FAYETTEVILLE -- Jessica Andrews knows running the region's largest homeless center won't be easy.
"If it were easy it wouldn't be enticing," the 27-year-old said Thursday.
Andrews, former executive director of Community Venture Foundation and Little Rock native, started her job as chief executive officer at 7 Hills Homeless Center last month. She replaces Billy Rader, who announced in the summer his intention to step down. Rader has helped with the transition and his last official day is Wednesday.
Maintaining a sense of dignity with homeless residents is key, Andrews said. She spent her youth volunteering before moving to the city to study business at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Andrews helped develop youth entrepreneurship programming at the foundation, which is a nonprofit focused on startups and collaboration with various groups. Andrews was an inaugural American Dream fellow with the Cisneros Center for New Americans, where she worked as the small business lead to help immigrants integrate into Northwest Arkansas, according to a news release.
The goal for Andrews is to use her business acumen and passion for service to end homelessness in the region, a term known as the functional zero.
"It feels like a very daunting task but there are ways we can do it and make great strides toward it," she said.
Steven Mills, who came on as 7 Hills' chief operations officer in May, will support Andrews in the organization's administration. Mills' responsibilities include operational oversight of the Day Center, Veteran Services Program and Walker Family Residential Community. He also oversees the financial and human resource aspects of the organization, the release states.
The 7 Hills board also announced two new members, David Mee and Will Roth. Mee is chief financial officer and executive vice president of finance for JB Hunt and Roth is senior account executive with IMG/Razorback Sports Properties.
7 Hills is a nonprofit group that supports homeless residents and those at risk for homelessness in Northwest Arkansas.
NW News on 10/06/2017