For the past two years, local Springdale nonprofit, Children's Safety Center (CSC), has been in the silent phase of a $12.5m campaign to triple its building footprint.

• Tell me more: The CSC is the first child advocacy center in our area and was created to help prevent further abuse to children during the complex process of investigation, prosecution, and treatments of their situations. The new building will include meeting/conference rooms, therapy rooms, kitchen, storage for donated items, and a medical suite.
• The numbers: In 2020, the center provided services to 672 children, conducted 555 forensic interviews and had 1,683 therapy sessions.

Quote: "The need for services is not slowing down, nor is it going away." - Elizabeth Shackelford, Executive Director.

You can find the full store HERE.

Arkansas’ travel and tourism industry, which had been enjoying more than a decade of growth, posted double-digit percentage declines in 2020. For the months of Jan-Feb 2021, tourism tax revenue was down a whopping 20.5% compared to the same period in 2020.

• How did NWA fair? Warning, these numbers aren't pretty...in terms of the 2% tourism tax collection, Benton County was down nearly (58%) and Washington County was down (37%) compared to Jan-Feb of 2020.
• Northwest Arkansas monthly employment averages for the tourism industry revealed an (8.3%) decline in Jan-Feb 2021 compared to the same period last year - setting NWA back to the winter of 2018 in number of tourism jobs.

If this brief recap wasn't enough, you can find the full industry report HERE.

CACHE Studios - a new artist residency space located off SE 5th Street in Bentonville was recently announced by Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange, an NWA Council endeavor.

• Say more: The studios are a collaborative shared space for NWA based talent to work. The space will be used for "planning and piloting programs to develop local creative talent".
• Cheers: To celebrate, CACHE will host an ART PARTY on May 21 where several local artists and musicians will have a chance to express their creativity.

You can find out more on their website HERE.

Feed People Love People - that's the motto. Early in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic began to set in, three friends in Bentonville took action to bring people together and serve the community.

• So what did they do? Launched in winter of 2020, the group of movers and shakers kicked off Neighbor Night where they serve free food once a week on Thursdays to anyone in the community. Update, they are now serving lunch!
• For the Love brings food and a smile to 250+ people's faces every week. Shoutout to the sponsors who make this positive impact story possible.
• Quote: "People need people" - Melinda Williams, Co-founder, For the Love

You can find the full story HERE.

According to a 2019 study, housing is becoming increasingly inaccessible to many Northwest Arkansas residents. The average home price in NWA increased 11% last year alone. Yesterday, the Walton Family Foundation and Partners for Better Housing took a stand.

• Tell me more: Partners for Better Housing is a regional nonprofit that works to accelerate inclusive economic growth in NWA through new and expanded affordable housing initiatives.
• Yesterday, The Walton Family Foundation announced it will provide a $2 million capacity building grant to help PfBH serve the region’s workers and their families. The grant will be used to hire several full-time staff, consultants, and staff to help with community outreach and stewardship.

You can read more about the positive impact PfBH is having on NWA HERE.