New Beginnings NWA offers medical respite care for people without housing

When patients are released from the hospital, they’re often given a care plan — a path toward recovery. But for those who are experiencing homelessness, that path toward recovery can be nearly impossible to follow.

They have no safe place to rest and heal.

But that’s where New Beginnings NWA, a unique village located just outside of Fayetteville, comes in.

New Beginnings Bridge Housing Community is a collection of tiny homes that provides people without housing with a safe place to rest, recover, and take the next step toward stability.

Beyond being a place to stay and recover, the community offers a place to grow and reconnect.

Solomon Burchfield, executive director of New Beginnings, says even the land itself tells a story of transformation.

“Formerly, this was a place where about 90 to 100 people with no housing camped,” Burchfield explained. “Because it was an unsupported camp, it had a lot of problems, including trash and violence. When we were able to purchase the land and open New Beginnings, we wanted to come full circle and repurpose the land for people without housing — but do it right this time.”

That meant designing a community with people, not for them. Residents help create the rules, elect their own council, and take care of their homes and each other.

The community’s average resident has experienced homelessness for nearly a decade. New Beginnings provides shelter and a renewed sense of responsibility, structure, and belonging — a place where individuals can focus on their goals, health, and future.

And now, thanks to support from the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas, that support has expanded to include medical respite care — a critical but often overlooked need for people experiencing homelessness.

One such resident is Neil, who came to New Beginnings after being hospitalized with a life-threatening condition.

Rebecca Pittillo and others ceremoniously cut the ribbon
at the New Beginnings NWA grounds.

“I was homeless, went to the hospital — I was almost on my deathbed,” he shared. “I couldn’t afford an apartment. They helped me out. I would probably be in the grave if it weren’t for them. I just want to thank them all.”

Burchfield said the idea for a medical respite home was met with immediate support from residents.

“It was an enthusiastic, unanimous yes,” he said. “Everyone’s known someone who had to get out of the hospital and recover in a tent. Or someone who ended up back in the hospital because their wound got infected. Now, we have a place where they can recover safely and work on their larger goals.”

The Blue & You Foundation was proud to support this work through a grant that made the respite house possible.

“Our mission is to improve the health of all Arkansans — and when we say all, we mean it,” said Rebecca Pittillo, president of the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas. “This project screams that. Under the social determinants of health, we look for innovation. Solomon and his team looked at this problem with new eyes and new solutions, and they’ve made it happen.

“It’s been said more than once, but this project is scalable,” Pittillo said. “It needs to happen across the state, not just in Washington County.”

At New Beginnings, healing is a community effort — one that proves when people are supported with dignity and purpose, they can begin again.

Learn more about New Beginnings and how you can get involved at newbeginningsnwa.org.