Parallel events in Northwest Arkansas recently underscored the point that the region's heralded prosperity doesn't reach the entire population.
There are plenty of "have nots" to stack up against the "haves" who get most of the attention.
Two events on Thursday were conducted by people who worry about the "have nots" and do their best to intervene on their behalf. While both efforts are aimed at gathering information, the approaches are quite different.
In one instance, as they have every other year since 2007, volunteers took clipboards and questions to soup kitchens, shelters, churches and even into the woods to try to get a handle on just how many people are homeless in Northwest Arkansas -- and why.
They went where the homeless are to collect information that may help agencies and shelters meet immediate needs of the changing homeless population and help them to a more stable life.
About 80 volunteers conducted the 24-hour homeless count, which really seeks to sample the homeless population more than to find each and every person with an unstable living situation.
Dr. Kevin Fitzpatrick, a professor of sociology and director of the University of Arkansas' Community and Family Institute, guides the project.
"You've got to know who you're serving," he said.
Knowing more about why people are in that situation and how they're coping helps service providers to reach people who need help.
The numbers do tell a tale. If this year's count is like the others, it will show another leap in the number of people without homes. These are people who are doubled up with friends and family members, filling shelter beds, living in cars or in tents or ramshackle huts or wandering the streets.
The largest groups of homeless people, based on past studies, are families with children, and veterans.
Back in 2007, the total was under 1,200 in a 24-hour count. In 2013, the number was more than double that at 2,429.
What's worse, more than half of the homeless in 2013 were 18 years old or younger, sometimes much younger, small children with no place to call home.
That brings us to the other event of note last week. It was a summit in Rogers on children living in poverty right here in Benton and Washington counties.
Homeless children are included, of course; but there are many more children in poverty in Northwest Arkansas.
The numbers are staggering, suggesting that almost one in four of the region's children live in poverty.
The situation is worse in Springdale, with 39 percent of children living in poverty, compared to 23 percent in Rogers, 17 percent in Fayetteville and 6 percent in Bentonville.
These children are black, white and Hispanic and they face difficult futures without the efforts of organizations like the United Way of Northwest Arkansas and Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. The two agencies conducted the summit as a joint project with Bank of America.
Roughly 300 people gathered to talk and learn about efforts to improve the lot of an estimated 26,000 children in these two counties.
The summit is only part of the effort. Input sessions are scheduled around the region in February to gather community feedback. Event details are available online at www.unitedwaynwa.org.
The goal is to provide a pathway for every child in the region to move out of poverty, merging collective efforts of the different agencies to make that happen.
A report issued this week by Laura Kellams, Northwest Arkansas director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, examines the issue.
"The younger you are in Northwest Arkansas, the more likely you are to live in poverty," wrote Kellams. "The poverty level for people over 65 is 7 percent. For children under 5, it's 27 percent."
That sobering fact topped a list of things she said people should know about child poverty in the region.
Federal guidelines defining poverty are antiquated and the numbers leave out many struggling, low-income families, she wrote.
Also, children who grow up in such an environment often have educational and cognitive development problems or health issues.
"Poverty impacts the entire region," she wrote, explaining that the number of white children in poverty is much higher than the number of African-American or Hispanic children.
Here's the kicker: The numbers of children in poverty in Benton or Washington counties is greater than in any county in the notoriously troubled Arkansas Delta.
Check out the report, "Child Poverty in Northwest Arkansas," online at www.aradvocates.org, and the measures it recommends to lift young people from poverty.
Now juxtapose all that information against the annual business forecast luncheon held in Rogers on Friday.
The luncheon brought together area leaders to discuss the state, national and world economies and where Northwest Arkansas fits in that picture.
Maybe some of them also had the region's homeless and the impoverished children in mind, too.
Brenda Blagg is a freelance columnist and longtime journalist in Northwest Arkansas. Email her at [email protected].
Commentary on 02/01/2015