Phillips County library to host free community resource day

Residents looking for help with food, health care and basic paperwork will find it in one place at Phillips County Library, where Arkansas Strong and the library will host a free Community Resource Day Thursday, May 14, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 702 Porter Street in Helena.

The event is open to anyone who wants to attend and is built around services that can make an immediate difference at home. A mobile health unit is scheduled for 1 p.m. Food distribution will follow at 2 p.m., including a drive-through food pickup from the Arkansas Foodbank. Cooking classes are set for 2 to 5 p.m., and help with SNAP, WIC, voter registration and voter status checkups will be available from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Arkansas Strong, a nonprofit that says it shares Arkansas stories and advances The Natural State, is teaming up with the Phillips County Library for the event in downtown Helena, near the Cherry Street Historic District and the Phillips County Courthouse. The location puts the resource day in the civic center of Helena-West Helena, the county seat and largest city in Phillips County.

The gathering also comes with a lighter neighborhood touch. Attendees will be able to register to win grocery gift cards, items from local restaurants, a set of Caraway cookware and other door prizes, adding a community feel to an event centered on practical help.

The timing matters in Phillips County, where families often have to stretch limited time and money across transportation, work schedules and rising bills. Census estimates put the county’s 2024 population at 14,661, down from 16,568 in the 2020 census, while Helena-West Helena was estimated at 8,462 residents in 2024. Feeding America estimated that 22.7% of Phillips County residents were food insecure in 2019, affecting about 4,220 people, with an annual food budget shortfall of $2.17 million.

Health access is part of the need as well. Census data show that 22.0% of Phillips County residents were age 65 and older and 9.9% of residents under 65 lacked health insurance in the 2020-2024 estimates. For a county where food costs, screenings and enrollment help can affect a household’s stability, the resource day offers a practical way to handle several needs in one visit.