The organization was originally founded in March 2021 under the name Northwest Arkansasworkforce housing center, but recently underwent a rebranding process and has officially changed its name to Groundwork.
Incubated at the Northwest Arkansas Council with support from the Walton Family Foundation, Groundwork focused on addressing housing accessibility in Benton and Washington counties in Northwest Arkansas. Over the last five years, the region has seen an exponential rise in housing cost, fueled by a rapid population increase, elevated construction costs, and ultimately the underproduction of homes.
“In the earliest stages of building anything — homes, awareness, consensus — we lay the
Groundwork,” said Isabel Gamarra, director of communications and advocacy. “The name change reflects the true nature of our organization. We are building today what the future of Northwest Arkansas will look like and see our organization as the foundation and voice for that work in the community.”
In addition, Groundwork also announced the launch of their community focused campaign #FutureIsNow, an educational campaign aimed at raising awareness and support for housing issues within the NWA region.
Through outreach at community-based events, and a formal marketing placements, #FutureisNow will help educate NWA residents, elected leaders and business executives on the many factors that affecting housing prices, and what external factors need to change to make housing more affordable in the region. The ultimate goal is to garner support for additional and different types of housing.