No place to call home

As we gather around our Thanksgiving tables this holiday, let’s take a moment to remember those who have no Thanksgiving table around which to gather, let alone a roof over their heads. On any given night in Northwest Arkansas, there are approximately 900 men, women and children bogged down by the challenges of homelessness. They come in all ages, races and genders, and their circumstances can range from couch surfing to staying in a temporary place like an emergency shelter or payper-week hotel, to camping or staying somewhere else not meant for human habitation.

How is this possible in this thriving community?

Northwest Arkansas Council’s 2023 State of the Region report states that the average household income here grew to $73,346. However, home prices and rents have risen to record highs in Benton and Washington counties and the region’s population has been growing faster than new housing construction over the past decade. The median price of singlefamily homes was $328,400 in 2023, up 55% from 2019. The typical Northwest Arkansas resident spends 52% of their income on housing and transportation. An adequate supply of affordable housing remains an ever-increasing and pervasive concern.

People become homeless due to a wide variety of circumstances. Changes in life circumstances and life crises are the most common reasons. Housing insecurity can come from the loss of employment, divorce, mental and physical health issues, accidents, and more. We are grateful for the organizations and dedicated individuals working to address homelessness in Northwest Arkansas.

7hills Homeless Center

For the past 20 years, 7hills Homeless Center has been committed to serving people experiencing housing insecurity across Northwest Arkansas by identifying the “seven hills” people need to reach stability, and work to help supply their short- and long-term needs on their road to security. The services they provide are critical and account for a large part of our community’s efforts to end homelessness.

“The main causes of homelessness that we see in 7hills are substance abuse disorder or drug and alcohol addiction, particularly emotional trauma that happens in someone’s life, and mental health is really the biggest reason,” said Mike Williams, 7Hills Homeless Center chief executive officer. “And at 7hills, most of the people we see are experiencing all three of those things at the same time. And when you are dealing with all three of those things, maintaining housing security is nearly impossible. So, our role is to help people build a plan to begin to address those challenges.”

7hills’ approach is two-pronged, providing services through with their Day Center and HOPE rehousing program. Every month, the center conducts an average of 351 case management sessions with individuals. Sessions include working toward employment, improving physical and mental health, obtaining benefits, creating and maintaining budgets, and setting individualized goals.

7hills Day Center partners with outside agencies and individuals to provide resources for clients in areas that 7hills is not able to directly assist with. Acting as a hub, the center helps its clients receive health care, address any legal issues, even get haircuts.

Individuals also have daily access to a case manager at the Day Center to help with crisis counseling, benefit application assistance, referrals to additional resources as needed, and much more. Their goal is to help those in need move toward selfsufficiency, and the services they provide are available for anyone in need.

“The real beauty of the day center is that we begin to build a relationship that builds trust,” Williams said. “When you’re experiencing homelessness and the amount of trauma, you have a real difficult time trusting new people. By meeting someone’s basic needs we begin to build trust, and then with that trust we can then transition them into a housing plan that’s where our HOPE program comes into play.”

7hills HOPE program provides rapid rehousing, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing services, covering the full spectrum of housing needs. Currently, 7hills houses anyone needing transitional or permanent supportive housing services at their Walker Family Residential Community. All other housing services are community-based.

The HOPE team meets program participants where they are, and secures them housing without conditions or barriers. This helps to ensure that individuals and families exit homelessness quickly, increase self-sufficiency, and prevents participants from returning to homelessness.

The Salvation Army of Northwest Arkansas

The Salvation Army is a vital organization addressing homelessness in our community. They operate two housing-focused shelters that are open 365 days a year – one in Bentonville and one in Fayetteville – providing 82 beds in total. The shelters are meant to be a temporary option, and they work with their guests on a case-by-case basis to help them find safe and affordable permanent housing.

Free dinners are also served for anyone in the community at both locations, at 5 p.m. in Fayetteville and 6 p.m. in Bentonville.

During the hot summer months, The Salvation Army opens its cooling centers when there is a heat advisory issued for the local area.

Likewise, during the winter months when the windchill temperature is 34 degrees or below, they open their cold weather warming centers. This helps keep people safe and warm in critical temperatures. Even if their shelter beds are full, they create space and provide cots and blankets to people needing a warm place to stay during the day and night.

New Beginnings Bridge Housing Community

Among those who are homeless in Northwest Arkansas, roughly one-third are chronically homeless. This term refers to people who have experienced homelessness for at least a year or repeatedly, and who struggle with a disabling condition of some kind, such as a mental illness, substance use disorder or physical disability. The New Beginnings Bridge Housing Community is a self-run community dedicated to helping people recover from chronic homelessness, while they work toward stable housing. Each resident lives in their own person shelter on the New Beginnings campus, where they are surrounded with personal support, health and housing resources intended to help them stabilize their lives while working on the challenge of moving into permanent housing. The program represents new beginnings for the individuals, as well as for the community.

Northwest Arkansas Continuum of Care

Helping to bring it all together in a concerted effort, the Northwest Arkansas Continuum of Care is a nonprofit membership organization founded in 1992 to address homelessness

in Washington, Benton, Carrol and Madison counties.

The organization was run and led by an all-volunteer board of directors for 16 years, until the hiring of an executive director in June 2018. Since then, agency operations, reporting to HUD, community collaboration, coordinated entry, and finances all have a single pointperson, which has streamlined operations significantly.

Continuum of Care is responsible for coordinating a community response to end homelessness in accordance with the rules and regulations of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 2021, the board of directors began the organization’s second strategic planning process to ensure that the organization is well-positioned for the next phase of growth to meet the needs of the community.

Resources:

There are many churches and organizations offering help for the housing insecure. If you are experiencing homelessness and seeking shelter/housing resources in Washington, Benton, Carroll or Madison counties, call 2-1-1 or (866) 489-6983.

For more information or to volunteer or donate, reach out to the following organizations:

7 Hills Homeless Center

www.7hillscenter.org

1832 S. School Ave., Fayetteville (479) 966-4378

The Salvation Army

www.nwasalvationarmy.org

219 W. 15th St., Fayetteville (479) 521-2151

-or3305 S.W. I St., Bentonville (479) 271-9545

New Beginnings Bridge Housing Community www.newbeginningsnwa.org

251 W. 19th St., Fayetteville Northwest Arkansas Continuum of Care www.nwacoc.com

(479) 717-7737

Collaborative Response for Extreme Weather (CREW )

www.tinyurl.com/coldwxnwa