FORT SMITH -- A Tulsa, Okla.-based foundation has awarded a $500,000 challenge grant to a group developing a campus for homeless services south of downtown.
The grant from J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation was awarded to the Old Fort Homeless Coalition, which is renovating a vacant factory building to become the Riverview Hope Campus, according to a news release from campus executive director and Fort Smith Director of Homeless Programs Debbie Everly.
She said to receive the grant, the coalition must match the amount with private donations, including pledges paid over five years or in-kind gifts, by the end of the year.
"We are thrilled to be awarded this grant and need the support of our community to help raise the balance of funds required to meet the challenge," Everly said in the release.
Everly said Wednesday the coalition has made a start on the matching funds. It received about $48,000 in donations during the Christmas season and some in-kind gifts, the value of which she couldn't immediately estimate.
The Mabee Foundation, formed in 1948, was set up to help Christian religious organizations, institutions of higher learning, hospitals and other organizations of general charitable nature.
"The Riverview Hope Campus is a unique and well thought out project that fits our criteria and will make a large impact on its community," the news release quoted foundation vice-chairman Raymond L. Tullius Jr. as saying.
The coalition previously raised about $2.2 million to buy the vacant Riverside Furniture factory building at 301 South E St. and pay for its renovation. The group is trying to come up with nearly $700,000 more to meet the construction bid, Everly said.
Removal of asbestos from the building was completed recently at a cost of $47,000, Everly said. The coalition is awaiting a letter to proceed from the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, which Everly said she hopes to receive in the next two weeks.
The authority is providing $695,000 for the project.
When started, construction work is expected to take eight to 10 months to complete, she said.
"I'd like to be open by next winter so people won't have to spend another winter outdoors," Everly said.
The first phase of the homeless campus includes remodeling 33,000 square feet of the 127,000-square-foot building. A 75-bed low-barrier shelter will be developed, along with space for tenants that will provide a variety of services.
Among services planned for the campus will be a Mercy Fort Smith medical clinic, adult education, counseling, job training, cafeteria, laundry, showers, kennel and property storage.
Later phases include single-occupancy apartments and, possibly, housing units for low-income or homeless people suffering from chronic mental illnesses.
NW News on 02/11/2016