30 Dec 2023 Five-Oh-Ones to Watch 2024: Jill Bonnema, Vilonia Realty

Jill Bonnema was born, raised and is a proud citizen of Vilonia. As a REALTOR^® with her family-owned and -run company, Vilonia Realty, Bonnema dedicates her time to ensuring families in Faulkner County find the home that fits them best.

And it isn’t just families looking to purchase property for whom she finds homes. She and another community leader, Louise Witcher, formed LIFT (Lifting Individuals and Families Together), a nonprofit to help foster children in Faulkner County.

“Both Louise and I had worked in different aspects of foster care in our community,” Bonnema said. “We saw some gaps in the system that we thought we could fill, so we formed this nonprofit. One of our main goals is helping biological families with their needs so they can reunify with their kids.”

One of these ways is helping establish housing and furnishings so the family will have a safe place to call their own.

“Sometimes foster kids can’t reunify with their biological parents because they either don’t have a home, or the home they are in isn’t up to code or doesn’t have any furnishings. While we can’t take on remodeling or help in every situation, we can provide furniture. We work alongside other agencies in our community, because there are some other great agencies in other counties where we refer to them and they refer to us when we can help.”

Bonnema said LIFT relies on the community for donations, and they utilize their Facebook page (LIFT) and lift-others.org to keep people up to date on their needs.

“We take gently used furniture, towels, dish towels– anything you might need in your home, our families need in theirs. Along with other agencies, we’ve helped homeless families get into an apartment, and we’ve been able to go in and fully furnish it for them. We recently had an infant born to a family who was homeless. They weren’t going to be able to bring their baby home because they didn’t have a place to stay. They were able to move in with a friend, and LIFT helped supply everything for the baby. They were able to stay together.”

Bonnema, a foster mom herself, said she met Witcher through their shared interest of working with foster families. When they decided to establish LIFT as a 501(c)(3) in the spring of 2023, they opened their bank account with ^$100. Both questioned how long their new venture would last, but they remained faithful.

“It’s constantly growing,” she said. “We received a donation from the Faulkner County Board of Realtors and from Gwatney Chevrolet Buick. Ms. Louise keeps all the donations in her garage, and she’s constantly sorting. She’s a worker. Growing up and living here all my life, I think this is the best place to be, and it’s really an honor for me to serve this area in Faulkner County.”