A program of Knox County Homeless Coalition

The first 15 months of the new Hospitality House homeless shelter

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 7:45pm

Though Hospitality House has been around for a very long time, Knox County Homeless Coalition is running the operation in a very different way than ever before. The board and staff thought it important to communicate our approach, our successes in the 15 months we've been operational and our commitment to delivering care and support to those in need with respect and dignity—always.

Hospitality House re‐opened as a homeless shelter on Feb. 6, 2014, as a brand new program of Knox County Homeless Coalition.

Knox County Homeless Coalition delivers intensive case management, wraparound programming and shelter for homeless clients with respect, dignity and caring. Our staff works to eliminate barriers to independence in an effort to bring people back to productive, sustainable lives. Hospitality House is our family shelter—providing shelter and support services to families, women and single mothers. We have additional shelter in the area in the form of hotel rooms and apartments that accommodate other scenarios.

In the 15 months we have been operating our case management and shelter services, we have moved 172 people into independent housing including 90 children. We have helped a total of 660 people between shelter, case management and various forms of support and programming.

The Hospitality House of today provides caring supervised shelter and is staffed 24/7. All residents are free to use Hospitality House as “their home.” They are free to stay and work on their goals, use our on‐site computer resource lab to access educational, career and housing resources, or simply cook a meal for their hospitality house “family.”

When driving down Old County Road in Rockport, you will see families and children outside enjoying the Cedarworks swing set. You will see groups of church volunteers planting vegetable seeds soon. You may see mother and child on the porch swing.

When a new client arrives, their room is made up with fresh clean colorful linens and towels and a feeling of home. A card signed by our staff is placed on their pillow, welcoming them to the house, letting them know we're glad they are here, and that we are “here” for them with support and caring.

Transportation is provided as much as possible for access to jobs, healthcare, learning and life enrichment.

The Knox County Homeless Coalition board, staff, mission and values represent a completely new team and approach to breaking the cycle of homelessness.

Our sincere thanks to this community for the wonderful outpouring of generous support that has allowed us to make a difference for so many in such a short time.

For any further information, please contact Stephanie Primm, executive director, at 593-8151 or sprimm@homehelphope.org.