Fort Smith Four

Homelessness 

Patricia Hofferber

Novmeber 6, 2015 

 

Homelessness: According to Debbie Everly, Coalition homeless program director, there are 90-100 homeless individuals in Fort Smith on any given night. What does “homeless” mean? According to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, “a homeless person is an individual without permanent housing who may live on the streets; stay in a shelter, mission, single room occupancy facilities, abandoned building or vehicle; or in any other unstable or non-permanent situation. [Section 33 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S. C., 254b].” This means a person who is staying with friends or family and/or “couch surfing” is as homeless as someone on the street or in a shelter, so the numbers might be much higher than Everly actually counted.

 

There are many different reasons a person may become homeless. For many individuals living in poverty—even those who are employed—live one financial disaster away from homelessness. It only takes a vehicle breakdown, lack of vehicle insurance, or even unpaid parking tickets to put a family out on the street.

Resources: So what kind of resources are available in the Fort Smith area for those who are homeless? I have researched homelessness in Fort Smith to develop a list of resources that is nowhere near complete, but might help someone reading this column.

 

Shelter: For emergency shelter, the Community Rescue Mission located at 310 North F Street, Fort Smith, is a faith-based Christian mission. No drugs or alcohol is permitted, and the individual must fill out paperwork and provide identification. It can house up to 70 individuals and offers a chapel, family section, men’s dormitory, dining facility, laundry facility, day room, and showers.

 

The Salvation Army located at 301 North 6 Street, Fort Smith is a Christian faith-based homeless shelter offering 32 beds, daily meals, laundry services, and an excellent knowledge of community resources. Their phone number is 479.783.6145.

For and individual suffering domestic violence or sexual assault, the Donald W. Reynolds Crisis Intervention Center has a 24-hour, 7-day a week crisis hotline: 800.359.0056. The Crisis Intervention Center offers a safe shelter for individuals and families suffering from domestic abuse. They provide food, safe shelter and support services that help the individual transition back into the community including safety planning, legal advocacy, child care and much more.

 

If an individual suspects or knows that she is pregnant and needs help, Heart to Heart Pregnancy Support Center located at 216 A Greenwood Ave, Fort Smith offers counseling, guidance and assistance on a one to one basis. This agency provides free pregnancy testing, financial and living arrangements during and after pregnancy. Their phone number is 479.452.2260 Monday- Friday 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. or by appointment.

 

Day Shelter: Next Step Homeless Services located at 123 North 6 Street offers a place for homeless individuals to go during weekdays and receive a myriad of services including hot lunch, job counseling, psychological assessment, life skills training, budgeting classes and adult education. They also provide homeless individuals with phone availability and after-hours messaging and mail service so that individuals will have a reliable local phone number and address to put on job and housing applications as well as state identification and social security card applications. Next Step offers bicycle rental for individuals who do not have transportation and need to travel to jobs and job interviews. Their phone number is 479.782.5433 and the hours are Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

 

Chemically Dependent: The Gateway House, Inc. at 3900 North. Armour Ave, Fort Smith, and Harbor House, Inc. 615 North 19 Street, Fort Smith provide treatment for individuals who are suffering from chemical dependence. The Gateway House phone number is 479.783.8849 24-hours and the Harbor House phone number is 479.782.4083 Monday- Friday 8:00 am- 5:00 pm. Alcoholics Anonymous have a Fort Smith phone number- 479.783.0123. Also, Fort Smith has an outpatient treatment facility called Recovery Solutions, Inc. They are located at 501 South 18 Street, and their phone number is 479-434-5566.

 

Health: Health problems often accompany homeless individuals, and in some cases, actually cause the homeless situation. For help with health issues, Fort Smith has a few options. Northside Clinic at 4900 Kelley Highway in Fort Smith claims that their purpose is to provide high quality medical and health education services at a reasonable cost. Their phone number is 479. 785. 5700. Another option is AHEC Family Medical Services located at 612 South 12 Street, Fort Smith. Their phone number is 479.785.2431. They treat Arkansas residents with no health insurance.

 

These are a very few resources that I have listed here, and is by no means a comprehensive list. I will be exploring homeless and hungry in Fort Smith in future columns.