FAYETTEVILLE — Diana Harrison became homeless in Maryland in 2008, near the beginning of the recession.
She and her husband of 22 years, Charles, lost their jobs, and as a result, lost their house and their car. Diana Harrison, who once worked for a mortgage company, cashed in her 401(k) and took an $8.50-per-hour job untilthey had enough money to take a train to her home state of Arkansas.
Both are veterans: She served full time in the Army for three years in the early 1980s, and he was a National Guardsman.
After living with her mother in West Fork for six months, they stayed with friends and friends of friends. After those welcomes wore out, the pair bunked at theSalvation Army and slept in a car Diana’s brother helped them get. In February, the 7Hills Homeless Center came up with the deposit and upfront rent for them to move into a one-bedroom apartment on Fayetteville’s west side. They also got assistance from the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program for homeless veterans.
Harrison pays the rent, $50 per month, from the sale of totes she crochets from plastic shopping bags. 7Hills sells them and gives her a share of the proceeds. Besides housecleaning for an elderly neighbor, money from the totes is the Harrisons’ only income. Food stamps help pay for food. They still have their 1997 Ford but no means to keep it licensed and insured.
“I’ve been looking for a job 1 for 2 /2 years,” said Harrison, 52, with conviction. “I’ve had some interviews but that’s as far as it’s got.”
HOPE ON HORIZON
The Harrisons may no longer be homeless, but they still have plenty of unmet needs.There are hundreds of others across the area who are living in poverty or on the brink of it, making ends meet by piecing together whatever subsidies they can find, homeless advocates say.
An event Tuesday sponsored by Veterans Health Care Systems of the Ozarks, 7Hills, Central United Methodist Church in Fayetteville and the United Way of Northwest Arkansas will give homeless veterans and others a shot at resources not always easily accessible. Services include medical, dental and vision exams; legal advice; bags of perishable food; veterans services; Social Security services; flu shots; and haircuts.
The fourth annual HOPE event is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Central United Methodist Church and coincides with the distribution of hot lunches through the church’s Community Meals program, which normally takes place on Tuesdays.
More than 400 people sought services through HOPE 2011, and at least 100 more are expected to seek help this year, said Kevin Fitzpatrick, Jones Chair in Community Sociology at the University of Arkansas. Last year, the first year the event was held at the church, attendance grew nearly 300 percent from the year before, when the event was held at the former Jefferson Elementary School in south Fayetteville.
“We’ve got a captive audience at Central on a day they do community meals,” Fitzpatrick said.
The church plans to use its buses to help transport people to the event from several locations in Benton County and places like Decision Point, a substance abuse rehabilitation center in Springdale.
Medical professionals volunteering their time include a general practice doctor, two podiatrists, two dental hygienists, six optometrists and several nurses.
Fitzpatrick said one optometrist who participates in the HOPE event marvels at the number of people who come through that have never had an eye exam. In some cases, people were driving even though they needed corrective lenses.
“That’s pretty revealing,” Fitzpatrick said.
Dental services are limited to tooth extractions. Attendees who need any teeth removed will be sent to the Northwest Arkansas Free Health and Dental Center to have the work done later in the week. Last year, the clinic reserved 30 spots for attendees from HOPE, the slotswere filled and 45 people were put on a waiting list.
Legal aid isn’t among the busiest of stations at the event, but it is a needed service.
“We know that this population has a lot of legal entanglement, and sometimes, it’s pretty straightforward, sometimes it’s pretty complicated,” Fitzpatrick said.
ASK AND RECEIVE
Staging such an event without the church’s help and the volunteer manpower from the medical community would cost “tens of thousands of dollars,” he said.
“I’m constantly amazed at how philanthropic this area is,” he said. “People are always willing to help.
“You just have to know who to ask. And if you ask the right person in the right way, they’re always going to say ‘Yes.’”
Attendees are asked to provide some general information upon intake, which has made it easier for organizers to track services and get an idea of which are most needed.
A report on last year’s event said the most requested services were related to wellbeing or physical health and appearance. There were 71 eye exams, 60 dental screenings, 89 people screened for blood pressure/glucose/body mass index, 33 haircuts and 250 who received food and hygiene products.
On Fitzpatrick’s advice, the 2012 event continues to focus on heath-related services, in part because 57 percent of the people helped last year reported having no health insurance. That means the percentage of HOPE attendees without health insurance is far greater than nation’s general population, the report said.
Of those 2011 HOPE attendees who were insured, 63 percent had public health insurance (either Medicaid or Medicare), 30 percent had insurance with the Veterans Administration, and 7 percent had private health insurance.
Some 65 percent of those who reported having no health insurance also reported some type of disabling condition. A combination of the lack of health insurance, prevalence of severe health issues and lack of treatment could be creating a “perfect health storm” for those already in crisis, the report said.
Harrison said she scored big at last year’s event, with clothing, some food, a haircut and a couple of blankets.
“Since we were living out of the car, that helped us considerably,” she said. “It was just a big ol’ huge help.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 10/22/2012