend came and picked us up.”

In 2008, as they prepped for a frigid night, they used their past roughing-it experiences to afford a little more comfort.

“We’re going to rake some leaves on the edges of our tent to create some insulation,” Spencer said. “But you don’t want to do that when they’re wet.”

Like all veterans of woodsmen winters, they seek leftovers from former camp sites.

“We go to abandoned camps and find things like chairs,” Spencer said.

They converted an air conditioner someone had disposed of into a table in their tent. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” Spencer quipped.

By the time an ice storm hit, the two had found an apartment in Fayetteville. Treena and Spencer provided shelter and a warm place to cuddle up on the floor of their Fayetteville apartment. All told, nine others camped out on the floor. Treena even slept in the bathtub one night because of the sleeping-bag density.

In the early days of April, Treena and Spencer were in the woods again.

They’ve categorized homeless individuals into three specific categories:

• Those who choose to be homeless and don’t desire any other options;

• Veterans of homelessness who provide leadership to those who are more sheepish and less acclimated to surviving in the woods; and

• Followers who don’t have the savvy or common sense needed and rely on the leaders to provide them with the requisite camping skills.

Friends helping friends with caring hearts provides an unsung hallmark of homeless fame.

Coming Saturday: David Lanier can relate to Houston Nutt.

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