BENTONVILLE -- The Northwest Arkansas Women's Shelter's fundraising campaign is transitioning from "Save Our Shelter" to "Support Our Shelter" as a second-phase fundraising challenge was announced Wednesday.
Tom Evans, the shelter's board president, announced a fundraising challenge by Jane Hunt Meade during a news conference at the Two25 Gallery & Wine Bar in Bentonville on Wednesday evening. She will donate $50,000 if the shelter can raise $100,000 by the end of October.
Shelter Stats
In 2015, the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter:
• Filed 70 orders of protection
• Received 4,325 hotline calls and 1,948 crisis line calls
• Provided 9,377 safe nights
• Sheltered 456 people; 240 adults and 216 children
• Served 264 outreach clients
The average family unit who seeks refuge at the shelter is one parent with two children. The average age of the children the shelter serves is five.
Source: Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter
Meade also donated $45,000, which was announced before the challenge.
"It's tremendous support and helps us in our mission to sustain the shelter in the days that are to come," Evans said.
Jane Hunt Meade is the daughter of J.B. and Johnelle Hunt, founders of J.B. Hunt Transport Services.
"I believe our community should help those who have to leave their homes in crisis to find safety and protection for themselves and their children," Meade said in a news release. "My hope is that the caring residents of Northwest Arkansas are inspired to invest in these critical services at levels they can afford."
The shelter launched an emergency fundraising campaign in May because its revenue wasn't keeping up with the demand for services.
The shelter received 4,325 calls last year, 1,800 of which were crisis calls by a victim or on behalf of a victim, according to shelter statistics. It provided 9,377 total safe nights to individuals.
The shelter doors may have closed in July if it didn't reach its initial goal of $150,000 by the end of June, officials said.
The fundraising campaign also included a goal of raising $150,000 by the end of October. The board of directors have announced the shelter will continue to operate at least through November.
The first phase was to solve a cash shortfall, executive director John McGee said after the announcement. The second phase is to stabilize the delivery services and be in a position to look at the shelter's sustainability.
"It gives us a bit of breathing room," he said. "For the last year, I've basically been wondering every two weeks whether we would make payroll. It gets tough when you try to look down the road, and you can barely look down the block."
The shelter serves victims -- men, women and children -- of sexual violence and domestic abuse and is the only emergency shelter in Benton County. Its primary service area includes Benton, Washington, Carroll and Madison counties.
It hasn't experienced a night without a resident since November 2001, according to information provided by shelter officials.
The shelter is available any time, day or night every day of the year. It also has an emergency hotline, which handles about one of every five crisis calls and one of every four informational calls in the state.
It serves about one of every seven individuals receiving shelter services in the state.
The agency operates with a $1.2 million budget, about 17 percent of which comes from state and federal money. About 20 percent comes from its thrift store in the Southgate Shopping Center in Rogers, McGee has said.
That leaves about 63 percent, or $720,000, to be raised in the community, whether through corporate sponsorships, individual donations, third-party fundraisers, United Way or other foundation support, he said.
Board members said the community response since May has been amazing and energetic.
There's been different levels of donations from grass roots efforts to large donors such Meade, said board member Tina Winham.
"It's been pretty impressive to see everyone pull together," she said.
The $150,000 raised by the end of June was to "make sure we're alive," McGee said. "This $150,000 will allow us to move forward. We're all about moving forward now."
NW News on 07/07/2016