Conway’s first 24-hour emergency shelter is still under construction, and the Community Action Program for Central Arkansas has seen an increase in people in need of shelter.

The city of Conway broke ground for the shelter April 2022. In December 2022, it set the opening date of the shelter for spring of 2023. 

Shawanna Rodgers, diversity and economic development coordinator for the city of Conway, said there is no continuing update on the shelter at this time. 

“We are still working through the construction phase currently,” she said, adding there isn’t a more precise date than the spring of 2023 for when the shelter is expected to be fully operational. 

As construction continues, people in need of shelter in the area have increasingly sought other available resources, like those provided by CAPCA, which will run the shelter.

CAPCA, an organization that offers a variety of services to people experiencing homelessness and those at risk for homelessness in Faulkner, Cleburne and White counties, has seen an increased need for shelter in 2023. 

CAPCA staff member Lacey Crosby said, “With extreme weather at the end of 2022 and in these first few months of the new year, we have more than tripled the number of hotel vouchers we provide in a day.” 

Crosby said CAPCA provides temporary shelter through hotel vouchers for those in need of emergency housing, and qualifying households can receive up to a three-night stay when funds are available. 

According to CAPCA’s website, the organization’s emergency shelter funding is currently “extremely limited,” so individuals must be “verifiably homeless” and meet additional criteria to be eligible for temporary shelter; they must be physically disabled and receiving disability, pregnant, elderly, have children staying with them or have medical conditions requiring the use of electricity. 

Crosby said CAPCA is waiting to receive the data for homeless individuals in central Arkansas in 2023 from the Point-In-Time Count, an annual survey of sheltered and unsheltered homeless populations in the U.S. 

“However, in 2022, CAPCA served almost 1,000 individuals experiencing homelessness, with over 600 of them being children,” Crosby said. 

CAPCA has many programs to support homeless populations in central Arkansas, including Homelessness Prevention, Rapid-Rehousing, Street Outreach, Emergency Shelter, and Project Homeless Connect. 

Crosby said individuals facing eviction can apply for emergency rental assistance through CAPCA’s Homelessness Prevention Program, and “those who are currently homeless and seeking housing can apply to attain housing and enroll in case management in order to sustain housing,” Crosby said. 

CAPCA also provides emergency supplies through the organization’s mobile unit. 

“Staff go out into the community and meet individuals and families where they are, and provide them with items such as backpacks, hygiene products, clothing and shoes, emergency food, and tents and outdoor equipment. Homeless individuals can receive most of these items once a month at our office as well,” Crosby said. 

Crosby said Project Homeless Connect is a once-a-month event CAPCA hosts that aims to “bring together a large number of the homeless population in one place to provide them with a one-stop-shop for supplies, hot meals and a number of services from the community.”

Crosby said CAPCA needs resources to meet the challenge of helping more vulnerable populations.

“CAPCA lacks the resources to give additional support to those who may be experiencing blindness, loss of hearing, and/or experiencing mental health crises,” Crosby said. 

Community members can help provide services to individuals experiencing homelessness by volunteering with CAPCA. 

“We love to host people from the community to help fill up food boxes, pack care kits, join us at Project Homeless Connect, be a service provider at PHC, donate supplies and resources, or even work with us in the office and our warehouse,” Crosby said. “There is always a need to fill, and we welcome the support.”

CAPCA is located at 707 Robins Street in Conway. Additional information about CAPCA can be found at capcainc.org.

The shelter will be at 1116 Gum Street.