HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — The Jackson House, the turn-of-the-century era beacon for people in need in Hot Springs, will team up with the city to manage a program that pays homeless clients to pick up trash and other projects.
"We're trying to be proactive in reaching our community," said executive director Janie Smith at a Wednesday news conference announcing the Jackson House involvement in the program. "We're going to partner with the city of Hot Springs with a program called Hope Works."
That's the name of the pioneering program begun in Albuquerque, N.M., that has served as a model for other cities. Little Rock renewed its version, called Bridge to Work, earlier this year. The main idea is offering money to homeless people to do things like picking up litter in parks and by the road.
"We looked at this program and developed ours based on what we saw in Albuquerque," said Bill Burrough, Hot Springs city manager. "We knew that a program like this could work here."
The Hot Springs program will be on a smaller scale than larger cities and will fit in with an existing program for people doing court-ordered community service. Those programs tend to work on side streets. Burrough says Hope Works allows participants to hit the main roads in the city.
"We do see a continual increase of about 1,000 clients a year," Smith said to illustrate how great the need is for innovative programs that breaks some poverty cycles, even in smaller cities. "We're currently serving about 25,000 to 30,000 folks in our community."
"We know, based on their counts, that they are delivering services to more than they have in the past," said Burrough.
"A program like this really comes when we think we can meet part of that need."
The city board of directors approved the money for the program earlier in 2019. Jackson House, which also unveiled a newly designed logo, will be the third-party provider that oversees the program. They expect to have it running in early 2020.
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