Arkansas homelessness-assistance organizer fears U.S. Supreme Court decision banning outdoor sleep

Members of a clean-up crew remove belongings that have been left behind by occupants as the National Park Service clears the homeless encampment at McPherson Square on Feb. 15, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Donald Whitehead Jr., executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said that when cities force unhoused people to move out of encampments, they’re putting their health at risk. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

A Friday decision from the U.S. Supreme Court allowing local governments to prohibit people experiencing homelessness from sleeping outside sparked fear in one homelessness-assistance leader in Central Arkansas.

“I feel a lot of things: Fear, outrage, shame, anger,” said Aaron Reddin, founder of The Van . “… Mostly fear. I don’t trust our governments locally, and I’m just afraid of them having more sway in what they can and can’t go out and do to these folks.”

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision split on ideological lines with conservative members arguing that homelessness is a complex issue that should be left up to local authority. Liberal members opposed the Oregon city’s ordinance, and said it criminalized being homeless by including fines and potential jail time for repeat offenders who camp or sleep outdoors.

U.S. Supreme Court sides with Oregon city, allows ban on homeless people sleeping outdoors

“People debate it, but I am 100% a housing first guy,” Reddin said. “I cannot help people when I can’t find them. …It’s hard to serve those folks because you spend tremendous amounts of time looking for folks. …It takes a huge commitment and it takes a political will, the likes of which we have not ever seen from neither city, nor our state government.”

The Van offers several services to people experiencing homelessness in Central Arkansas, including regular supply drops and meal distribution. Reddin also employs one person full time at a farm in North Little Rock where crops are grown for sale to local restaurants and small groups.

The latest Point-in-Time Count , a nationwide tally that counts people experiencing homelessness on a single night, reported Arkansas had 2,609 people experiencing homelessness of some form in 2023. About 30% of those, 773 people, were reported in Central Arkansas.

More than half of those counted in Central Arkansas were reported unsheltered.

“When I sit here and think through people, I’m trying to think of one single person I know of that wouldn’t take an opportunity to get rehoused, if there was a realistic option, opportunity, in front of them,” Reddin said. “I can’t think of anyone that wouldn’t take it.”

Little Rock currently prohibits camping on public property, though unsheltered residents are not arrested if they violate the ordinance, city spokesperson Aaron Sadler said.

“In fact, when we respond to complaints about encampments, our homelessness engagement specialists spend a substantial amount of time ensuring unsheltered residents have access to the resources they need in the days and even weeks leading up to removal of an encampment,” Sadler said. “These specialists work closely with [the police department’s] crisis response teams to make sure all residents are treated fairly and offered assistance.”

Reddin disagrees with the city’s policy to remove encampments, he said.

“There’s a lot to [a housing solution],” Reddin said. “Every case is just so different, and I just don’t see any super programmatic or formula-based idea that’s going to take it on. We just have to build the political will and communal desire to care for one another until no one else has to sleep outside around here.”

The tiny home concept

Like many municipalities across the country, the city of Little Rock and the Pulaski County government are both planning compounds of tiny homes to house the unsheltered. The projects are independent from one another, and they have different housing goals.

While the one slated for Roosevelt Road in Little Rock is expected to house people for a relatively short period of time, the village planned near the border of Pulaski and Saline counties would make for a more permanent house solution, with a rent attached.

Officials mark start on homelessness village in southern Pulaski County

Little Rock’s $3 million Micro Home Village marks a step toward Mayor Frank Scott Jr.’s goal of a “functional zero,” which means being unsheltered would be “rare” and “brief,” according to the city.

Officials broke ground for the city’s project last summer. Once completed, the compound will be large enough to house 206 people through 50 single units, 22 units for families of four and eight units for families of six. An additional 20 emergency shelter beds will also be available.

Communal areas will include a commercial kitchen, dining hall, classrooms, offices, a health clinic and a laundry room.

The Pulaski County project is similar, though on a larger scale and with a focus to house the “chronically homeless,” or people who have been unsheltered for at least 12 months.

Officials broke ground on the Providence Park project in May, and the first of 400 tenants are expected to move in next year. The county’s 50-acre project will include the same communal areas as those in the Little Rock project, along with a bus stop and market.

People interested in living at the village will be required to apply and interview with management staff. Referrals from existing homelessness organizations are also welcome but not required. Potential applicants would need to fit within the housing qualifications, mainly that they’ve been homeless for at least one year.

“Providence Park will be a game changer for those who will be able to obtain it,” Reddin said. “…Getting folks to that point is the hardest part.”

Existing shelters

The Compassion Center , a faith-based organization founded more than two decades ago, is one of a few options available for people who need a place to sleep in Little Rock.

Co-founder Rev. William Holloway said he was unsure of the impact the Supreme Court ruling would have on the Compassion Center, as he’s seen bans in other states that didn’t have much of an effect.

“I’ve been in other places [in the U.S.] where they pass laws and say people can’t do this, or they can’t do that, but it really doesn’t stop them from doing that,” Holloway said. “I don’t think it’s going to stop them here, either. People are people, and some people are just shelter resistant no matter how much you try to work with them.”

The Compassion Center, which operates on Roosevelt Road near where the city is planning its Micro Home Village, has about 300 beds. Nearly 100 of those are available most of the time, Holloway said.

The beds are first come, first served. Anyone can request a bed and a meal, Holloway said. Showers and clothing are also available. Stays are typically capped at 30 days, though people can work on a program to stay up to four months.

When asked, Holloway said he wasn’t sure what kind of message the Supreme Court decision could send to local governments. He said he sees both sides of the issue at hand.

In Fayetteville, the nonprofit New Beginnings Northwest Arkansas helps provide resources to the homeless population through temporary housing, securing identification documents and finding employment.

“This ruling empowers those who prefer the ‘pointless and expensive strategy’ to criminalize homelessness instead of working toward humane housing and service solutions,” the organization posted on social media Friday. “We will continue to serve and support people who need housing while advocating for humane, permanent solutions to end homelessness in our society.”

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