A three-day-long pilgrimage from Bentonville to Fayetteville to raise awareness about homelessness is underway. The walk, organized by the Fayetteville nonprofit New Beginnings, started this morning and is scheduled to make it to Walker Park in Fayetteville around 3:30 Saturday afternoon. Solomon Burchfield, executive director of New Beginnings, says the walk’s route is simple and direct.
Burchfield: We’re going to start on the Razorback Greenway in Bentonville. We’re going to look south and we’re going to walk for three days. And along the way, we’re highlighting that this is a regional issue, just like the Razorback Greenway ties us all together.
Along the way, we’re also sharing simple meals. We’re having discussions, times of reflection. So it’s really a space to kind of think about ourselves, connect to our neighbors without homes and then imagine what kind of world we can build together at the end.
Kellams: Along the way, I imagine a lot of people use the Razorback Greenway. A lot of people might not know what’s happening. This is a way to also bring awareness to people who might not be aware.
Burchfield: I think probably in our metro area of 600,000-some-odd people, the vast majority of folks don’t understand just how homelessness is growing. I hope that as we walk, people will stop us and go, “Hey, aren’t you all the people that are walking to raise awareness to end homelessness in Northwest Arkansas?”
We’re going to have some green T-shirts on that say “Walk Together,” so you’ll know it’s us. We’d love to talk, share stories, educate people and then invite more people to join us.
Kellams: Well, you have some people walking along who do have homes but want to talk and support.
Burchfield: It’s a mix of people. So we have about 10 folks who are alumni of New Beginnings support. That means they’ve been chronically homeless in our community. Today, they have homes and are stable and are willing to share their story in this way.
We also have a crew of other people. We’ve got pastors, small business owners, retirees, builders. It’s going to take all of us to end homelessness. And so we’re kind of including everybody in doing this walk together.
Kellams: Saturday, approximately 3:30 at Walker Park, then on to New Beginnings for that last mile, really looking for people to come along there.
Burchfield: Absolutely. It’s a good metaphor to try to end the journey as one big community. So you are invited, everybody here. You can join us at 3:30 at Walker Park on Saturday, Oct. 17. The pilgrims will start trickling in about 3 or 3:30. And then we’re going to walk together the final mile and have a huge community meal.
Kellams: This is a great vehicle for raising awareness. How can this then, over months, sort of help ease chronic homelessness?
Burchfield: Absolutely. As we build awareness, we also are raising funds. So each person walking has their own little individual peer fundraising profile on our event page, and that’s how we raise funds to keep New Beginnings going.
Our belief is that all of our neighbors, even those without homes, belong in community with us. And so we’ve developed neighborhoods that help people get off the street and neighborhoods where people can live and thrive long term. And the funds that we raise during this walk will help continue those supports available in Northwest Arkansas.
Kellams: Looks like finally the heat breaks in time for this pilgrimage. There is some suggestion of rain.
Burchfield: We’re happy to have the weather cool off a little bit. And as of today, it looks like during the walking times we’re not going to get rained on. But you know what? If it rains, we’re going to put up with that hardship, because that’s just a taste of what our neighbors experience on a daily basis.
We’re doing this to stand up for the dignity of all human beings, all of our neighbors. We think that once you meet someone and connect with someone as another human in that shared humanity, that we can no longer be indifferent. We change how we live personally. We change how our institutions, like our congregations, respond. We change how we respond politically, to organize life together in a way that has a home and support for everyone.
So this pilgrimage is more than just taking on a physical hardship. We really want to catalyze our community into taking new action to build homes, to offer support, to include people with homeless backgrounds in our communal life.
Kellams: Solomon Burchfield is executive director of New Beginnings. The pilgrimage began this morning in Bentonville and is scheduled to make it to Walker Park in Fayetteville about 3:30 Saturday afternoon. More about the walk can be found atnewbeginningsnwa.org. We spoke yesterday in the Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio.
Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
