Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter offers safety, hope

Emily Milholen Reynolds

President, Board of Directors Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter Day job: Associate Counsel, Walmart Legal

■ Tell us about your organization: The Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter is a private, nonprofit organization that provides

24-hour emergency residential care to children who are victims of family violence, neglect and physical and sexual abuse. The Children’s

Shelter is designed to meet the needs of these children by providing them with a safe and loving environment to reduce the trauma they have experienced through nurturing and support. We are staffed and ready, day and night, to take in and care for children in crisis. Children stay for up to 45 days before being placed in another foster-care setting or returning to their families.

■ Mission: To provide a safe haven, high-quality care and hope for the future to children who have been abandoned, abused or neglected.

■ Services provided: Emergency care, counseling services, art therapy, occupational, physical and speech therapies, case management, life skills, Cooking Matters, Sophia Scott Expanding Horizons program, Camp Imagine, summer camps, on-site education and preschool.

■ Service area: We can serve up to 48 children at any time and serve approximately 500 annually. We serve children from all over the state of Arkansas, and in our 25 years, we have served more than 9,000 children.

■ Average number of people served annually: 500

How is your organization’s mission unique? With our highly trained staff and the comprehensive set of services and programs we are equipped to provide the children in our care, we are uniquely positioned to prepare these children for the future. Most importantly, the love and compassion they receive helps them to see hope for a future different than what they have experienced in their young lives.

Why do you volunteer for a nonprofit organization? Do you have a personal connection to the mission? If so, what is it? My work with the shelter provides me a way to give back to my community. These children are our future. It’s a privilege and an honor to be able to serve them and help them see hope for a better life.

What have you learned on the job that you didn’t expect? Not necessarily something I’ve learned that I didn’t expect, but the most exciting part of being able to serve on the board is hearing the success stories of children who have overcome adversities, advanced and persevered after their time at the shelter.

What challenges face your organization? For us as an organization, our biggest opportunity is keeping up with the evolving needs of the children in our care and making sure we are equipped to help them succeed.

Are there volunteer opportunities in your organization? What are they? We have volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups to work with our children. More information is available on our website, nwacs.org.

What upcoming fundraisers and/or other events does your organization have planned? Our annual Starlight Gala is March 3. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and we are excited this year to be celebrating our 25th anniversary of helping children in need. We also have an annual golf tournament and kickball tournament.

Reynolds