A Friday decision from the U.S. Supreme Court allowing local governments to prohibit people experiencing homelessness from sleeping outside sparked fear in one homelessness-assistance leader in Central Arkansas.
“I feel a lot of things: Fear, outrage, shame, anger,” said Aaron Reddin, founder of The Van. “… Mostly fear. I don’t trust our governments locally, and I’m just afraid of them having more sway in what they can and can’t go out and do to these folks.”
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision split on ideological lines with conservative members arguing that homelessness is a complex issue that should be left up to local authority. Liberal members opposed the Oregon city’s ordinance, and said it criminalized being homeless by including fines and potential jail time for repeat offenders who camp or sleep outdoors.
U.S. Supreme Court sides with Oregon city, allows ban on homeless people sleeping outdoors
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“People debate it, but I am 100% a housing first guy,” Reddin said. “I cannot help people when I can’t find them. …It’s hard to serve those folks because you spend tremendous amounts of time looking for folks. …It takes a huge commitment and it takes a political will, the likes of which we have not ever seen from neither city, nor our state government.”
The Van offers several services to people experiencing homelessness in Central Arkansas, including regular supply drops and meal distribution. Reddin also employs one person full time at a farm in North Little Rock where crops are grown for sale to local restaurants and small groups.
The latest Point-in-Time Count, a nationwide tally that counts people experiencing homelessness on a single night, reported Arkansas had 2,609 people experiencing homelessness of some form in 2023. About 30% of those, 773 people, were reported in Central Arkansas.
More than half of those counted in Central Arkansas were reported unsheltered.
“When I sit here and think through people, I’m trying to think of one single person I know of that wouldn’t take an opportunity to get rehoused, if there was a realistic option, opportunity, in front of them,” Reddin said. “I can’t think of anyone that wouldn’t take it.”
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Little Rock currently prohibits camping on public property, though unsheltered residents are not arrested if they violate the ordinance, city spokesperson Aaron Sadler said.
“In fact, when we respond to complaints about encampments, our homelessness engagement specialists spend a substantial amount of time ensuring unsheltered residents have access to the resources they need in the days and even weeks leading up to removal of an encampment,” Sadler said. “These specialists work closely with [the police department’s] crisis response teams to make sure all residents are treated fairly and offered assistance.”
Reddin disagrees with the city’s policy to remove encampments, he said.
“There’s a lot to [a housing solution],” Reddin said. “Every case is just so different, and I just don’t see any super programmatic or formula-based idea that’s going to take it on. We just have to build the political will and communal desire to care for one another until no one else has to sleep outside around here.”
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The tiny home concept
Like many municipalities across the country, the city of Little Rock and the Pulaski County government are both planning compounds of tiny homes to house the unsheltered. The projects are independent from one another, and they have different housing goals.
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While the one slated for Roosevelt Road in Little Rock is expected to house people for a relatively short period of time, the village planned near the border of Pulaski and Saline counties would make for a more permanent house solution, with a rent attached.
Officials mark start on homelessness village in southern Pulaski County
Little Rock’s $3 million Micro Home Village marks a step toward Mayor Frank Scott Jr.’s goal of a “functional zero,” which means being unsheltered would be “rare” and “brief,” according to the city.
Officials broke ground for the city’s project last summer. Once completed, the compound will be large enough to house 206 people through 50 single units, 22 units for families of four and eight units for families of six. An additional 20 emergency shelter beds will also be available.
Communal areas will include a commercial kitchen, dining hall, classrooms, offices, a health clinic and a laundry room.
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The Pulaski County project is similar, though on a larger scale and with a focus to house the “chronically homeless,” or people who have been unsheltered for at least 12 months.
Officials broke ground on the Providence Park project in May, and the first of 400 tenants are expected to move in next year. The county’s 50-acre project will include the same communal areas as those in the Little Rock project, along with a bus stop and market.
People interested in living at the village will be required to apply and interview with management staff. Referrals from existing homelessness organizations are also welcome but not required. Potential applicants would need to fit within the housing qualifications, mainly that they’ve been homeless for at least one year.
“Providence Park will be a game changer for those who will be able to obtain it,” Reddin said. “…Getting folks to that point is the hardest part.”
Existing shelters
The Compassion Center, a faith-based organization founded more than two decades ago, is one of a few options available for people who need a place to sleep in Little Rock.
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Co-founder Rev. William Holloway said he was unsure of the impact the Supreme Court ruling would have on the Compassion Center, as he’s seen bans in other states that didn’t have much of an effect.
“I’ve been in other places [in the U.S.] where they pass laws and say people can’t do this, or they can’t do that, but it really doesn’t stop them from doing that,” Holloway said. “I don’t think it’s going to stop them here, either. People are people, and some people are just shelter resistant no matter how much you try to work with them.”
The Compassion Center, which operates on Roosevelt Road near where the city is planning its Micro Home Village, has about 300 beds. Nearly 100 of those are available most of the time, Holloway said.
The beds are first come, first served. Anyone can request a bed and a meal, Holloway said. Showers and clothing are also available. Stays are typically capped at 30 days, though people can work on a program to stay up to four months.
When asked, Holloway said he wasn’t sure what kind of message the Supreme Court decision could send to local governments. He said he sees both sides of the issue at hand.
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In Fayetteville, the nonprofit New Beginnings Northwest Arkansas helps provide resources to the homeless population through temporary housing, securing identification documents and finding employment.
“This ruling empowers those who prefer the ‘pointless and expensive strategy’ to criminalize homelessness instead of working toward humane housing and service solutions,” the organization posted on social media Friday. “We will continue to serve and support people who need housing while advocating for humane, permanent solutions to end homelessness in our society.”
Nettleton senior Donna Douglas won the 2024 Gatorade Arkansas Girls Track & Field Player of the Year.(Source: KAIT)
JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – Donna Douglas has been named the two time Gatorade Arkansas girls track & field player of the year. “Sometimes I just sit back and think man, this is crazy.” Douglas said. Not only has she set the 5-a, meet of champions and Arkansas overall records in the discus and shot put, but now she is the back to back Gatorade Arkansas girls track and field player of the year.
“I was actually pretty happy. It was really surprising and I was excited to accept the award the last two years. A lot of people don’t really accomplish that in the time of their high school career, and I accomplished it in like less than three years.”
In less than three years she has become one of the states best, but track and field was not always her passion.
“I found out about track and field by friends, they were asking me to do track and field and I told them no. I was like that’s not me. And then they asked me my tenth grade year, I was like you know I could find a different sport to keep me in shape for basketball, and I went out there, it was that.”
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And that is launching the discus 175 feet in the blazer nestle invitations, a mark that ranks third nationally among high school competitors. And her best shot put throw this year was 48 feet, which ranks top 15 nationally.
“Shot put was may favorite for my tenth grade year because automatically I was good at it. But going into my junior year, discus was becoming my favorite because I love to work at things, I love to struggle at things and see myself overcome issues.”
Donna is headed to the University of Tennessee in the fall to join their track and field team, but for the rest of the summer, she’s going to enjoy her time.
“I’m spending time with my family, getting all my stuff together, making list for my dorm, just getting ready for college. I’m happy, after my first year I was like yeah this is more sport, I said this you know this is going to get me to where I wanted to go, I had made goals to be an Olympian, and you know just be outstanding and to be able turn up for my town Jonesboro, and just make them proud.
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A new 17-foot long oak sculpture has been installed on the south side of Witherspoon Hall at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville.
The sculpture was created by Julie Benda, 2024 Windgate Foundation artist in residence at ATU. According to biographical information published to her website, Benda is a writer, illustrator and visual artist with a practice in print, sculpture and public art.
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A native of Michigan, Benda’s artwork has been featured in Make MN Magazine, MN Original, Hyperallergic and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. She has received the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Next Step Grant, Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant and the Jerome/MCBA Mentorship.
The artist in residence program at ATU is made possible through a grant from the Windgate Foundation. Additional financial support from the Windgate Foundation over the past five years has allowed Arkansas Tech to establish a summer professional development program for K-12 art teachers, develop enhanced opportunities for ATU graduates to attend medical school, purchase equipment for Arkansas Tech nursing students and establish a need-based scholarship fund.
Benda is the sixth artist in residence in Arkansas Tech history. She was preceded by Manami Ishimura (spring 2019), Tiffany Black (spring 2020), Jade Hoyer (fall 2021), Andrew Malczewski (spring 2022) and Haylee Bolinger (spring 2023).
Learn more about the ATU Department of Art at www.atu.edu/art.
Before 2024, Bearden native Cassidy Kelly had spent three years as the assistant girls’ basketball, softball and track coach in Fordyce.
During that time, the 29-year-old Kelly said she had “always been like mom to most” of the students she coached.
It was because of this dynamic that one of her former players called her the morning of June 21 from the Mad Butcher grocery store as a man fired a 12-gauge shotgun indiscriminately throughout the store.
The girl and two other of Kelly’s former students were there. Two were working as employees and the other was shopping.
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“They were panicking because they didn’t have a parent or anything near,” Kelly recalled in a phone conversation last week. “You could still hear someone shooting in the background.”
Kelly was “right down the road” with her mother and son when she received the call.
She quickly rushed to the scene. There, she saw one of her best friends who works for the Camden Police Department.
“I immediately saw him and ran to him,” Kelly said “I was like, ‘Are my girls OK?’ And they all were, thankfully.”
Kelly said the girls were “shook up” from the ordeal even a week later.
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“I actually had one message me about 20 minutes ago and asked if I could help them with some food, because they just didn’t want to go in a Walmart or anything yet,” Kelly said. “It’s going to be a process for them. That’s a lot to process and see when you’re 16, 17, 18 years old.”
The next day Kelly starting forging a plan to help the city.
She did so with her friend Kevin Archer.
Their plan came from a shared history of playing softball “our whole lives” and in their roles as president and vice president of their coed league that plays in Fordyce on Tuesdays.
On July 20 the duo has set a charity softball tournament to be held at the Fordyce Civic Center.
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With a goal of fielding 20 teams, Kelly and Archer hope to raise $10,000 for the shooting victims’ families and survivors.
“The softball community in Arkansas has always stuck together. They’ve always been very supportive of one another,” Kelly said. “We knew that would be a quick way to raise money because the community sticks together.”
In a week where some in the town had “lost a lot of hope” in Fordyce, the tournament aims to “show people we can go out, we can have fun, we can honor those that were lost. We can honor those who are affected while having fun. We can’t live in fear. That’s been mine and Kevin’s big thing is trying to help the community show you can’t live in fear.”
Along with an entry fee of $225 per team, proceeds from concessions will go toward the cause, as well as portions of what vendors make.
On Friday, they planned to set up a bank account under the tournament’s name, where donations could be made directly via Cashapp.
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“After everything is done, we will disperse it evenly to everyone,” Kelly said.
As for those competing in the tournament, the winners will receive custom “Fordyce Strong” jerseys that will have the victims’ and survivors’ names on them, along with the date of the shooting. They will also get champion shirts and a trophy.
In the week since Kelly and Archer first conceived of the softball tournament, it has evolved into a lot more.
The tournament will also include a silent auction, bounce houses, food trucks and more.
The reach of their endeavor has shocked Kelly.
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On Thursday morning, she got a notification about a $100 Cashapp donation from a man in Hot Springs she didn’t know.
A professional artist from Little Rock whom Kelly didn’t know called and offered to donate a portrait she’d painted to the auction after seeing a report about the tournament on TV.
Thursday afternoon, Kelly sent Archer a screenshot of the text message sent by the Arkansas Democrat-gazette requesting an interview about the softball tournament.
Sitting at his shipping and receiving job at Nucor in Sheridan, Archer began tearing up.
“‘I never expected it to grow like this,’” Archer told Kelly. “Kevin’s lived in Fordyce his whole life, so it is a really big deal to him. … We didn’t expect it to get as much coverage or anything as it has. It’s been amazing in the amount of people who have called and been like, ‘Hey, we saw you on the news can we donate this?’ As much exposure as we’ve gotten, it’s helped so much.”
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Help for Fordyce — of both the financial and emotional kinds — has already been present in the town in the wake of the mass shooting.
The Rev. Chris Singer was in Chicago when news of the shooting first came across his news feed.
As updates on the number of people killed and wounded came in, the president and CEO of Lutheran Church Charities began mobilizing local volunteers for the organization’s Hearts of Mercy & Compassion group and its K-9 Comfort Dog program to make their way to Fordyce.
The volunteers, Eric Wendelbo and Mark Holt, came from the Christ the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Tulsa.
The K-9 unit, including handlers Roxy and Steve Hurry and a golden retriever named Sersis, traveled from King of Kings Lutheran Church in Glenpool, Okla.
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They joined Singer in Fordyce for a few days to accomplish their missions. They described those missions as: to “provide a physical symbol of God’s mercy and compassion for those who are hurting and in need” and with Sersis, “to help people who’ve experienced a traumatic event process their grief, stress and emotions.”
While the Hearts of Mercy & Compassion group and Sersis have left Fordyce — and are accepting donations to go toward Fordyce — they left behind a reminder that they were there.
The team erected a set of five crosses in front of the Mad Butcher.
Four of the crosses bear the names of those killed in the shooting — Shirley Kay Taylor, 63; Callie Weems, 23; Roy Sturgis, 50; and Ellen Shrum, 81 — and hearts.
They’re similar to almost 2,300 crosses and hearts the group has left at the sites of other tragedies — and for special anniversaries — across the country, including the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas two years ago.
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“When I was down in Fordyce and talking with the people who are hurting and the people who are just in shock, for me to be able to be there and to be able to offer peace and presence and let them know that there’s someone else out there who cares and who knows about this, to me is really why I do it,” Singer said. “One of the things that stood out to all of us was the friendliness of the community. There’s a lot of times that we go into communities and we’re not sure kind of what to expect. And I think just the warmth and the friendliness that we’ve experienced in Fordyce stood out to all of us.”
The 5 year-old dog — with 2,000 hours of training under his collar — is one of 130 golden retrievers in 29 states that make up the K-9 Comfort Dog program.
During her time in Fordyce, Sersis encountered about 100 people, visiting places such as the pharmacy next to the Mad Butcher and the Dallas County Medical Center.
“There’s kind of this moment in this space of calm where you can kind of start to sense there’s some emotion there,” Singer said. “There were a few tears, there were a few kind of casual conversations. I would say every one of them, as we got ready to leave, there was a smile.”
