Audrey’s Home changes again
Last month, members of Audrey’s Home of Hope announced another change in direction. The organization was founded in Bella Vista in 2015 with a mission to help pregnant women in crisis. The board is looking at ways to fulfill that mission without duplicating the services of other nonprofits.
When it started, the first thing the new nonprofit did was open a resale boutique in Bella Vista. Both clothes and household goods are donated and the proceeds fund Audrey’s. The boutique is still in business.
The original plan was to build a shelter where pregnant women could live as they waited for their babies. Plans were drawn up and land was purchased, but the shelter never came to be. It wasn’t a sustainable plan, board chairman Ryan Hale said in early 2019.
He took over as chairman in December 2017 when the couple that founded Audrey’s moved out of the area. Programming was put “on pause,” while the thrift store remained open.
“Our major goal was to become financially healthy,” Hale said recently. The land for the shelter was sold after the board agreed it wasn’t a good location for a residential program.
In May 2019, the IRS withdrew Audrey’s tax-exempt status because the organization had not filed a required income tax form. The original board members were still listed on the paperwork.
“Our CPA is working on it,” Hale said, explaining that some paperwork was misplaced during the transition. He expects the status to be reinstated quickly.
Early this year, the board was considering an education program that would help young women raising children alone learn life skills. The plan was to gather a “cohort” of young women who were either pregnant or had young children to enter the program together. Audrey’s would partner with Inseitz, a consulting firm that specializes in leadership training for women, founded by Becky Paneitz, the former president of Northwest Arkansas Community College. But, Hale said, he didn’t find enough young women who were willing to commit to the program.
The board will still consider providing scholarships for individuals who are interested in Inseitz programs, he said.
“We took a step back and looked at our biggest success,” Hale said.
Audrey’s Resale Boutique was the biggest success and will now become a rallying point. It will continue to raise funds for the parent organization, but it also becomes a way to raise awareness in the region.
Kristy Danna, the manager of the boutique and the only paid employee, has been helping area residents already.
“I never turn anyone away who is in need,” she said.
The store receives more donations than it can handle, so Danna passes some of the donations on to people in need. Recently, she helped two women who had lost everything in a house fire furnish their new home. In the past, she has invited women living at Oasis, a residential program for women recovering from addiction, to the shop to chose job interview clothing at no cost.
Hale said the board plans to help Danna use the shop to raise awareness of the issues.
Meanwhile, the board will use some of the funds the boutique has brought in to help other similar programs, Hale said.
“We will keep the focus on young women,” he promised.
“We’ve been researching organizations that are doing good work,” board member Doug Bachman said. Since the board members are volunteers, there’s
no overhead for administration.
Among the organizations the Audrey’s board will help support are Saving Grace, a program that helps women who have “aged out” of the foster care system; Hub of Hope, a group that works to stop human trafficking; Compassion House, a Springdale-based program that helps pregnant teens, and Loving Choices which operates programs in both Fayetteville and Rogers for women’s health care and adoption services.
Hale said Audrey’s board has already sent a few women looking for help to one of the other agencies. Next, it will donate some of the proceeds from Audrey’s Home of Help.
He expects some sizable donations will be made in January.