Ben Goodwin

Ben Goodwin knew his calling from childhood, but he found its path at the University of Oxford, the oldest center of higher learning in the English-speaking world.

Born into a Christian home in Conway and awarded a math degree at Hendrix College up the street, Goodwin “was fortunate enough to receive a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford,” where a second bachelor’s degree in philosophy and economics opened his mind and heart.

“I mustered the resolve to do something to help make the world a better place, to try to solve problems, not necessarily at a nonprofit, but somewhere mission-focused.”

Now, as executive director of Our House, serving the homeless and near-homeless, he heads an organization helping 3,000 people a year and employing about 100, working with more than 500 volunteers. “It’s a comprehensive program designed to build pathways out of homelessness for anyone willing to do the hard work of transforming their lives,” said Goodwin, who joined Our House as grant manager 10 years ago and took over as director in 2017.

He “got a strong taste of the trauma and uncertainty that many low-income people experience” when his daughter, Ruby, was born at 24 weeks’ gestation and spent six months in the neonatal intensive care unit at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. The child’s recovery powered his “heart for service, desire for impact” and support for struggling families.

During his tenure, Our House has quintupled its annual operating budget to more than $3 million and raised $6 million to build a new Children’s Center and renovated Career Center. Other additions include a homelessness prevention program that increased client load fivefold, and a threefold expansion of state-licensed children’s programs. “We really have high expectations for the people we serve. We believe they can go from homelessness to a life where they power their own dreams. But they need support. People connect with that lofty vision.”

Goodwin said Our House also crunches the numbers. “We’re zealously focused on measuring the impact of what we do. It’s not easy, and we haven’t figured it all out, but we put a lot of energy into tracking data and taking seriously what the data tells us.”

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