My goal this Saturday is to inspire some thinking and action around housing in Northwest Arkansas. I hope by the end of this column you're inspired to learn more about organizations addressing homelessness and invest some personal energy in solutions.
This past week, I had the chance to sit down with folks from Salvation Army to learn more about their work, and the week before with leaders of other housing resources like 7hills Homeless Center (which provides a day shelter and re-housing programs) and New Beginnings (a nonprofit working to build a bridge housing community prioritizing people who have experienced long-term homelessness and face complex barriers to re-housing.). Listening to these voices, together with leaders from Continuum of Care, I've learned the following.
There is only one primary emergency shelter in Fayetteville. It's the Salvation Army. There are 20 beds for men, 10 for women, and a 10-bed family bunk. Salvation Army Bentonville has an additional 22 beds. There are other facilities that offer emergency shelter, including Peace at Home Family Shelter, for those fleeing domestic abuse. There are some additional rapid re-housing resources for those who qualify, including programs for veterans.
Veterans housing is an especially good model for us to support and expand on. There are well funded, very successful resources for veterans who experience homelessness. We're ending veteran homelessness because we have made a funding priority of ending veteran homelessness. We just need to take those proven solutions and fund them for the general population.
One way we are moving in that direction is through the steady work of Continuum of Care. COC conducts the Point In Time count each year to determine who is homeless in Northwest Arkansas and what their needs are. In 2019, the PIT counted 512 people unsheltered or in emergency shelter. In other words, emergency shelter in Northwest Arkansas does not come anywhere close to meeting the demand.
So what are the solutions we can pursue? Well, the gold standard is to help people get into permanent housing as quickly as possible. Assistance programs that help make that happen are ideal.
But there will also always be individuals and families in emergency situations, and so other solutions are also valuable. New Beginnings is a nonprofit working to build tiny homes. The Salvation Army is currently raising funds to expand the number of beds. And some organizations are working to develop other kinds of shelter, like specific shelter for LGBTQ+ young adults or emergency apartments for homeless families.
One program popular across the country is called Interfaith Hospitality Network. IHN brings together groups of churches in communities in order to provide shelter for homeless families. The churches open up their facilities for families to stay for a week, and the program provides day services for the adults and children. The congregations rotate hosting.
Imagine if the majority of churches in Northwest Arkansas opened their doors to shelter families. Even if just a few churches made the commitment, it would have a dramatic effect on total homelessness in our community.
I encourage all people of faith to host conversations with their congregations and join the current conversation on homelessness.
NAN Religion on 02/15/2020