Good Samaritan

Ministry continues fundraising efforts

Samaritan Ministries continued fundraising efforts this weekend on a project designed to provide employment and affordable housing for men as they transition out of homelessness.

Samaritan Ministries held its annual fundraising dinner Saturday at its headquarters on Sanford Street, which included testimony from one of the program’s resident graduates. Attendees were also offered the chance to donate additional funds to the nonprofit, as well.

Samaritan Ministries Executive Director Jan Laggan said Friday that she was expected 170 attendees at the dinner.

The nonprofit, which has the mission of transitioning men out of homelessness, is raising funds to complete the construction of a building at 300 Valley St. that is adjacent to its headquarters at 131 Sanford St. The building will feature transitional housing and retail businesses that will be operated by the program’s clients.

“It’s hard for them not having a really good-paying job to find something that’s affordable and in a good location,” Laggan said. “Those apartments will be an extension of our resident program that, when our residents graduate, if they want to go into one of those apartments, will be charged something for it, but it will be realistic.”

Laggan said the retail shops will not only provide employment for the homeless men who come through the program, but will also “provide us more funds to the mission” from the revenue generated by sales.

While the outside of the building has been completed, Samaritan Ministries is still in the process of raising money to create the apartment flats and retail spaces on the inside. The installation of the apartments and the retail spaces will comprise the second phase of the building’s construction process, which was estimated in 2016 to cost anywhere between $400,000 and $950,000, depending on how much work will fall on contractors.

“What people see on Valley Street is a beautiful outside facade that has been put

on,” Laggan said.

This fundraising effort is being undertaken as Samaritan Ministries continues to raise money for its everyday operational expenses. Laggan said the nonprofit has an annual budget of $260,000 that is often used rapidly.

“(It) sounds like a lot of money, but we also have up to 42 men in here every night, depending on who comes in here for our overnight program and who we have in our resident program,” Laggan said.

While Samaritan Ministries received a matching $25,000 grant this year, Laggan said the nonprofit is always in need of funds, especially in light of Hot Springs’ present conditions.

“Things are getting tighter in the community this year with work situations and things like that,” Laggan said. “Some of our older donors, we’ve lost from people going and moving closer to their families and things like that. Others have passed away.”

Laggan specifically mentioned that Samaritan Ministries would like to see younger people donate to its cause.

Laggan said Samaritan Ministries currently has money for some of the apartment flats, but is looking to raise more money for the second phase.

“We have three of them that we’ve had funds given to us for, but the infrastructure has to be complete first,” she said. “That’s really the expense that we’re up against.”