HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE — Chain saws whirred Friday at Teen Challenge of Arkansas as staff, students and volunteers worked to clean up facilities after tornadoes delivered devastating blows across Garland County on April 25.
No one on the property was hurt, but there was significant damage to the faith-based, nonprofit residential facility for young adult males suffering from addictions. An empty mobile home was flipped upside down and rested on its roof among fallen limbs and an uprooted tree. There was damage to the roof of the dorm, though it is livable, and to the roof of the log-cabin chapel.
The most severe damage, however, was to the building sitting at the front of the property on Arkansas 7 between Hot Springs and Hot Springs Village — the building’s left side all but gone.
“In the construction of this, there was a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and a lot of love,” said Tim Culbreth, executive director of Teen Challenge of Arkansas. “I might be able to build this better, but it’s not going to be the same. There are different things that when I look at in this building, it reminds me of somebody, and all of a sudden, that’s not going to be here.”
The 13,000-square-foot facility, which was just three years old, housed the organization’s administrative offices and the Vintage Mall, a second-hand store that benefited the program.
Teen Challenge, which began in the United States 52 years ago to assist young gang members and addicts, now has 200 centers throughout the country and about 300 around the world. Teen Challenge of Arkansas began in Little Rock in 1969 and was relocated to Hot Springs in 1981.
“The students look at issues that they have in their lives. They look at Scriptures, and the staff helps them facilitate applying principles from the Scriptures to issues that they are struggling with that would deter their recovery,” Culbreth said. “What’s unique about us is, we don’t charge for the guys to be here, so we rely completely on contributions to maintain the program.”
The facility houses an average of about 45 students, who stay for a four- to five-month stint before moving on to the second part of the program — a training center in Missouri. There are also 18 staff members who live on-site.
The students had spent about 20 minutes under mattresses in the hallway before the storm hit, and thinking the worst was over, they began to emerge.
“We kept looking and listening, and it looked like things had cleared up and we were done,”
Culbreth said. “Students started coming down for a choir practice, so we had some students in the dorm and some students down in the multipurpose building when [the storm] hit, and it hit very quick.”
Following the storm, several families came to pick up their loved ones, though there are still about 30 students at the facility who spent more than a week without electricity and hot water. As of Monday, the property was still without gas, and electricity had not yet been restored to the dorm, though electricity had been restored to the multipurpose building and staff housing.
“It’s been hard getting along. It’s been frustrating,” said Joshua Northcutt of Glenwood, a student at Teen Challenge. “It’s been kind of rough.”
The students and staff have been showering at a nearby campground, while restaurants, hospitals and people in the surrounding communities have been providing the residents with meals. Members from the community and beyond have also helped with laundry and the storm-cleanup effort.
“They’ve really stepped up,” Culbreth said of the community. “It’s been amazing.”
Caterer Karen Wilmath of Serving Hands of Hot Springs has been volunteering to coordinate meal donations.
“The community is wonderful,” she said. “I’ve got two notebook pages full of people that have called, donated — even families, couples from the Village that are actually fixing full meals for 100 people.”
On Friday, students helped unload a trailer full of food and water donations from the Teen Challenge Ranch of Northwest Arkansas, several of them joking around as they worked.
“They do have really good attitudes,” Wilmath commented. “Most of them have burnt all their bridges, and they don’t have a lot of family contact, and if they do, it’s pretty much immediate family, and to see the love that’s being poured on them, it’s really encouraging for them to know that people actually still care.”
Among those helping out on Friday was a man from Denver, Colo., who travels to disaster areas to sharpen chain saws. He was headed to Tuscaloosa, Ala., next.
“He drove all the way down from Denver just to sharpen the blades,” Culbreth said.
Andrea Smith and her boyfriend Bryan Watts of Hot Springs also helped out Friday.
“We know this area real well, and we heard about it and we wanted to help, so that’s why we’re here,” Smith said.
For Culbreth, the receiving end is a new position.
“It’s weird to be on this side,” he said. “Usually, I’m on the other side of it, helping somebody. It’s different.”
In addition to the work Teen Challenge does with the students, the organization also serves the community. Students volunteer at several events at Cedar Glades Park, such as the Spa City Extreme and the Attila the Hun mountain bike races. They also help out with the Spa 10K in downtown Hot Springs, Relay for Life of Garland County, and events sponsored by the Downtown Merchants Association.
“They understand, and they have an opportunity to live out their faith by helping somebody else, and it can be from the direction of an athlete participating in a race to helping someone in a wheelchair get on a boat to play in the lake,” Culbreth said.
Though it has been a difficult situation for the students, he feels the recent events will enhance their recovery.
“This is life. Stuff like this happens, and when it does, you’ve got to work through it. You can’t walk away, and you can’t run and hide,” Culbreth said. “They are learning some life skills that can’t be taught, and it will, I think, deepen their character and [create] a closeness between them and other students and staff and the many volunteers coming in. You can’t come together like this and not be affected positively, because when you look back and realize what you did and what you overcame, that’s going to have a big effect on you.”
As Teen Challenge moves from “crisis mode” to “work mode,” it will continue to seek help from the community. The organization is in need of donations of skilled labor, as well as a variety of supplies, including industrial mops and brooms, heavy-duty garbage bags and bleach. Call (501) 624-2446 for more information.