Little Rock Mayor hopes to combat homelessness with Holistic Housing Initiative
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.— Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. laid out his vision for the capital city in his State of the City Address Speech Thursday night.
The most common theme of his speech was finding “Results for the Rock.” One of those results is finding permanent housing for the unsheltered populations in Little Rock.
Before announcing the Holistic Housing Initiative, Mayor Scott discussed how homelessness is a national issue that cities are trying to solve.
“As the cost of living gets higher, it’s going to affect a lot more people,” William Holloway, CEO of Little Rock Compassion Center said. “Sometimes the rent costs so much as much as you make a month.”
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Christopher Harvey, Senior Advisor to the Mayor said that with the new Holistic Housing Initiative, the city will be working to help those that need it most.
“One of the biggest symptoms of a lack of affordable housing is homelessness, so under our new holistic housing initiative, we will be bringing on and hiring the Chief Homelessness Officer,” Harvey said.
Harvey said the city received funding from the American Rescue Plan that will play a big role in helping the city end homelessness.
“According to the US Census Bureau, on a national average, you have about 64% of Americans that own homes,” Harvey said. “Here in the state of Arkansas, that number is 65%, but in Little Rock specifically, that number is around 54.8% and you compare that to the same data of when it comes to renters. The national average is around 35%, and Arkansas is 34%, but in Little Rock, it’s 45%.”
One of the biggest keys to fixing the unsheltered population in the city, according to Harvey, is helping people who rent to become homeowners.
“Making sure that we can increase the percentage of people are going from renters to homeowners, because we know the biggest pathways to the middle class is homeownership,” Harvey said.
In a press release, the city of Little Rock said that the Little Rock Micro Home Village is the first of its kind for the city, and it is a significant step toward Mayor Frank Scott, Jr.’s goal of attaining functional zero, meaning homelessness would be rare and brief.
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The Micro Home Village will have the capacity for 206 residents, with 50 single units, 22 that will accommodate families of four, and eight units for families of six. There will also be 20 emergency beds.
The village will also have a community center with a kitchen, dining halls, classrooms, offices, a health clinic and a laundry room.
Holloway said that the only way to end homelessness is to give homes to those who need them.
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