Northwest Arkansas Childrens Shelter

Archives for August 2019

Charter school in Northwest Arkansas for kids in trauma favored

Jake Gibbs, Education Director, and Maury Peterson, Executive Director of the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter watch Tuesday, August 13, in Little Rock as their charter school application is approved by the Charter Authorizing Panel. – Photo by John Sykes Jr. Story by Cynthia Howell, Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Hope Academy of Northwest Arkansas Charter Approved

The Arkansas Charter Authorizing Panel has approved an open-enrollment charter school to be housed on the campus of the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter (NWACS). Hope Academy of Northwest Arkansas is designed to serve children who have experienced significant childhood trauma. It will be the first of its kind in Arkansas and one of the first […]

Jenny

Jenny fought her whole life to be free of abuse and neglect. She finally escaped that world and arrived at the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter where she immediately began to thrive.

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Meet Jenny

Jenny fought her whole life to be free of abuse and neglect. She finally escaped that world and arrived at the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter where she immediately began to thrive. For the first time in 17 years, she imagined living a normal life just like every other high school student. This included a wish to go to high school prom.

Casey, her case manager during her stay at the Children’s Shelter, shares:

“My heart is filled with so much joy! I got the privilege to go to prom with one of my kiddos from the shelter. No, it wasn’t a typical prom situation, but when a kiddo finally escapes abuse for the first time in 17 years, we do all we can to make it a perfect night for her. She is strong, resilient, courageous, unique, ambitious and unassuming. She inspires me and she is one of the million reasons I will never stop fighting for these kids. Prom night was a sweet reminder that no matter how many hard days we have to face, these special moments make every single hard day completely worth it. If these kiddos can endure years and years of abuse, then we can endure an infinite number of hard days. We have to, because they need us.”

Casey Krisell, Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter Case Manager

I’m glad to have a place that has food, water, clothes, beds, and, most of all, electricity.

Brianne, age 12

The best thing that I love about the Shelter is the acceptance. No matter where any of us came from, we are accepted here.

Melanie, age 15

The Shelter is a perfect placement for all ages. It’s a safe place where all of my needs were met so I could spend more time on things I needed to work on – like graduating! The Shelter helped me so much!

Danielle, age 16