21 May 2011 Coming together full of hope: Volunteers make goal to get Bethlethem House a new home
A special group of volunteers is reaching out to the 501 area to raise money for a new homeless shelter in Central Arkansas.
For almost 20 years, the Bethlehem House has offered the homeless a “hand up, not a handout.” The organization operates in three separate Conway locations – the original home on Faulkner Street, which serves families and single women; a leased duplex for single men and an off-site facility for administration.
“The house is 100-plus years old,” said executive director Judi Lively. “It’s in need of a lot of work, and it’s also not large enough. We are able to serve about 21 people at the house, which has five bedrooms and a converted office. We continue to maintain a waiting list.
“It’s a challenge to work out of three spaces and be able to make the impact that we want to make.”
In 2009, Bethlehem House conducted a feasibility study to determine the likelihood of raising enough funds to build a new facility. The results were favorable and led to the launching of the “Hope for the Homeless” capital campaign in December. Johnny and Stacia Adams of Conway co-chair the campaign.
“The goal is $1.5 million, and we are going to raise it,” said Johnny Adams, president and CEO of First Security Bank-Conway Market. “This is a benevolent community. We feel strongly that the community will meet this need. Bethlehem House deserves a better facility.
“We are in hopes that there will be lots of different types of contributions to the campaign – that it will be broad in its support. We see it as being a real grassroots effort. Even $10 from an elementary student could be a very beneficial piece of this campaign. We’re asking everyone in Conway and Faulkner County to be a part of building this facility.”
Among the committee’s fundraising activities, plastic red wristbands are being sold.
The projected three-year campaign has already raised nearly $400,000, and Adams says the committee hopes to break ground in 2012. It will be a short trip from the current Bethlehem House at 930 Faulkner St. over to Duncan Street.
“The new facility will have a computer lab, or multi-use room, where residents can do life skills training, study for their GED or learn new computer skills,” Lively said. “It will be a major improvement. Also, in our current facility, there is no place for children to play or do anything – they have to hang out in our dining room. The new facility will have a large playroom upstairs.
“We’ll also have a much larger dining room. We have a hot meal every night, and sometimes we have about 50 people. Our current dining room is small, and people have to eat outside, on the stairs or anywhere else they can find a spot. There will be a larger facility for laundry and our food pantry. The resources of our three facilities combined will be met by the new facility, including a handicapped accessible room, which we don’t have at our current location.”
Bethlehem House serves an average of 85 people per year through its residential services, but the organization also provides aid in several other ways. Non-residents have access to dinner each night, a washer and dryer, a shower, a bicycle loan program, lockers and food boxes from the pantry.
