No Kid Sleeps on the Floor in Our Town! | Sleep in Heavenly Peac

We are thrilled to announce that Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP), has been awarded it’s third grant from the UNFoundation in the amount of $2,000!

SHP is on a mission to ensure that no child sleeps on the floor in our community. Through volunteer-driven efforts, they build and deliver beds to children in need, transforming lives and strengthening families.

With this grant, SHP will expand its reach, providing more children with the essential comfort and dignity of a good night’s sleep. This investment will directly impact the lives of countless children in Chattanooga, fostering healthier, happier, and more productive futures.

We are proud to support SHP's incredible work and look forward to seeing the positive impact this grant will have on the community.

Child and Family Enrichment | Chattanooga Room in the Inn

We proudly announce our $3,000 October grant to Chattanooga Room in the Inn (CRITI), a vital organization providing temporary shelter and support services to women and children experiencing homelessness. Our grant will directly impact the lives of shelter residents by supporting them through education, health, and well-being initiatives. How, exactly? We’ll tell ya.

• Therapeutic Activities: Art supplies, sensory and mindfulness toys, as well as workbooks $515

• Local Adventures: Creative Discovery Museum, Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, Rock City $500

• Tutoring Supplies $245

• Outside Talent: yoga instructors, ceramists, dance instructors $500

• Extracurricular activities: sports, dance, gymnastics, and spring, fall, and summer camps. $1,240

CRITI invests in the family as a whole. More healthy, confident, self-sufficient families in Chattanooga benefit local schools and workplaces and hopefully inspire families to spend more time together healing. As CRITI families in transition begin to engage in these programs, results should follow quickly.

Healing from trauma takes a village. We’re proud to support CRITI and families experiencing homelessness here in Chattanooga.

Boyd's Community Support | Loftis Middle School

Meet Emetria Boyd, School Social Worker for Loftis Middle School. She supports families by thinking outside the box, meeting them where they are, and taking action. We fueled her action to the tune of $3,000.

How? As a school social worker, she meets with Loftis Middle School students and sometimes hears they have no water or lights at home. Enter our grant funds. Emetria is on the front line and can usually get these utilities back on the same day. She also ensures the family signs up for additional services for continued support. She even sometimes guides family members to find jobs, keeps a food pantry, and also has food gift cards handy. You get the idea.

Our $3,000 went to purchase food gift cards, clothing, gas cards, and financial hardship support that may affect a child’s ability to concentrate and learn. Families benefit immediately. They have been affected by so much including Covid, the loss of jobs, the rising cost of goods, family deaths, grandparents raising grandchildren on a fixed income, and many other situations that require barriers to be removed for students to focus and learn at school.

Back to Work | Re-Wake

With nearly one in three adults in the United States having some sort of criminal conviction, odds are you know somebody who has been convicted of a crime or suffered as a result of someone else's offense.

Re-wake is a non-profit organization that assists families that are justice-involved. What is justice-involved? The term "justice-involved" is used to describe people who have had contact with the criminal justice system, either as a victim, offender, or both. This can include people who have been arrested, charged with a crime, convicted of a crime, incarcerated, or on probation or parole. The term "justice-involved" is often used in place of terms like "criminal" or "felon" because it is seen as more respectful and less stigmatizing. It also recognizes that people who have been involved in the criminal justice system are still human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

So how do they assist these families? With mentoring, counseling, coaching, and wellness. Those who complete the program and become employed will receive a pair of work boots. With our $3,000 grant, they will be able to provide 60 pairs of steel-toe boots to those who are justice-involved entering the workforce.

ICYMI: The founder of Re-Wake is City Council Member Demetrus Coonrod. In 2008, she was a scared returning citizen.  There were no resources available to assist with re-entry into society after she left prison. She found herself alone.  Re-wake was born from her lived experience.  The organization focuses on the whole family to break mental incarceration.

Fall Flu Shot Clinic | Chambliss Center for Children

In these uncertain times, many of us are hyper focused on helping those negatively impacted by COVID. One way we can do that is through supporting the health of our neighbors. More than ever before, front-line workers are on our minds. These families are working so hard but unable to make a living wage and might not have health coverage for the flu shot, or transportation to access the flu shot. Our grant this month went to 120 free flu shots to those served by Chambliss Center for Children.

Not familiar with Chambliss Center for Children? They provide early childhood education and childcare for primarily low-income and single-parent families, foster care for children who have been removed from their homes because of abuse and neglect, and transitional living for teens aging out of foster care. The request for funds to do a free flu shot clinic request delivered on three things that are important to the UNFoundation. It made an immediate impact, it supported a vulnerable part of our community that had a big need, and it could be achieved with just $3,000. 120 shots x $25 = $3,000.