LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — On Monday, Little Rock directors approved the extension of crime reduction resources in the city.
Last year, the board passed a plan to give about $ 1.5 million dollars to 10 local organizations to help fight violence. Since those groups have been seeing success the board wants it to continue.
The money went towards issues like anger management, workforce readiness, mental health, and violence intervention.
Our House was one of those groups that received money and they focused on mental health with one of Arkansas's most vulnerable populations.
"The work to get out of homelessness is really difficult. It's challenging. It takes a long time. It takes a lot of resilience," said Ben Goodwin, Our House's Executive Director.
The organization provides resources to those who are unsheltered or are experiencing homelessness. It also provides mental health treatments and career-readiness skills.
Last year, the City of Little Rock approved $200,000 dollars for Our House to expand its work and help more people. This money allowed the organization to increase the hours for therapy and provide further training for staff.
"Right now, the volume of people who come in to seek our services is greater than we can meet, so the more resources the better," Goodwin described.
The City of Little Rock said there are about 4,400 people who have benefitted from the violence reduction funding.
The seven organizations that will be receiving contract extensions to continue their work include the Boys and Girls Club of Central Arkansas, Songbird Media, Unity Martial Arts, Our House, Arkansas Community Dispute Resolution Centers, Brandon House Cultural and Performing Arts, and Lessons Learned.
"We know that hurt people, hurt people and if we can infuse funds and we can infuse expert services to those individuals I think it benefits the city as a whole," said Michael Sanders, Assistant Director of Little Rock's Community Programs.
Our House will continue its work as the Little Rock directors approved another $200,000 dollars to the end of the year.
The Little Rock directors also took another step to prevent violence— They approved a public safety commission that will recommend solutions and address violent crime.