Welcome to a Home for Hope

Two and a half years after ground was broken on an abandoned brownfield next to the Arkansas River, Heifer International's new World Headquarters was dedicated in a March 16 celebration that included the renowned Soweto Gospel Choir, noted economist Jeffrey D.Sachs and former President Bill Clinton, whose presidential library stands next door.

President Clinton praised Heifer's more than 60 years of work helping the hungry by saying, "You have to have a world with more partners and fewer enemies - and one by one, that's what Heifer does."

Sachs, author of the best-selling book, "The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time," said at the ceremony that ending world poverty by 2025 is "an achievable goal."

The opening of the four-story, 94,000-sq.-ft. office building accomplishes the first phase of a three-phase development of the 33-acre Heifer International Center campus, which will eventually include an educational facility, the Polly Murphy and Christoph Keller Jr. Education Center, and a Global Village to educate the public about pragmatic solutions to hunger and poverty here and abroad.

Jo Luck, President and CEO of Heifer International, borrowed a line from the children's television host Mr. Rogers by commenting on Heifer's proximity to the Clinton Presidential Center. "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood," she said.

Others on the program included Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey, Senior Vice President and Corporate Director of Community Development for Regions Financial Corp. and Heifer board chair Charles Stewart of Little Rock, as well as a number of local religious leaders, including The Rev. Christoph Keller III of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Little Rock, Rabbi Eugene Levy of Temple B'Nai Israel, United Methodist Bishop Charles Crutchfield, and Deacon Bo McAllister of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock.

Following the dedication ceremony, the building was open for tours featuring its many "green" elements - recycled and recyclable materials, soybean and cotton insulation, solar lighting and heating for energy efficiency, an innovative parking lot that collects water for a constructed wetlands surrounding the building, and a 25,000-gallon municipal water tower that collects water from the roof for use flushing toilets and in the building's radiant heating system.