Grants OK'd for Fort Smith homeless campus

FORT SMITH — Arkansas has approved grants totaling $695,000 that are allowing a coalition of agencies and groups in Fort Smith to begin acquiring property for a campus to consolidate services for the homeless.

The Arkansas Development Finance Authority recently approved three grants that Fort Smith homeless coordinator Debbie Everly said gives the Old Fort Homeless Coalition the $2.9 million it needs to acquire and renovate a vacant Riverside Furniture factory building at 301 S. E St. into what’s being called Riverview Hope Campus.

She said the coalition, which has had a letter of intent to purchase the building for nearly three years, has now begun the process of buying the building.

Riverside reduced the purchase price of the 127,000-square-foot building from $620,000 to $603,441, which is the amount of Community Development Block Grant funds that Fort Smith officials had allocated to the coalition for the homeless campus, Everly said.

The city required the coalition to have all its financing for the campus in place before it would release the block grant funds.

The $695,000 in Arkansas Development Finance Authority funding is composed of three grants: $250,000 from the Arkansas Housing Trust Fund, $173,833.44 from the Mortgage Settlement Fund and $271,166.56 in Financial Adjustment Factor funds, according to a coalition news release.

The Financial Adjustment Factor funds are intended to fill gaps in a development’s budget, according to the authority’s website.

In addition to the property acquisition, the coalition has advertised for a project architect. Everly said requests for qualifications are due Wednesday.

Plans are to renovate 35,000 square feet of the building into an emergency shelter for 75 homeless people, and weekday day room services for nearly 200 people. The campus also will have bathrooms, showers, cafeteria, laundry, kennels, secure storage for personal belongings, a commercial kitchen and worship center.

Various local agencies and groups have agreed to partner with the coalition to provide an array of services. Among them are Mercy Hospital of Fort Smith, Fort Smith Public Schools Adult Education, Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center, Valley Behavioral Health System, Fort Smith Housing Authority, Next Step Homeless Services and the Veterans Administration.

Funding for Riverview Hope Campus has come from several sources, including a $500,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank in Dallas, $813,273 in private gifts from foundations and in-kind donations along with the $695,000 Arkansas Development Finance Authority grant and the $603,441 block grant funding from Fort Smith.

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