Hope for the Homeless: How Little Rock, community groups are helping the unhoused
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Homelessness in the United States is at an all-time high. In the United States, more than 653,000 people, including more than 111,000 children under the age of 18, are unhoused, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The issue is also in the Natural State. In 2023 in Arkansas, 2,609 people were homeless, an increase of 6% from 2022.
It’s a path no one expects to find themselves on, but for the past two years Jay and Deborah Meadows have been on it, calling the streets of Little Rock their home.
“It’s been sometimes living on the street, sometimes hotels. Just kind of back and forth at times,” Jay said.
Both Jay and Deborah are 66 years old, surviving off a little more than $1,000 a month.
“There have been times that I decided between her and our dog Queen,” Jay explained. “If somebody is going to go hungry, it’s going to be me.”
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Their health issues are taking their toll as they wait for word on a potential apartment. They hope they will be able to afford this one.
“I’m praying to the good Lord it’s next week,” Deborah Meadows said.
For 41-year-old Daniel Covington, a battle with anxiety and PTSD led to a fork in the road.
“Never in a million years. I never would have thought that my life would end up like this,” Daniel Covington said.
He started using drugs instead of seeking help and ended up on the streets.
“Yeah, there’s a stigma,” Covington said. “The stigma is that most people on the streets are lazy or on drugs, but for my situation, it’s mental health.”
Covington has found temporary refuge at a drug and alcohol recovery program for men. He is putting one foot in front of the other as he grapples with the reality of securing a more permanent situation.
“On the streets, it’s a process, and the process is very slow,” Covington said.
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Covington and the Meadows are just three of the more than 600 people who are living on the street in Little Rock, with another 800 in the city’s shelter system.
Aaron Reddin, founder of the non-profit The Van, wants to see that number drop to zero.
“We’ve got to make a way. We’ve got to make a way man,” Reddin said.
Reddin is stepping up to the plate to make sure the unhoused community in Little Rock is fed, clothed and, during life-threatening situations like January’s winter storm, warm.
“We were able to open the community center on East 6th Street for four nights, and we were able to pack in well over 100 people,” Reddin said.
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That effort to help comes with a price tag. The city and The Van spent more than $65,000 combined during that weather event, including hotel rooms for an additional five nights.
Reddin said while shelter is a necessity, the key is to help people find a more permanent solution.
“We have to work on housing,” he explained. “We have to have affordable and attainable housing. It’s not there. It’s just not there.”
These are issues echoed in the homeless community.
“Rent prices have went up; it’s the cost of living,” Deborah Meadows said.
“It should be more accessible,” Covington agreed.
Little Rock officials say the city isn’t sidestepping the issues and is working on solutions.
“Some people are not ready to get into that permanent housing piece and so we see a lot of transitional housing needed,” Housing Director for the City of Little Rock Department of Housing and Neighborhood Programs Kevin Howard said.
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Once complete in the fall, the Little Rock Microhome Village on West Roosevelt Road will have 80 separate housing units and can serve as an emergency shelter for 206 people.
A community center will offer a kitchen, dining hall, a health clinic, laundry room and office space, as well as resources to provide a smooth path forward for those looking to get back on their feet.
“It takes a holistic approach,” Howard said.
Reddin calls it a step in the right direction.
“Everyone is not going to respond to everything, but the more options we have, the more opportunities we can present, the higher the likelihood they’re going to say, ‘That will work for me,’” Reddin said.
In the meantime, it gives those like the Meadows a glimmer of hope that this is not the end of their road.
“It’s going to work out, it will,” Deborah Meadows said. “The Lord is going to make a way; He has made a way so far.”
Do you have suggestions for resources for central Arkansas residents who are unhoused?
Share them with Laura Monteverdi at lmonteverdi@kark.com.
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