Meet Fayetteville’s new housing crisis task force member

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A renter has officially joined the Fayetteville Housing Crisis Task Force.

Dustin McGowan joins the task force after the Fayetteville City Council originally voted the idea down 5-3.

He says he heard about the task force after a few of its meeting were held at Genesis Church. He was encouraged by friends to apply but was initially not selected. After the task force decided to add a renter, he was appointed.

McGowan and his family packed up and moved from Chicago to Fayetteville in 2017. He says the seemingly lower cost of living is a factor that drew him to the area, but that has since changed.

“Northwest Arkansas, which was a more affordable area, has increasingly become much less affordable,” said McGowan.

McGowan is currently an associate pastor at Genesis Church in South Fayetteville. He says that for more than ten years, he has gravitated towards serving under-resourced communities.

“I’ve always been passionate about it. I’ve always, for the last 10-15 years of my life, worked in and around the intersection of faith and under-resourced communities and justice work,” McGowan said. “And so, it’s something that I naturally participate in and move towards. And so which, you know, kind of put me in a place to actually be recommended to be on the task force.”

“We serve in a community here at Genesis that represents a lot of marginalized communities, particularly economically marginalized communities. And so, that is the unhoused and those who are struggling with poverty. That struggle with addiction and those communities are mostly renters,” said McGowan.

Less than a week since joining the Fayetteville Housing Crisis Task Force, McGowan is already finding ways to best advocate for the residents of the city.

“People need to be willing to be able to see other people, other communities and speak up for their needs as well as their own. And so, I think that’s the more important thing… are we willing to see people in our community, see their needs, listen to them and act accordingly?” said McGowan.

Fayetteville City Council member D’Andre Jones was one of three to originally vote in favor of adding a renter to the task force. When the proposal failed, he says he was disheartened, yet not surprised.

“I’m not surprised because of the things that have happened previously… And I’m disappointed, but I’m not surprised. What’s really important is now that the community is getting what they need, and what happens (with) the council members, what happens at that level, it’s disheartening. But the bigger picture, when the citizens get what they need, what’s important for them, that’s all that matters,” said Jones.

Jones says he’s known McGowan personally for a while, describing him as a strong advocate. Now, he says he’s looking forward to seeing the movements and change that McGowan will kickstart in Fayetteville.

“Dustin completes the set. Dustin is more than a renter, of course. He’s an advocate, and he understands the system, how the system continues to negatively impact individuals who are marginalized and the individuals who are economically disadvantaged,” said Jones.

Moving forward, McGowan says he wants to simply be a voice for the voiceless.

“One of the things that I primarily want to be able to do is to advocate and speak up on behalf of communities that otherwise are left unheard and not advocated for in spaces very often,” said McGowan.

He says some of his largest concerns lie within basic housing needs and the gentrification of South Fayetteville.

“We have an issue of just getting people into basic sustenance housing. And so there’s a spectrum of what affordability means,” McGowan said. There’s you know, individuals who are just trying to get very basic housing, and then those people who have greater housing needs, people with families and children who are people who are really trying to move towards ownership. There’s needs across that spectrum. How do we advocate for that?”

“There’s a voice needed to be able to speak up and advocate for their needs, especially the needs of those who are in South Fayetteville, a community that is being rapidly gentrified, and many people who are already seemingly voiceless in the process of a lot of the change that is happening in Fayetteville becoming more so. And so, you know, there’s a need I mean, any kind of process like this where some want to be able to speak up in those spaces, stand up for those communities,” said McGowan.

He says he believes that renters should have more of a voice on the board.

“It’s unfortunate that there’s only one renter and that it took, you know, kind of some major community response to try to get that placement,” said McGowan.

Jones also says that he’s hopeful that the task force will continue to grow in the future, and possibly add people like college students and college parents.

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