Every day, we have the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, and Melanie Kiihnl strives to do that daily in White County.
Kiihnl was named the new program director at Jacob’s Place Homeless Mission in Searcy on May 1.
Before moving into the position, she was recruiting manager and marketing director for Harding University’s Master of Business Administration program.
“I saw an ad for the position and felt pulled by God to investigate,” she said.
While she was hired to help with fundraising, outreach and public speaking, she said, she is now taking on case management, interviewing clients and helping clients work through the Jacob’s Place ladder program.
The ladder program helps clients budget so they can get into an apartment, get a vehicle and set out on their own, she said.
“It’s very difficult for them to do on minimum wage when they have to pay for child care. Some of them have tickets and debts. It’s difficult to make ends meet, even when they aren’t paying rent and utilities. They’ll net, working 40 hours a week, about $340 a week,” she explained.
Kiihnl said many clients come from chaotic backgrounds, so there isn’t a great deal of structure in their lives.
“They’re just surviving. Sometimes they [come from] toxic relationships, but that’s all they know. A lot of them have burned every bridge, so there’s not another couch they can sleep on,” she said.
At Jacob’s Place, everyone has a set of chores to do, as well as rules to follow and a curfew, which help add structure to their lives, she said.
There are three rooms at Jacob’s place, and each room can hold five to six people, she said.
Ultimately, Kiihnl said Jacob’s Place would like to grow its mission and have a facility that not only houses more clients but allows them to stay longer as well.
Clients usually stay around three months right now, but Kiihnl said she hopes a future facility can house families for 18 to 24 months.
The mission’s top priority is to take in families with children, she said, followed by single women who have children in the custody of the Department of Human Services.
Jacob’s Place began with the vision to help families in need in White County, she said, as there are hundreds of homeless children in the county at any given moment.
Homelessness isn’t always about living on the street, she said, but whether or not someone has a consistent place to lay his or her head.
“We can look outside the county if there’s nobody from White County on our wait list who has an application in, but our priority is White County,” she said.
The main goal of Jacob’s Place is to show the compassion of Christ to those in need, she said.
“’Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others,’ Philippians 2:4,” she read.
Kiihnl said Jacob’s Place provides clients with support, security and shelter — but she also wants to empower them.
“Our approach is sympathy, but only a little” she said. “What we want to do is provide them empathy, because too much sympathy can enable, but empathy empowers.
“We’ve all made mistakes in our lives. We need people to meet us there with empathy, to not cast that stone.”
Kiihnl said she hopes to see people leave the shelter self-sufficient and knowing that a God who loves them has provided people to step up and meet a basic need.
While she has many goals, Kiihnl said, her main focus is on operating funds.
“For 10 years, God has provided funding for operations. Many of those months, it’s month to month. Right now, we do not have enough funding to stay open another month. Where that money is coming from, I can’t tell you. What I do know is God has been faithful,” she said.
Kiihnl said the shelter is kicking off its Pay For A Day campaign to raise money and is asking the people of White County to pledge $418 dollars a year, or $35 a month, to pay for a day, she explained.
Another goal of Kiihnl’s is to build relationships with other nonprofits in the area.
“We want to let folks know that we’re all working together,” she said. “We’re not in competition with other nonprofits — we all function as one body to serve Christ.”
Outside of her many passions at work, Kiihnl said, she is also passionate about her time at home with her own family.
Kiihnl said her 14-year-old daughter, Ellie Kiihnl, keeps her busy.
Ellie attends Harding Academy and is very active, outgoing, happy and sociable, Melanie Kiihnl said.
Melanie has been married to her husband, Mitchell Kiihnl, for 30 years.
Mitchell is a hard worker who can’t sit still, Melanie said, and he loves to fish and hunt.
In her free time, Melanie Kiihnl said, she enjoys being outdoors, grilling and reading to relax.
Her family attends Downtown Church of Christ in Searcy, and Kiihnl said God is very important to all of them.
Kiihnl said she admires her mother, Kathryn Sims, for her legacy of faith and work ethic.
“She’s also a two-time breast-cancer survivor,” Kiihnl said.
Kiihnl graduated from Searcy High School in 1985 and from Harding University in 1992.
Seeing clients become relieved when they realize someone wants to help them has marked her memory, she said.
“Seeing their demeanor completely change — their shoulders come up; they’re no longer slumped over — just a release,” she said.
Al Fowler, who has been involved with Jacob’s Place since it opened in 2008, described Kiihnl as one of the hardest-working people he has ever seen.
“She is very passionate, dedicated and has an intense personality in terms of getting ahold of something, carrying through and focusing. She came to us and got excited about the ability to help families who are homeless. She’s really very compassionate and focused on that,” he said.
Fowler said Kiihnl puts a lot more time and effort into Jacob’s Place than she gets paid for and doesn’t mind getting involved anywhere she is needed.
“She thinks big. She makes big plans. We’ve had a fundraising hamburger cookout that the local banks have done these past few years. This year, Melanie got involved and said let’s make it bigger and better,” Fowler said. “It became a tailgate party for the schools in White County. Football teams showed up with cheerleaders and bands. Grillfest took off, and she’s the one who had the big vision to put that together and get it done.”
Fowler said Kiihnl also has connections that have helped Jacob’s Place get more people involved and contributing.
“There’s just a great need that we have to help people off of public assistance, where that’s not the end point,” Kiihnl said. “That’s what we want to see happen.
“I’ve seen how truly giving people are, of both items and money, when they know that there is a need.”
Staff writer Kayla Baugh can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or kbaugh@arkansasonline.com.