About
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
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Shaneka Hamilton is the visionary Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lula Mae’s Day Center, a community-focused organization dedicated to supporting individuals experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Inspired by the enduring compassion and legacy of her mother, Lula Mae Baker-Hamilton, she leads with a mission grounded in dignity, compassion, and empowerment, demonstrating unwavering dedication to creating pathways toward stability, independence, and hope for every individual served.
A graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Shaneka earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and a Master’s Degree in Addiction Studies. She later continued her education at Walden University, where she obtained her Master’s in Social Work, building a strong foundation in trauma-informed care, community mental health, and supportive services.
Shaneka began her professional journey in 2009 with the Arkansas Department of Human Services, serving families facing complex challenges. She then devoted eight years to United Family Services, Inc., working closely with at-risk youth and families. During these years, she witnessed significant gaps in support for individuals experiencing homelessness and recognized the urgent need for compassionate, resource-centered solutions.
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Driven by faith and a deep calling to serve, she founded Lula Mae’s Day Center to meet that need. Under her leadership, the center has grown into a safe and supportive hub offering meals, case management, employment readiness, education, life-skills training, outreach services, housing, and financial assistance. Shaneka is dedicated to ensuring that every individual who walks through the door is met with dignity, respect, and genuine care.
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Shaneka remains committed to expanding the center’s programs, strengthening partnerships, and advocating for underserved populations across the region. Her long-term vision includes increasing transitional and long-term housing opportunities, expanding workforce readiness programs, and strengthening supportive services in Pine Bluff — ensuring that Lula Mae’s Day Center continues to be a beacon of hope, stability, and transformation for generations to come.
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“Everyone deserves a safe place to land and a fair chance to rise again. At Lula Mae’s Day Center, we stand beside each person with hope, compassion, and unwavering support.”
— Shaneka Hamilton
Executive Summary
Formed in December 2018, Lula Mae’s Day Center’s (LMDC) located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in Jefferson County is a 501(c) 3. Striving to serve as a positive force in the development of the neighboring community. One of its missions is to promote outreach programs and services to empower individuals and families, with the objective to physically, financially, socially, and psychologically develop the neighboring area and serve as an educational/recreational resource in the community. Lula Mae’s Day Center’s (LMDC) located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas (Jefferson County), is striving to be a well-known community organization.
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Lula Mae’s Day Center’s (LMDC) offers a wide-range of programs such as nutritious hot breakfast & lunch, Crisis Intervention, Resource Linkage/Supportive Services, Adult Literacy Education, ​ Transitional Housing, Recreational Activities that targets welfare-to-work families, at-risk youth, ex-offenders and substance abusers for the purpose of empowering them to become self-sufficient.
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LMDC’s goals are (1) to sustain a secure, educational/recreational resource center through after-school and cultural enrichment, mentoring and development activities, (2) to develop personal efficacy skills, self-control strategies and future orientation knowledge in order to reduce homeless, and incarnation rate (3) to offer life and job skills training and seminars to reduce the reliance of disadvantaged families on government benefits and (4) to provide family conferences and workshops to strengthen family units and preserve and encourage healthy lifestyles. LMDC currently embarks on these goals through: (1) Self-Care, literacy and job training classes, workshops and that promote heathy living, wellness and good self-esteem as keys for success, (2) financial seminars on checkbook maintenance, debt and credit repair, stocks and investments, mortgage comprehension for self-sufficiency, (3) interviewing and resume workshops to develop job readiness in order to reduce governmental dependencies, (4) community service outreach efforts to build esteem and community value, (5) leadership-mentoring development programs to increase accountability and personal efficacy and (7) job, college and health fairs to provide networking and opportunities for future career stability.
Participants in the LMDC programs gain knowledge of the importance of good Life Skills while benefiting from becoming skilled at demonstrating a positive Mindset and being trained to seek opportunities that Develop and lead to strategies that change economic disadvantage patterns that enables a Consistent quality of life as well as a self-sufficient life style.
