As more than 100 people lined up for lunch at the Little Rock Compassion Center on Saturday, Rosemary Holloway handed each person a birthday card.
The center, a shelter and ministry that serves people who are homeless or living in poverty, was holding its annual birthday celebration to give people who may be estranged from their families and friends the chance to be honored.
"It's hard to go without being recognized," said Holloway, who runs the center with her husband, pastor William Holloway.
William Holloway said a lot of the people who go through the mission keep their feelings hidden, but he and his wife noticed that holidays are still important to them. The center serves three meals each day and holds celebrations on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
"I understand being out there and being lonely," William Holloway said. "They wouldn't be coming unless they didn't have anyone to be with."
The ministry has been holding birthday parties for about a decade. The first year, the Holloways took four or five people out to a Cicis pizza restaurant. Now up to 150 people attend the events each year, William Holloway said.
On Saturday, the tables in the Roosevelt Road facility's dining hall were strewn with balloons, and the chairs were filled with people. Birthday cards were sent in by donors to the ministry and inscribed with handwritten notes.
"I feel like it's already May 20," one man said as he received a card.
The Little Rock Compassion Center started in 1998, William Holloway said. It has a men's and family shelter at 3618 W. Roosevelt Road and a women's shelter at 4210 Asher Ave.
A January 2017 census by the Central Arkansas Team Care for the Homeless counted 990 homeless people in the Little Rock metropolitan area. Fifty-five percent reported that they were living without any shelter, while 30 percent said they were living in emergency shelters. Fourteen percent said they were living in transitional shelters.
The census counted 84 homeless children in the area.
The Little Rock Compassion Center provides a place to sleep for 250 people each night, according to its website.
Gina Fraser, 45, said she initially went to the women's shelter because she "just needed a place to go," and then participated in its drug rehabilitation program. She now works in the kitchen during the week.
"The people that run the program are so kind and giving," she said. "It's just really, really great."
Diedrea Ellis, 36, said she and her 5-year-old son, Caleb Ellis, regularly go to the facility for meals. She said the center's focus on community and spiritual growth has helped her.
"Every time I come here, I usually leave and I end up coming back. Something about this place," she said.
Metro on 08/19/2018