Jenny Ridyard, 51, is a client services specialist at 7Hills Homeless Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Before she spent her days helping the homeless population in Northwest Arkansas, she was homeless for seven months in the city. She lived in the woods with her husband, and her only true possessions were a tent and the clothes on her back.

Now, she lives on a base salary from 7Hills, and her husband earns disability money. Those two income paths combined with saving have allowed her to stake a claim in the middle class, but she was formerly at the lowest level of poverty.

“When I first moved into my apartment after getting hired, it was such a weird feeling,” Ridyard said. “I didn’t feel comfortable, because it seemed like it could all go away again.”

The percentage of impoverished workers in Washington County is noticeably higher than that in other Arkansas counties, according to data collected from the U.S. Census. Before Ridyard’s financial situation improved, she and her husband lived as one of the 11.4 percent that live in Washington County and work in poverty.

“We have Walmart, Tyson, J.B. Hunt,” Ridyard said. “There’s no reason why we don’t have the resources to help (homeless people).”

While poverty encompasses more than just the homeless population, the two can be comparable in the poverty conversation.

Washington County’s median household income is $45,442, according to the U.S. Census. That’s slightly more than the national average, but it’s still less than what the common Arkansan might think considering the area is seen as somewhat of an economic hub. As the median income increases, the percentage of people living in poverty decreases, according to the same statistics.

For a time, Ridyard was among the 10.9 percent of impoverished 35 to 64 year olds living in Washington County.

In Washington County, whites make up the fewest percentage of people in poverty. The black population makes up the most.

Ridyard does not have children, but across the board, the number of single mothers in poverty far exceeds that of the average person.

“I still feel like I can relate to them,” Ridyard said. “I don’t want for anything. I need what I need, but I don’t want. I know what it’s like to have nothing.”

The number of impoverished in Northwest Arkansas is higher than the national average, and the statistics back that up. Ridyard is no longer a part of that group, but she lived in an extreme form of poverty for an extended period of time.