As it finishes renovating its basement to provide more space for people to take showers and wash clothes, the Jericho Way homeless resource center in Little Rock also is planning a much bigger project that would give some of its clients their own bathrooms.
Little Rock officials and the city-funded Jericho Way are partnering to acquire property, build homes and provide them at a low monthly cost to homeless people in central Arkansas, Mayor Mark Stodola and Jericho Way Director Mandy Davis said.
Jericho Way's goal is to start raising the $200,000 needed to build four 450-square-foot units after the city obtains property, Davis said.
The specific location for what would be two duplexes is unclear, but officials want to build the homes near the resource center, where more than 100 homeless people gather each weekday for services as routine as telephone access and as complex as individual case management.
"This is stable, permanent housing for people that have come through Jericho Way," said David Mann, who runs a consulting firm and manages Jericho Way projects. "I know they'd love to have some homes built by the end of [2018]. That's an aggressive schedule, especially given the condition that we don't know yet where they will be."
The nearly completed basement renovation and the push toward housing come as the 3000 Springer Blvd. location prepares to host a 90-day trial in which volunteers will serve dinner to the homeless in what is now a grassy lot behind the facility.
Jericho Way will be closed when the suppers are served, and so will its kitchen, dining room and services. Its employees and volunteers will not be at the site. Aside from sharing property, Jericho Way is disconnected from the plan, which came from an arrangement between volunteer groups and the city to avoid a law that would place limits on feeding the homeless in public parks.
The city owns the building and the property. Little Rock and North Little Rock contribute a combined $340,000 per year to Jericho Way, or 60 percent of the center's annual operating budget. Depaul USA, a Chicago-based charity, operates Jericho Way and covers the rest of the expenses.
Jericho Way is one of two day resource centers Depaul operates -- the other is in Macon, Ga. Depaul combats homelessness in four other cities, mostly by trying to help people move into housing.
Jericho Way is currently signing people up to participate in its annual fundraiser, called Sleep Out in the Rock. People who pay or raise $300 will sleep outside Sept. 16 in Murray Park to help raise more awareness of homelessness. Davis said the goal is to raise $50,000 to put toward day-to-day expenses.
Last year the event raised $21,000, and so far this year, about $16,000 has been pledged, Davis said.
A private $135,000 donation covered the cost of the center's basement renovation and the installation of four showers, toilets, sinks and washer-and-dryer sets. Previously the large space was unusable, with broken windows, no power and light fixtures hanging from the ceiling.
"It was a real dungeon," Davis said.
Davis said the center is in talks with a health care provider to begin operating a clinic elsewhere on the expansive bottom floor. The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services has committed to host sessions there on job- and skills-training opportunities, she said.
Since 2015, Jericho Way has helped 45 clients achieve long-term housing, mostly through public housing, Davis said. From April through June alone, the resource center helped 76 people improve their housing situations -- by moving from the streets to a shelter or from a shelter to transitional housing, for instance.
"It's hard," Davis said of getting people into permanent homes. "If you're a sex offender, you're not getting anywhere. If you're a violent felon, if you've ever sold or manufactured drugs, right? We serve the people that no one else will serve, so it's hard to help them."
Stodola tied the long-term housing plan to the city's effort to be more aggressive on foreclosing on properties with city liens, often because of abandonment or code violations that are left unfixed.
Stodola said the desire is to get the property in a "subdivision close to" Jericho Way.
Little Rock through its Land Bank Commission has previously acquired properties to clean up and sell at low cost to people with plans to develop the land.
An elderly homeless man on Thursday mowed grass behind Jericho Way in preparation for guests to begin gathering there for dinner.
The volunteers who signed on for the trial feedings outside Jericho Way currently serve supper at From His Throne Ministries on West Markham Street but have traditionally provided meals under the Broadway Bridge. Construction work that nears completion displaced them, and the land beneath the bridge is considered part of a park.
Through the arrangement, Little Rock will purchase a tent to provide cover for the meals and will expand its existing city van service -- which currently shuttles homeless people to and from Jericho Way -- into the evening.
"This is city property, so I can't stop them, but they have my blessing," Davis said. "I want it to work, especially if there's a true need for it. Obviously, I want it to work, but I don't want to compromise transportation, which is two city vans, because that would potentially negatively impact my mission."
Metro on 07/23/2017