FAYETTEVILLE — When Jennifer Watts became the executive director for Cobblestone Project last fall, she traded in her high heels for a pair of Chacos sandals.
Cobblestone Farm, an initiative of the project, provides locally grown produce to fight hunger in Northwest Arkansas. It’s also a place where children can learn about growing vegetables and healthful eating habits.
Watts is well acquainted with rallying community support for causes she believes in, something she learned while volunteering and working for the American Heart Association, March of Dimes, Friends of UCP (United Cerebral Palsy) and Champions for Kids.
Even with that much experience, the Cobblestone Project’s effort to restore dignity to those living in poverty or homelessness keeps Watts learning and growing.
Joining its small team meant that she had to learn to do a lot of things on her own.
“[Before] I had a large team behind me, and that was probably the scariest thing — leaving a team of people,” she says. “I had a social media guy, I had a communications director, I had a chief operating officer. All of those support roles were in place, so all I did was development.
“Going from that to a one-man show was very scary.”
To manage the eight initiatives headed by Cobblestone, Watts picked up new technology skills, adjusted the work-life balance and learned to work a farm. Knowing that she’s helping the 2,500 homeless people who live in Northwest Arkansas, according to a University of Arkansas study, is its own reward.
Her prime motivation is the knowledge that many of those poor people are children.
“That over half of those are under 18 breaks my heart,” she says. “They’re sitting in a classroom next to my kids at Holcomb Elementary. … I don’t think the community really knows. A lot of the homeless are … very spread out and I don’t think a lot of people realize a small act of kindness can change someone’s life.”
As executive director, Watts oversees the Cobblestone Farm, where produce is grown and then distributed to 18 other nonprofit agencies in the region.
Many of the agencies focus on assisting the homeless or those in poverty, such as 7hills Homeless Center, Circle of Life pantry, Havenwood, LifeSource International, the Women’s Shelter and Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter. Others are centered on food assistance, such as the soup kitchens of Central United Methodist Church and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Samaritan cafes, Christopher’s House, Bread of Life, and Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.
In its first six years of operation, Cobblestone Farm has distributed an average of 5,000 pounds of food to the community annually. This year that number has risen to 18,000 pounds and counting, which is just one sign that its impact is expanding.
“I don’t think that we’re naive in the fact that we’re going to solve hunger or solve poverty or homelessness, but we’re in a position to really provide support,” Watts says. “That’s where we’re hitting the mark, with our hunger relief having tripled this season.”
Watts enlists help of all kinds — from her former fitness class students, friends of friends and corporate sponsors — and has seen many pitch in to make sure that their neighbors have enough to eat, a place to stay and even family photos and creative outlets.
This year, volunteer teams from Lowe’s Home Improvement, Old Navy, Wal-Mart Global Integration Systems and the University of Arkansas have pulled weeds, built raised garden beds and built a produce stand to raise money for their initiatives.
“The main focus for us is restoring dignity to someone who’s living in a situation they can’t control,” Watts says. “If what we can provide keeps them from being homeless or being in a worse situation, that’s what we want to do.”
Many of Cobblestone Project’s initiatives are centered on providing those in need with the things that can’t be covered with food stamps.
Our Step works with other nonprofits to get people into transitional housing or to assist with utility bills and repairs to keep them in their homes. Laundry Love provides quarters and soap at laundromats. Art in the Park offers canvases, easels, paint and sketchbooks, and 3 Bags in 2 Days supplies a month’s worth of hygiene items.
Others, like Shear Kindness and Help Portrait NWA, cover haircuts and professional photography — things that fall low on the priority list when food and housing are lacking.
On the Cobblestone agenda is the addition of a fruit orchard, an outreach to senior citizens, and possible donation bins around town.
A new fundraiser, the Seedling Soiree and Home Grown Harvest Party, will take place Sept. 12 at the Cobblestone Farm in Fayetteville. The child-friendly soiree will keep kids hopping with apple bobbing, horseback riding, yoga, crafts and picking produce off the vine from 4-6 p.m., while the grown-ups’ 7-11 p.m. Harvest Party will include food, a home brew contest and entertainment by bands Breaking Silence and Cousin Smitty. For more information on this event, see cobblestoneproject.org or call (479) 553-9005.