Bringing hope to the homeless

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - A Northeast Arkansas organization hopes to assist the homeless with food, showers, and mental health counseling.

The Hope House is wanting to partner with organizations like the Salvation Army to join the team effort to fight homelessness in Jonesboro.

“So this is a day shelter for the homeless, they will be able to come in and take showers, have their clothes washed, grab a meal, and offer mental health services”, said Aisha Stafford of the Sure Foundation.

According to the Brain and Research Foundation, homelessness and mental health is a complicated two-way street.

Individuals with mental health issues often find themselves homeless because of poverty and lack of low-income housing.

“If your mental health is off, let’s be honest you’re off kind of all together, and people battling depression, and maybe a mental health issue is why they are homeless”, said Stafford.

A study done by Robert Half Talent’s Solution shows that the job market is wide open, with over 10 million current openings nationwide, and the lowest unemployment rate since January of 2020.

Getting homeless people back into the workforce is a huge first step in getting them off the streets and into a stable lifestyle.

“So, we will absolutely have resources for them to do job searches, fill out applications, we will have limited supplies of clothes for interviews”, stated Stafford.

Lack of education is another common factor for those experiencing homelessness or low-income housing.

A study conducted by the Interagency on Homeless found that youth without a high school diploma or GED have a 340% higher risk of experiencing homelessness.

“Get them brushed up on math skills, reading skills, comprehension, and different things like that, maybe even writing resumes, we can get them pointed in the right direction”, said Stafford.

The Hope House still has no open date.

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