Hundreds of people in need visited a one-stop shop for food, supplies and medical services in Fayetteville Tuesday.
The HOPE 2012 event brings together dozens of volunteers to provide the homeless, veterans and others with things they can't normally afford, says Kevin Fitzpatrick, who holds the Jones Chair in Community in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas.
"We want people to be able to come to one spot, and get as many services as they can get in a single day," he says. "People are having an opportunity to see an eye doctor, see a podiatrist, a lawyer, a dental hygienist, and get a flu shot... They get a meal, they get their hair cut."
Fitzpatrick says he's studied Fayetteville's homeless population since 2007.
"We know what their needs are," he says. "We know that medical, and legal and personal care kinds of needs that's a big gap for them."
Fitzpatrick says his role is to bring together groups that can fill those gaps.
"We organize the community around serving," he says. "It really is about partnership and one thing we've learned is we can get so much more accomplished when pull together than if we try to do it on our own."
Optometrist Nick Banks stepped out of his office, and into a world he doesn't normally see.
"It shows you another side of it," he says. "There are people out there that do need quite a bit of help."
Banks spent the morning handing out reading glasses at the event.
"I like to relate to people," he says. "(They're) all very good people, hard times have come on some of them and they're doing the best they can."
Trip Lapham and other members of the Arkansas Combat Veteran's Motorcycle Association also volunteered at the event, showing people around and doing some heavy lifting.
"We were surprised to find out one how many homeless there are in Northwest Arkansas cause you normally think of this as an affluent area," he says. "A big percentage are veterans."
Veterans Affairs set up a room to make sure the vets are signed up for benefits, and even offered housing assistance.
"Our organization exists as vet's supporting veterans so we do a lot of events like this," Lapham says. "Veterans have unique issues, if they're coming back from combat, or just from being deployed anywhere and trying to reintegrate into the civilian community."
Fitzpatrick says the VA Stand Down event inspired the HOPE program.
"The original design actually actually was for the veteran population," he says. "As this grew, and our vision grew we could see that we could be serving a lot more than just veterans."
People like Kevin Smisek, who moved to Fayetteville seven years ago.
"I like the area," he says. "I'm living in a tent in the woods."
Smisek got a new pair of glasses before heading over to get a checkup from the doctor and podiatrist.
"These are things that I'm not able to pay for and so it helps a lot," he says. "Usually what happens when you get sick is you hope it gets better, and if it don't you go to the ER room, which is a huge waste of resources."
He says there are plenty of others in the woods in the same situation.
"A lot of them need care," he says. "I just think it's really great that there's people that do this, too bad it's once a year."
Fitzpatrick agrees.
"We need more of these kinds of events," he says. "One a year is not going to do it, it's not going to fill the gap... We're the richest country in this world, and we've got millions of people that are on the street or in shelters who don't have a place of their own. It's an American tragedy."
The HOPE 2012 event brings together dozens of volunteers to provide the homeless, veterans and others with things they can't normally afford, says Kevin Fitzpatrick, who holds the Jones Chair in Community in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas.
"We want people to be able to come to one spot, and get as many services as they can get in a single day," he says. "People are having an opportunity to see an eye doctor, see a podiatrist, a lawyer, a dental hygienist, and get a flu shot... They get a meal, they get their hair cut."
Fitzpatrick says he's studied Fayetteville's homeless population since 2007.
"We know what their needs are," he says. "We know that medical, and legal and personal care kinds of needs that's a big gap for them."
Fitzpatrick says his role is to bring together groups that can fill those gaps.
"We organize the community around serving," he says. "It really is about partnership and one thing we've learned is we can get so much more accomplished when pull together than if we try to do it on our own."
Optometrist Nick Banks stepped out of his office, and into a world he doesn't normally see.
"It shows you another side of it," he says. "There are people out there that do need quite a bit of help."
Banks spent the morning handing out reading glasses at the event.
"I like to relate to people," he says. "(They're) all very good people, hard times have come on some of them and they're doing the best they can."
Trip Lapham and other members of the Arkansas Combat Veteran's Motorcycle Association also volunteered at the event, showing people around and doing some heavy lifting.
"We were surprised to find out one how many homeless there are in Northwest Arkansas cause you normally think of this as an affluent area," he says. "A big percentage are veterans."
Veterans Affairs set up a room to make sure the vets are signed up for benefits, and even offered housing assistance.
"Our organization exists as vet's supporting veterans so we do a lot of events like this," Lapham says. "Veterans have unique issues, if they're coming back from combat, or just from being deployed anywhere and trying to reintegrate into the civilian community."
Fitzpatrick says the VA Stand Down event inspired the HOPE program.
"The original design actually actually was for the veteran population," he says. "As this grew, and our vision grew we could see that we could be serving a lot more than just veterans."
People like Kevin Smisek, who moved to Fayetteville seven years ago.
"I like the area," he says. "I'm living in a tent in the woods."
Smisek got a new pair of glasses before heading over to get a checkup from the doctor and podiatrist.
"These are things that I'm not able to pay for and so it helps a lot," he says. "Usually what happens when you get sick is you hope it gets better, and if it don't you go to the ER room, which is a huge waste of resources."
He says there are plenty of others in the woods in the same situation.
"A lot of them need care," he says. "I just think it's really great that there's people that do this, too bad it's once a year."
Fitzpatrick agrees.
"We need more of these kinds of events," he says. "One a year is not going to do it, it's not going to fill the gap... We're the richest country in this world, and we've got millions of people that are on the street or in shelters who don't have a place of their own. It's an American tragedy."
