3 minute read
Nonprofit Spotlight
words Catherine Frederick with Chris Joannides, Executive Director, Riverview Hope Campus
The Riverview Hope Campus is a place where homeless service providers will meet to offer comprehensive assistance to the homeless in our area. Their mission is to provide a safe environment, through a network of regional partners, and comprehensive services to impoverished individuals and families in the River Valley to improve their livelihood and in return, strengthen the community. Through care, treatment, and services RHC will address acute needs as well as help individuals identify root causes of the challenges they face so that these individuals can pursue a path to self-sufficiency. Do South® reached out to Chris Joannides, Executive Director, to learn more.
Next month, we’ll showcase another worthy charity in our area free of charge. If you have a nonprofit you’d like to see recognized, email us at catherine@dosouthmagazine.com. DS: How did Hope Campus come to be? HOPE Campus was a community project through the Old Fort Homeless Coalition working with many stakeholders to address the rise in homelessness and the desire to offer an evidence-based model for providing services. The campus model offers a variety of services all under one roof, therefore reducing the many barriers our community homeless and underserved populations face daily.
DS: Who does Hope Campus serve and in what ways? We are open to anyone in need of assistance, whether homeless or just in need of a hand up. Our emergency shelter houses thirty-five individuals nightly, plus an additional eighty-six program beds available to individuals wanting to enroll in one of four tracs to work towards self-sufficiency. We offer a laundry facility, salon, three meals a day, showers, dog kennels for those with companions, case management to assist in reaching goals and objectives, onsite medical clinic by Mercy, and we have just opened HOPE Cares, which is our clinical department to help uncover the many root causes of homelessness.
DS: Tell us how Hope Campus’s mission impacts our community. HOPE Campus works towards two areas, affordable housing, and mental health. We wish to offer a hand up, working directly on individual case plans so we improve the lives and community of Fort Smith.
DS: How can our community get involved with Hope Campus? Our biggest need is volunteers and groups to help us with serving meals. We serve more than 300+ meals daily to our residents and members of our community. If your church group or civic club can help, we can get you plugged in right away!
DS: What else should our readers know about? We were awarded a grant to expand our emergency shelter, so we will be under construction soon, which will lead us to our next phase of transitional housing. This is a phase up from shelter and programming yet will give forty-eight individuals more flexibility as they progress towards individual goals and self-sufficiency. Our capital campaign kicks off soon and donations can be made to HOPE Campus 301 South E Street, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901.
ON VIEW: MAY 21 - SEPTEMBER 19, 2021
Blood Sweat Tears Ron Whitehead ART:
To help support this FREE Participation Exhibition call RAM Development 479.784.2787 Featuring art from former and current service men and women in the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas. The aim of this exhibition is to raise awareness about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by giving service men and women a venue to tell their individual stories through artwork. Through the duration of this exhibition, the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum will offer Arts4Healing Classes FREE to veterans.
All works in this group exhibit will be for sale and will benefit the participating artists and RAM’s Art4Healing Program.
1601 ROGERS AVENUE FORT SMITH, AR 72901 479.784.2787 • FSRAM.ORG
