98.3 The KEG Supports Seven Hills

Seven Hills thanks 98.3 The KEG for their donation of the proceeds from drink sales at Wingfest. Wingfest was Saturday, June 20th at the NW Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville. Area restaurants went head to head to see who is the best in several categories: Best, Hottest and Most Exotic Flavored Wings. The day was hot and humid, but everyone looked to enjoy the awesome wing selection, the cold drinks, and the excellent music.

Seven Hills had a booth set up where we sold tile kits for our Tile Project Fundraiser and talked to "passers-by" about our services and and the increasing need for homeless individuals and families in NWA. In June alone, we had the opportunity to serve 75 new individuals that we had never provided services to before. It was also our first month where we eclipsed 400 Veteran visits in our Day Center.

I am so thankful to be a part of such a generous community. It is though your donations that Seven Hills is able to meet the growing need. We are on pace to record between 30,000 and 40,000 service visits for area's near-homeless and homeless in 2009.

Pictured above: Kristen Honneycutt, The KEG Program Director; Jon Woodward, Seven Hills CEO; Anita Cowan, Cumulus Promotions Director

GNFD benefits Seven Hills

The Cobblestone Project organized a Good Neighbor Food Drive sponsored by Northstar Partnering Group which collected 465 pounds of food from about 100 homes in support of Seven Hills Homeless Center. The food collected will provide more than 100 meals for needy families in NWA. Pictured are: Jonathan Lasse, drive organizer; Jon Woodward, ED Seven Hills; and 465 pounds of food.

The Cobblestone Project has organized several drives benefiting Seven Hills over this past year including drives for coats, food, and hygeine supplies. Good Neighbor Food Drives have collected over 30,000 pounds of food for NWA non-profits to date and are another great illustration of the generousity of our community.

"1287"

I speak to several groups each week and talk about Seven Hills, the homelessness problem in NWA, and what is being done to help our most marginalized neighbors. The most common statement that I get after I do a presentation is something like -- "Thanks for coming to speak to us, I had no idea that anyone was homeless in NWA."

The Northwest Arkansas Homeless Census: a 24-Hour Point-in-Time Count was published last month, and it estimates that 1,287 people are homeless on any given night here in NWA. That's a BIG number compared to the "zero" that is in much of the general public's consciousness. The number goes from being BIG to being SCARY when one compares the issue to other cities. For instance, Chicago reports 5,922 homeless, or about 2 homeless per 1,000 residents. Philly reports 2,958, or about 2.1 homeless per 1,000 residents. While NWA doesn't have near the homeless issue of NYC (reports 109,000 homeless or about 13 per 1,000 residents), our 1,287 figures out to about 3 homeless per 1,000 residents.

Sound like NWA has a problem with homelessness?

The "1,287" event is designed to help our community become aware of this problem in our backyard. Here's the challenge: we are asking for 1,287 people to gather at The University of Arkansas' Greek Theater on Friday, July 24 at 6:30pm to represent the homeless population of NWA.

Would you come? Your attendance will impact the volume of this message to our community!

Join our special guest, Invisible People TV creator Mark Horvath, as he brings national perspective to this issue. Hear about local efforts. Figure out what you can do.

Please visit Cobblestone Project to register your attendance. Attendance is FREE.