Homeless center opens overnight site with 16 beds

Seven Hills plans to expand new shelter in Fayetteville

The budget for the project over two years, including 24/7 staffing and security, is just more than $480,000. So far 7 Hills has spent about $20,000 on the renovation and is ready to welcome overnight guests, said Becci Sisson, 7 Hills chief executive officer.

FAYETTEVILLE — Seven Hills Homeless Center now has an overnight shelter to go along with its day center operation.

The nonprofit organization focusing on alleviating homelessness welcomed the first 16 guests to its new overnight shelter Wednesday. The shelter once served as a transitional housing program at the organization’s Walker Family Residential Community south of Huntsville Road. The 7 Hills day center is on South School Avenue.

The City Council in October provided $1.6 million in federal American Rescue Plan money to 7 Hills and its partner organizations to combat homelessness. The money will be given on a reimbursement basis with its use reported to the federal government.

The wider proposal presented to the council involved 7 Hills and four other agencies each taking on a project to combat homelessness. Seven Hills’ project was to renovate the Walker community and replace its 16 dorms with two bunk beds each, eventually providing 64 beds total for overnight stay. The 16 residents who were living in the dorms have since found housing.

The budget for the project over two years, including 24/7 staffing and security, is just more than $480,000. So far 7 Hills has spent about $20,000 on the renovation and is ready to welcome overnight guests, said Becci Sisson, 7 Hills chief executive officer.

Sisson said she understands the money from the city is a one-time deal and won’t sustain operations into the future. The organization has committed donors and is looking for volunteers to help with serving meals and other basic tasks, she said.

“We wouldn’t have started this if we weren’t committed to making sure that it will work,” Sisson said.

The organization is starting off small. Four rooms with two bunk beds each at Walker are finished. Administrators wanted to see how the smaller group pans out first before finishing more rooms and welcoming another group of 16, said Rhonda Lovell, 7 Hills board member.

“We don’t want to fail,” she said. “We need to make sure we’ve got our processes down before we bring in way too many people. We don’t want to be overwhelmed. We want to make sure we get this right.”

Clients who stay at the shelter will have a case manager assigned to them to help with everything from getting a driver’s license or Social Security card to finding a job or permanent home. There’s no limit on how long someone can stay, but it’s intended as a temporary living situation, said Joe Coultas, director of shelter services at 7 Hills.

“As long as you’re working with your case manager, there’s really no hard cap on how long someone can stay, as long as you’re continuously progressing forward,” he said.

Staff did the renovation work themselves, with help from the Reserve Officer Training Corps and the Beta Upsilon Chi fraternity at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

The former kitchen area at Walker has been converted into a reception area that will always have someone working.

A community building lies nearby where clients may do laundry, cook, have meetings, work with case managers and have other basic needs taken care of.

The idea is that people will have a safe, stable place to sleep at night so they can go out and be productive during the day, Sisson said.

Some clients also will work as staff members. Three are already living at the eightunit supportive housing complex that lies within the campus, next to the community building. Those living at the complex also will move onto permanent housing when they’re ready.

“It’s a double dose of dignity for them, because they’re getting a bed and a job all at once,” said Will Roth, board president. “Yesterday they had neither.”

Seven Hills hopes to have all 64 beds ready with clients sleeping in them by June, he said.