A little over a year ago efforts were launched to create the ECHO Village on Passion Play Road. Its mission is “to create a model, sustainable, cooperative community of small homes where all residents not only live happily together, but thrive by serving and loving each other.”
The ECHO Village grew out of the need seen at the free ECHO Clinic founded by Dr. Dan Bell and Suzie Bell.
“To me, it is just a part of the big picture of health,” Suzie Bell said. “You have to be stable physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to be healthy. If you are constantly worried about your housing situation, that is not good for your mental health.”
Today that dream of providing affordable housing in Eureka Springs has come to fruition with eight houses completed. Three families have moved in and three more are in the process of moving in. The newest tenants are a family from Honduras who were living in their Honda Accord prior to finding a home at the ECHO Village.
“They were in that first caravan from Honduras,” Bell said. “They walked through two countries with their three-year-old daughter all the way to Texas. So, they were not in that group where the family separation started. They have completed their paperwork for asylum, and have court dates set.”
The father of the family has a job in Fayetteville, but they were unable to get any apartment in Fayetteville because they couldn’t get a U.S. driver’s license and apartment management required one.
“They were pretty desperate,” Bell said. “As it turned out, one of our original tenants cancelled, so we had that house empty. They came up on a Friday afternoon. And in three hours, we turned that empty house into a home. You should have seen the look on their faces when we brought them in and showed them the house. We didn’t have a bed for the little girl the first night, so I brought my blow-up mattress, and she was just beside herself with joy. She kept saying in Spanish, ‘My bed! My bed!’ They are just the kindest hardworking people.”
Many, many volunteers, both local and from others areas of the country, have worked on building the homes. People have also generously donated money, furniture, dishes and other things needed to furnish a home.
“It is unbelievable how kind everyone has been,” Suzie said.
All the completed homes are expected to be occupied by the end of July.
“There is this gigantic collective sigh of relief,” she said. “It has been such a hard, hard journey. It was a very difficult winter. We were out there every day in the bitter cold and the mud. It was pretty miserable for many days. But this is so rewarding to see the joy on people’s faces and to know that the community came together to make this happen. This wasn’t two people, but literally a village that made this happen.”
The help can go beyond providing a home. For example, one of the tenants is a single mother with two little boys who is going to school to become an x-ray technician. The family is moving into the house donated by the local Methodist Church. The woman is working as a waitress, but will have to quit that job when she does her clinical rotation.
“The Methodists are going to help, including nurturing and taking care of those kids, doing all the things that need to be done to make her successful so she can graduate,” Suzie said. “Those little boys were just besides themselves when they came to the house and saw their bedrooms. They couldn’t contain themselves. They were bouncing up and down. Their home is a transitional home with a maximum occupancy of 18 months. They figure that is enough time for someone to their life in order and get up on their feet. So, there will be another family coming in after that.”
The site that was rocky, muddy and uneven during construction has been transformed. Roads have been overlaid with crushed limestone, landscaping has been installed around the homes, and a chicken house has been erected.
“Jerry Landrum has been instrumental in turning the yards into a lovely, manicured residential area,” Bell said. “He got mulch and shredded leaves from Berryville Public Works. Jerry has hauled trailer load after trailer load. Then youth groups helped him unload that.”
Plans are to build 26 homes total. Bell is currently working on a grant that she hopes will allow them to complete the rest of the homes. The grant is for veteran housing.
“Landing this grant would be a huge, huge thing,” Bell said. “Then we could get a contractor and move this thing along. There are so many people who need help and it just breaks your heart. I think if I could wave a magic wand and create 100 houses, I could fill them. People should not have to struggle so much and worry about where to live, whether you can eat decent food, pay a medical bill, or make major repairs to your car. There is a way we can take care of people and do it in a way that is loving and caring.”
The public is invited to the grand opening and official ribbon cutting August 3 at 5:30 p.m.
“We’re calling it Burgers and Beer,” Bell said. “We are going to grill burgers, have music, celebrate and invite people to come to the ECHO Village and look at the homes.”