Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
NWA children’s shelter replaces abuse with love
SPOTLIGHT NORTHWEST ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S SHELTER
BENTONVILLE — A baby’s first steps. A toddler’s first toy. A child’s first time to read a book.
Most children do these things at home, but for many survivors of neglect, they experience fundamental things while at the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter, a place that has served more than 7,000 kids in the past 20 years.
“We’re focused on the kids,” said Executive Director Steve Schotta. “Not focusing on fixing the family dynamic or what led them here.”
The issue of caring for children headed to foster care is a particularly sensitive one for Schotta, who served on the shelter’s board of directors for years, then adopted three children and hosted 12 foster children. He says the shelter continues to open his eyes to the need around him.
“We’re providing all their basic needs, not only nutrition, love and protection, but also the emotional side,” Schotta said. “When kids come into foster care, kids are here through no fault of their own. It’s the circumstances of being in abuse or neglect.”
The many staff members and volunteers provide many services for the children who are often pulled from their homes and into state care by law enforcement, sometimes in the middle of the night. They accept babies straight from the hospital following birth, boys to the age of 12, girls to the age of 17 and, on occasion, groups of siblings and other families.
It’s unique as the only shelter in a 300- mile radius that accepts children under the age of 5. The primary concern is to meet basic needs, starting with three meals a day and an after-school snack, clothing, a secure bedroom, and
a safe school environment.
Education continues without interruption even in the midst of changing permanent housing locations, and some children are sent to school for the first time in their lives. The staff works to keep the child in his original school, but that sometimes compromises safety. That’s where the shelter’s new on-site school, a satellite of Bentonville Public Schools, comes in handy.
The on- site school was created when the shelter moved into its new location, which was funded by a grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. It’s managed by state-certified educators and supplemented by a variety of volunteers who tutor children.
Many times, when a child is released from the shelter after up to a month and half in residence, teachers in the Bentonville school district have already been informed of their situation, where they are in the curriculum, and how they can continue to assist them through the life change.
“One of the most important things that we do for the kids is to try and progress them as far as we can down the road on those areas in the 45 days that we have them,” said Greg Russell, director of marketing. “Here, [ we see] 5.25 months of academic progress per every one month that they’re in our classrooms … they get more one-on-one attention from the teachers.”
When asked to rate the shelter’s services, children place safety at the top. Each branch and entryway is restricted and visitors must check in, and that generally puts the kids at ease.
But just because external entry is limited doesn’t mean the children are bound to the grounds.
Nearly every Friday during the school year a field trip is taken to a place in Northwest Arkansas that is educational and fun: places like Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Walton Arts Center and the Jones Center. Weekends offer outings to purely recreational places, like Chuck E. Cheese and the movie theater, or even a visit from local people who bring the entertainment with them, such as a fencing workshop, or the chance to feed and pet alpacas.
During the holidays volunteers decorate the shelter with trees and gingerbread houses, and children are showered with presents, stuffed toys and stockings, which for many is the first gift they’ve received.
If it sounds expensive, it is. The children’s shelter budget is roughly $3.6 million a year, and only 25 percent of that is provided by the state, meaning the community is largely responsible for keeping the lights on.
Currently, the facilities can accommodate 48 children, and the staff hopes to expand in the future. They serve 500 children each year, and are in constant need of donations: money, clothing and volunteer hours. But to Schotta every bit is worth it.
“It’s amazing to me,” Schotta said. “No matter what the circumstances the kids come to our care … how easily they adapt and how resilient they are knowing that people are there to care about them.”
For more information, see nwacs.org/ or call (479) 7952417.