Christmas came early for Bethlehem House! The day that has been prayed for, dreamed of, worked toward and greatly anticipated came to pass recently. On Wednesday, December 5th, the Campaign Goal for Conway’s new homeless shelter was reached. The celebration started that night even before the Christian Concert featuring Josh Wilson began. Bethlehem House Executive Director Judi Lively was joined on stage at Woodlawn Heights Baptist Church by Johnny and Stacia Adams, who chaired the Capital Campaign Committee. Adams began by thanking those who worked on the Capital Campaign Committee and those who generously donated to the Campaign. Adams made special mention of, “Conway Corporation for a great gift that kicked the campaign off.” Adams expressed his appreciation saying, “We couldn’t have done it without you.” Conway Corp contributed the lead gift of $250,000. He also made note of the contributions of Dan Fife of Awakening Events and Woodland Heights Baptist Church who hosted the Josh Wilson Concert that night. The concert raised $10,000 which was then matched by both the Windgate Charitable Foundation and the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation , thus completing the amount needed to fully fund the new shelter. Josh Wilson was also recognized for his willingness to perform free of charge.
In an earlier interview, Lively pointed out that our community with its businesses, churches and residents have been the ones who are building the new shelter for the homeless. She mentioned participation from smaller business such as Stoby’s and Pitza 42. “Larger scale joint efforts have also been made like the recent Tour of Homes at the Village at Hendrix where residents opened their homes to the public, raising $10,500 in a three day effort, including a match of $2500 from Modern Woodman of America. Of course, the large matching grants from the Windgate Charitable Foundation and the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation of Tulsa, OK were invaluable in completing this capital campaign,” according to Lively.
The need for a new shelter and the desire to build it have long been a dream of the Bethlehem House Board. Lively says, “For the 10 years I have been involved with the shelter (7 of those years serving as the Executive Director), we have been talking about building this new facility. Several years ago, a serious look was taken at building a new shelter, the time was not right. Then 3 years ago, Bethlehem House hired Hueston Consulting to do a feasibility study. It came back cautiously favorable. After much prayer, the Board decided to proceed with a Fund Raising Campaign for the building. Johnny and Stacia Adams were asked to lead the committee. They helped put together a strong group that was instrumental in getting us to where we are today. Then 18 months ago, we started in earnest to raise the $1.3 million necessary to build the 7,200 square foot sustainable facility. From there, Bethlehem House asked this community for help and more than 64 percent of the funds were donated directly by the community.”
The plans are in place and the land has been purchased. The new property can be seen from the yard of the current shelter and will face the railroad tracks on Parkway Street. The new facility will house 35 people and will have many new features including a larger kitchen and dining room to serve a hot nightly meal to 35-40 people in addition to the residents. Handicap accessibility will be available for the first time in the shelter. Two rooms, housing up to 8 people, will be available in case of emergencies like evictions, automobile breakdowns, etc. This will be the first and only emergency shelter in Faulkner, Perry and Conway Counties. An inside play area for children will be available for the first time in the shelter. A multi-purpose room with computers for job searches and studies will be included.
Lively says, “I keep coming back to Psalm 127:1, ‘Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.’ I am quite certain God is building this new Bethlehem House.” The dozers should be rolling in soon. Nabholz Construction of Conway estimates construction time as 8-10 months. Lively says, “This time next year, we’ll be celebrating Christmas in the new facility. What an incredible celebration that will be!!!”
