Searcy,Ark.,(LP) — Jacob’s Place is the largest homeless shelter in White County, housing 125 homeless families since it opened in 2008. It provides shelter and an array of financial, job counseling, and life skills to the people there. Jacob’s Place is kept open by donations from churches, organizations, individuals, and fundraisers. The main purpose of Jacob’s Place is to help families with children, by letting them stay there for as long as they need to get a job, a place to live, and other things essential for living. The people that work at Jacob’s Place are all volunteers that don’t receive compensation. Anyone over eighteen years of age can volunteer and do activities like cleaning, doing arts and crafts, mentoring, counseling, and studying the Bible. In the office, volunteers answer the phone and take messages, recording the donations to Jacob’s Place, and making sure that Jacob’s Place clients check in and out when entering and leaving.
Past President at Jacob’s Place, Al Fowler, gives crucial information about what he does to help out at Jacob’s Place. He states, “I serve on the Board of Trustees of Directors and I volunteer at different events. I am responsible for managing money, hiring the director, and making sure it is nonprofit.” Also on the Board of Directors, there is Mat Faulkner-the President, Mark Carson- the Vice President, Phyllis B. Worley – the President Elect,Beth Evans -the Secretary, and Hannah Mitchell -the Treasurer, Jami Bever,-LMSW,Matt Boyd, John Byrd, Catherine Guyot, Teresa Mercer, Josiah Smelser, Noel Whitlock. Members of the Board of Directors, for short, ensure that someone is in the Jacob’s Place office twenty-four hours a day, control the maintenance of the office and shelter, and who comes to Jacob’s Place to receive help. The Advisory Board, made up of Calvin Foster, Phil McGrath, and William Gant, does the same things as the Board of Directors, except for hiring the director and maintenance of the house.
Jacob’s Place has been a helpful environment for those in need. It has helped 165 families and 230 children get homes, have happiness, and feel loved.
