Support for this program is provided by the Weldon F Osborne Foundation The Schillhahn-Huskey Foundation And viewers like you Thank you On today's show, our series finale will feature a nonprofit that's committed to bringing solutions and services to families experiencing homelessness.

And we're proud to celebrate four seasons of stories that honor the heart of our region.

We'll talk with WTCI PBS president and CEO Bob Culkeen about the impact of nonprofits in our community.

We're stronger together.

Chattanooga.

So stay tuned.

Welcome to Chattanooga: Stronger Together I'm Barbara Marter.

Joining me now is Bill Rush, CEO of Metropolitan Ministries, where the mission is restoring stability to those facing homelessness.

Bill, thank you so much for coming in to our finale.

Barbara.

Thank you.

You saved the best for last night.

I love that.

That's such an amazing thing.

Like you all you've done.

So thank you for having me.

I just I love highlighting our nonprofit community.

I really do, and helping you to have a stage where you can tell your story and educate our community.

So let's start with Metropolitan Ministries and the why behind it.

Yeah.

So it started in 1979.

The commission, a fiscal commission of southeast Tennessee recognized there was a growing issue around, especially around our seniors and their ability to maintain rent and utilities support.

And some those two basic key and fundamental things that we need in our lives, stability.

And so and then they got into food.

And so they really developed that really well and was housed at the Christ Church, before they moved to McCallie.

And then in 2009, after this great years and lot of super leaders and volunteers and people committed to this, they became their own nonprofit.

And so that continued to go until about 2019.

And, some of them got together, Becky and a team of funders and people in the community said, we need something in this like and, so they bought an old print shop on Rossville Boulevard and, outfitted it to become a place where a hub, a social impact hub, where wraparound services could be provided for people.

Programs could be developed, and we could go deeper into helping, families.

At that time, the thought was to help families maintain and improve their situation in life and keep them house that rent eviction prevention program is still our number one issue.

But, then once we opened the doors after Covid hit, it really do what you thought you were going to do.

But then when we opened the doors in 22, I arrived.

And we also had a new, focus in that was addressing people who are experiencing homelessness and addiction, mental illness.

And so we have, this past year, we've seen over 800 unique individuals who are experiencing homelessness walk through our doors for food, a shower, or, I just someone sometimes it's to listen to them or it's just to be able to sit down, to have a cup of coffee without any fear or worry and just feeling like they belong somewhere.

We all want to belong somewhere, you know?

So yeah.

That's true because, I mean, you see people walking down Chattanooga's streets and, you know, they're homeless and you know that.

But you what, you watch people walk across the street from them, they don't want to have I say hi to them or anything like that.

And that's really sad.

You know, they may not be able to control the situation that they're in, because sometimes you get so deep into that situation, you can't see the light, you can't come out of it.

So I think having someone like Met Min is a place where they can come in and have that coffee and just kind of breathe.

Yeah.

And feel like, you know, I'm not I'm not going to be looked down upon.

I'm not going to be, you know, criticized for anything.

Well, I appreciate that particular comment right there because our, our philosophy at Met Min at the hub, especially in that no matter who we're talking to, we try to take a listen first approach, at least give them your ear, give anyone your ear, whether they're on the phone or they're in person.

Because people need to get out certain things and you'd be surprised at what they're willing to share.

And that's that's a trust.

And, but that also shows how desperate they are to talk to people and to be heard.

And the second thing that we do is we it's easy to look at the homelessness issue or the addiction issue or any of the other things you can find.

We could find things we disagree about each other.

Right.

So we ask our volunteers and our staff to look for the good in each individual.

The commonality, the.

Commonality, that thing that stands out above them there, you know, and and you would be surprised that when you encourage people that way and you find that those characteristics that you love about them, it changes who how you relate to them too, as well.

And so I think that's been probably the the best opportunity I know from our staff and from our volunteers.

They often say, I think this I get more out of this and listening and, and caring, I and I walk away feeling like I just got blessed.

And so that's the way I feel every day that I get that I'm at the office or even when I go home.

So.

Yeah, well, they're actually seeing them through a different lens.

Yeah.

And I like that too.

So when you started over there and you saw the things that kind of needed to be changed and everything, you created the four pillars.

Yeah.

So let's talk about that.

Let's dive into that.

Yeah.

So it's really pretty simple.

Again home stabilization is our primary pillar.

And that is trying to keep people housed and keep their utilities on provide that monthly nutrition supplemental nutrition for them.

So we'd three like in the rent eviction thing.

We've developed three layers of giving.

So whether they're on subsidized housing and still needing support or they have been housed for years and years and years and all of a sudden, because of some catastrophe or some issue, they're now faced with eviction.

And so we've we've been able to secure funding over the course of the past year that we've never had before.

That allows us to go into helping people recover from those catastrophes and get back on their feet, keeping their homes.

And that's essential.

And that's what the board and the community, when we did our strategic plan, said we need that.

And so we we did do that.

We developed that.

And so, stabilization is still a core, values of who we are to keep people housed.

And then our second core pillar is, how is homeless outreach.

And that is around housing.

That's around putting people in hotels for emergency shelter, which is related to like, medical issues.

Someone who just came near the hospitals will do a referral.

We've got someone who's not got a place to recover from surgery.

Can you help?

So we do that.

We also tied to jobs.

Over 153 people have gotten jobs and gotten shelter, and now they're taking care of that.

And then the next phase for them, after they've established that for a couple of months, is to get into the housing forward program so they can get into that.

Really, hotels are not what we call habitation.

Yeah.

It's just temporary.

Temporary.

Yeah.

And so then housing for it provides us with the opportunity to get them into permanent housing.

And we we do really try to do a due diligence there and making sure that we're not setting them up for failure, but finding those places that they can afford.

And we have budget dialog with them.

We do, you know, any kind of training with them that we can help them along those paths?

And then we also do with location, reconnection to family.

So people experiencing homelessness, sometimes the best route is just to be able to go back home and heal and be cared for and loved on.

And so that's a big win for us as well.

Yeah, because a lot of times they feel either ashamed or feel like they can't go home.

There's that, this communication between them.

So if you can kind of come in and facilitate that and help to pull them back together again.

Are you seeing a lot of addiction?

Yeah, we are.

And so that's our fourth pillar.

Fourth pillar is, recovery and rehab.

And so because of the strange exchange program that we have, Matt Manthey stepped in, we get to build trust with people that are facing addiction.

What I mean by that is by treating them with kindness and just, always having an ear, listening to them, letting them know that this they're not being judged to a reward.

We just give them the platform that if they so desire to try to take that next step to get help, we have a complete plan going forward.

And over 80 individuals have gone to rehab since that.

We since 2022, it's probably one of the things that's really close to my heart is I've had friends that I've known for since they were kids who've lost their kids to addiction.

And so that's where we have a comprehensive plan so that they're able to fully recover and, and, and, and regain their life back to God and through their own commitment, dedication.

Yeah.

So that's really been, something new for us and something we still strongly believe in.

Here's the thing.

I don't know who God is bringing through those doors every day and what his plan is for them.

And so for me, I can only speak for me, and that is that he he's been with me every step of the way, no matter how many times I've walked off the cliff.

He's been there to pulling back.

And so he had a purpose for me that I couldn't see a lot of times.

And so that has opened my eyes to be able to see that I don't know what his plan is for each individual.

So if I can just be a light to how I treat people, or how we treat people at mat men, then we that's what we're going to do.

And I think that's a perfect segway into you got some success stories that you'd like to share with them.

Yeah.

A couple disrupt the top, young man named Addison.

And our newsletter just went out about him.

It's called.

seeds of hope.

Okay.

And so we've been we're doing this kind of thing to let people who are donors in our, in our volunteers.

And I mean, you know, and so Addison wanted to share his story.

He he had been coming to Met Min.

Really nice young man.

Never a problem.

Always kind of other people.

But he was homeless and and and facing addiction.

So double whammy.

No.

And so I can remember we just, you know, had a conversation.

I was like, brother, I you're just the kindest person in.

And you help other people.

Are you living the life that God want and do you live and are you you just don't belong out.

You don't belong out here.

Yeah, he's got a purpose.

And so every day, you know, you come in and, it wasn't like, we don't we don't push.

And so we just gently nudge and encourage.

And so every so often I'd say, are you ready yet?

And so one day he walked in the door and he said, I heard you.

I'm going to rehab.

I've already said to him he didn't even need my help.

He took the initiative on his own.

And so, actually, a couple weeks ago, Barbara, he I had forgotten that I had given him my cell number with my card and everything and said, if you ever want to talk, I'm always here.

Yeah.

And, he sent me this long text and said, hey, Bill, this is Addison.

I just wanted, you know, I'm six months clean.

I have a job.

My boss believes in me.

Help me buy my first my truck.

I have no doubt that God brought me in the Met Min that day.

And I have no doubt that I wouldn't be where I'm at.

Had the the staff that met me and not always been so encouraging.

Recognizing the good in me, seeing what I couldn't see and Met Min will always be part of my story.

And if I can ever help one person who's facing an addiction, it will be because of my experience of my man and I describe.

I was I was on my couch.

I'm like, yeah, at 10:00 at night, you know.

So yeah.

Because you're like, oh, okay.

Yeah, yeah.

The purpose that was the reason that you were supposed to be in there because if you only save one life, you you know that you don't know what the, domino effect is.

That's right.

But I love the the fact that you called it seed of Hope because you kept planning that seed, kept nurturing it.

And then when he finally.

And that's what I have found when I've worked with other nonprofits that were drug addiction or whatever.

And, rehab, rehabilitation is that person has to get to the point where I'm ready.

Yeah, I want it.

You can't force it on them or anything like that, but they have to be ready when they are.

Then the journey is, you know, is there for them and everything.

So and I love the fact that you've gone in and you're like, okay, let's reassess because the community changes.

Yeah, our needs change and nonprofits can only stay healthy if they're in the changes themselves.

If they're saying, okay, now what's going on right now?

But what do we see in the next 2 or 3 years, and how are we going to be ready to assist and to help and provide those services?

And I love the fact that you're very collaborative.

You want to do the holistic, let's not only look at the homeless person, but let's look at the family situation.

You know, where their siblings that they could get, you know, parents they could get back with, let's get them a job.

Let's get them a housing, let's get food in them.

You know, all of the basics that you need, but then keep listening to them because they're going to tell you what they need and everything.

So I love that.

So in the last about minute or so we have left let's talk about volunteer opportunities.

Yeah.

So what we'd love to have is just even more people just coming out.

I mean, obviously the food pantry was we treat everyone really well there.

We walk them through with volunteers.

It's like a grocery store where you're being catered to, and which we love.

And because.

You're giving them.

Pride, that's it.

It's not it's not about just packing a box and giving everybody same box.

But really, what we love to see is more people just coming down and, and and meeting with folks and just getting to know them, listening to them, we can put them through the listening first training so that they can have those skills if they don't.

We're also looking for people, both in the faith and in the private sector who want to donate some time counseling.

And just coming down, we've developed a prayer room kind of, council room where you can come and sit and talk with people, or they can go in if they're having a really bad day and just kind of just relax and sit back.

So the volunteers there, you know, the need for volunteers there is going to continue to increase, because there's only so much the staff can do.

And so really they need they want people to see.

And, I can tell you this, Barbara, it will change their lives.

It will.

It's changed mine.

I've had a great career in the.

I had a great.

But this has been probably the most shaping experience of my life.

And that's amazing, because now you're following your heart.

Yeah.

You know, hopefully I'm following his.

Yes, I know, that's good.

Bill, thank you so much for coming in and sharing your story and Met Mins story with us.

Barbara, thank you so much.

It's such a pleasure.

Yeah.

Up next, we'll have Bob Culkeen, president of WTCI PBS.

Welcome back.

We're joined now by Bob Culkeen, president of WTCI PBS, to talk about this series on this, our final episode and the impact of nonprofits in our community.

Welcome, Bob.

Oh, it's a pleasure to be here with you.

I mean, I can't believe it's four years.

And it actually what it came out of Covid.

It did.

It did because this is my work with one of the local foundations.

We were not getting grant requests coming in, and I was talking to the nonprofits, and these executive directors were wearing so many hats.

They were caught with deer like deer in the headlights, and they and their board didn't know how to help them.

And it's like, how do we help them tell their story?

And so I pitched the idea to you.

So tell me your why you wanted to do this show with me.

You know, and I think about just call letters PBS.

s has always stood for service So living and failing your mission and your community is so important for PBS stations.

And this was a natural fit to be able to celebrate nonprofits that are challenged.

Not the big nonprofits, but the ones that don't have a marketing department that don't have the ability to tell their story.

And who better than PBS, the greatest storytellers in America to work with you and the community to tell these stories?

That's what this whole program was about.

And we're here for years, at the end, celebrating 96 nonprofits that we helped tell their stories.

Many of them are using that segment on their website.

Some have cut it down to one minute messaging, with the help of WTCI, saying, this is how you can do this.

To me, it's a win win for everybody.

I'm kind of sad to see it go away.

when not the show.

But I know that we'll continue to serve this community as we have in the past.

And that's what I like about this is the fact that, you know, while we're going to finish up the four seasons, you know, it wasn't going to be a forever job.

This was How do we give them some tools?

And so one of the tools was, let's give them this stage 12 minutes.

Tell your story.

Let's educate the community on who you are, what you're doing, how you're doing it, how they can volunteer if they want to be volunteers or want to be on their board or whatever.

But what services you might need those services?

I mean, we've had some fantastic people on this show that I didn't even know about.

The our selection committee were fantastic.

That's a. Process by.

Itself.

Yes it was.

And they selected these, you know, 24 nonprofits each year.

But there were a lot of them that I didn't know or knew a little bit about.

Like, let's just say, I knew about Welcome Home Season one.

We had her on the show, and of course, it's evergreen, so she's getting a lot of repeats and everything.

They have tripled their operating budget and they've tripled the revenue because she use this marketing.

She got it out there to tell the community.

And now they have a hospice house, you know, that's there for and and the cool thing about it was I think people thought when you went to Welcome Home that was it, you died.

But it wasn't.

It was welcome home.

This is your home now.

But it's not your forever home.

Some may pass away, but gosh, they reunited so many people with families, with sisters, with loved ones.

And they were actually able to go out and do independent living because all they needed was someone to keep their meds up and get them healthy and everything.

And I love that story.

So is nonprofits like that, that I think if they used the marketing wisely because it we gave it to them.

It was a gift.

That's it.

It's a gift.

When I think of that first meeting and my reaction was, I wanted to do this, that was like a welcome home opportunity.

You know, it's like a moment, you know, you just described Welcome Home, but you really described what the series is all about.

Yeah.

Welcome home to all those 96 nonprofits in the process.

You know, there were a lot of nonprofits here in Chattanooga and.

3830.

800.

And to select those 96, we had a process that, you know, we had that had to be an operation so many years.

They had to have a budget of this.

They had to have this type of staff.

They had to have.

And we had a process in place that we've looked through the whole thing.

So that's what this whole show is about.

And when I say we are great storytellers, our staff is incredible.

When they went out and they shot B-roll for your stories, it wasn't just talking heads in a studio.

We went out.

We had really good B-roll.

That was, you know, just a companion to that story in a strong way with dedicated staff that we have here at WTCI.

So it's kind of sad to be on your last show.

And I know we'll, we'll run it and look at, the show into our schedule into the next year.

So we're still doing that service.

Like I said you before, we're not done.

We'll find something else to do to continue to service nonprofits and help them throughout their, their life.

What they need to do, how they need to talk with their supporters, too.

Well, I think you know, us highlighting those.

Well, not you 95.

Oh yeah, makes 96.

Highlighting those 95 nonprofits was, you know, while we didn't talk about donations, we don't talk about events because you didn't want to be date specific.

Exactly.

But their revenue increased because of the show.

That's fantastic.

You know.

And so, you know, WTCI is a nonprofit, but your nonprofit giving back to nonprofits, which it's that collaborate collaborative mode that you're in that a lot of TV stations are not in.

And I think that the PBS the s is what you really that's the service and not the system because you stay true to you.

I know that was seven years ago when you came here from from from Florida.

When I was in the pre-interview of what do we need for a new president?

I gave a lot of do's and don'ts.

And then you came in, you were hired, I met with you and everything like that.

And as I said earlier, a year and a half later, my first thought was.

I'm gonna call Bob Culkeen at WTCI and Im going to pitch this to him.

I had other opportunities, but your name came up because I felt something in you.

When I met you that time, I thought.

And you did you have made such a huge difference here you are looking at not what do we have to do right now, but what do we have to do in the next several years?

You're always looking forward on what is this community need and then how do we come alongside and provide those benefits of services, whatever it is that we need to help the the community to continue to thrive and to grow.

And we're also a community that a lot of California, Texas, Nevada, they're all wanting to move to Chattanooga.

You know, you've got four seasons.

We do.

You can have them all in one day.

You can if.

You don't like the weather, wait 30 minutes.

You know, we've got mountains.

We've got rivers, we've got nature gardens.

We've got hiking, canoeing.

We've got music scenes, art scenes.

I mean, we've covered a whole gamut of that.

The 95 shows in 95 nonprofits that we've shown, and I love every one of them.

But at the heart of all of this has been WTCI, because they would not have had the opportunity to tell their story to grow.

And so I want our viewers to really understand the role that WTCI played in all of this.

And without WTCI, we would not have had the show.

So Thank you.

And I really hope that our viewers will continue to support WTCI.

So do I. Thank you Bob.

Thank you Barbara.

And thank you for joining us.

We hope you've learned more about the amazing work being done by our local nonprofits.

That's been our mission over these 48 episodes of television.

I'm Barbara Marter, on behalf of all of us here at WTCI PBS.

Thanks for watching.

Chattanooga, we are stronger together.

Support for this program is provided by the Weldon F Osborne Foundation The Schillhahn-Huskey Foundation And viewers like you Thank you Watch even more of the shows you love on the free PBS app.