Northwest Arkansas Childrens Shelter

Our Board

Board of Directors

Will Hanna

Director of Operations, Hanna Family Ranch

Amy Merryman

Manager, Whitaker Properties

Brent Campbell

CFO, Jumpstart Foundry

Chris Lamson

Board Vice President and Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy & General Manager Breeder’s Choice, Central Garden and Pet

Dr. Curt Hedberg

Physician, Hedberg Allergy & Asthma Center

Dustin Colebank

Board Treasurer and First Vice President, Morgan-Stanley Wealth Management

Emily Reynolds

Board President and Legal Counsel, Walmart

Jeff Spillyards

Senior Associate Counsel, Walmart

Lori Collins

Community Volunteer

Mary Zettle

Director of Sales, General Mills

State Sen. Bart Hester

Arkansas State Senator, District 1

Steve Bratspies

Chief Merchandising Officer, Walmart

Tony Rogers

Chief Member Officer, Sam’s Club

Van Bakke

Board Secretary and Vice President Sales/Operations, Walmart Team PepsiCo

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.

Read more about JennyImpact stories

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

Thank you for never giving up on me when I was lost.

Rachel, age 17

I love it here because I feel safe. The staff are here for me when I need them. Plus, I got to go to a Razorback game!

Jesse, age 11

While at the Shelter, I went from an 8th grade math level to almost a 12th grade level. I’m pretty proud of that.

Tasha, age 17