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A Blount County Family Promise program should open its doors in mid-June.

A local group of volunteers has been working to establish a network, based on the national Family Promise program, that would allow local churches to provide overnight accommodations and meals for homeless families on a rotating basis.

Efforts have begun progressing rapidly with the signing of a lease for a day center with Green Meadow United Methodist Church, 1633 Louisville Road in Alcoa, and the hiring of a new executive director.

The Blount County Family Promise Board of Directors chose Mandy Stinnett Adkins as the first executive director for the local program. "I'm all excited because I know there is a need for Family Promise in Blount County," Adkins said.

"I have told her 110 times 'welcome aboard,'" Board President Susan Hughes added. "She is a go-getter. She's already making things happen."

Adkins is a graduate of Maryville High School. She has a background in social work, previously working at an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center for pregnant women, in an inner city hospital in Great Britain, and as a volunteer and community service coordinator for the local chapter of the American Red Cross.

"The director position at Family Promise is a culmination of all of these experiences," she wrote in an introductory e-mail. "I am thrilled to be part of such a worthy cause and exceptional organization. I am excited about working with each of you to make the vision of an interfaith hospitality network a reality for the homeless families in Blount County."

Base of operations

Green Meadow United Methodist Church will give families a place to stay during the day while they look for housing and work. The location will serve as a day center to provide a stable telephone number, mailing address and a base of operations for participants.

The church community has agreed to make $17,000 in modifications to the facility, including the installation of separate showers, to serve as a day center. Foothills Contracting is making the renovations.

The churches that have agreed to participate so far are Maryville First United Methodist, Friendsville First Baptist, Sycamore Tree United Methodist, Fairview United Methodist, Carpenter's Campground United Methodist, First Baptist Church of Maryville, St. Andrew's Episcopal, St. Paul Lutheran Church and Monte Viste Baptist Church. Two more churches are finalizing arrangements to participate.

There are several support churches, whose members have agreed to provide volunteer and other support to the program, as well: Broadway United Methodist Church, Embassy Christian Center, Highland Presbyterian Church, New Providence Presbyterian Church, Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Peck's Memorial United Methodist Church, and St. John United Methodist Church.

52-day average stay

If 13 churches participated, each church would host from three to five families for a week each quarter. Budgets for each church would be between $200 and $250 each week.

The average stay for families in Family Promise programs nationwide is 52 days.

Ideally, the families are in the program for no more than three months. The families are required to seek employment and housing. Not working toward independence means termination from the program. Families are referred to Family Promise through the school systems, social services and various nonprofit organizations.

There is a shelter in Blount County that serves men and women separately, but there is no place that takes families as a whole. Family Promise would allow families to stay together.