Community Outreach

Community Aid Ministries

Emergency Support Services:
Furniture, clothing, temporary housing/placement, food assistance, and benefit counseling.

Clothing Assistance:
Free or reduced clothing is made available in cooperation with the Red Bird Mission Community Store.

Food Pantry:
Community Outreach provides food for families in crisis through partnerships with: Red Bird Missionary Conference, Family to Family, federal grants, and donors.
This service assists an average of 40 families/month.

Transportation Assistance:
Provides the elderly, handicapped, and low-income population for non-emergency situations. e.g., doctor visits, grocery store, post office.

Commodities:
Provides free groceries each month to more than 160 low-income seniors and children.

Elderly Ministries

Elderly & Disabled Apartments:
An eight-unit apartment building provides housing for elderly or disabled low-income citizens.

Senior Citizen Center:
Seniors in a 3-county area receive health education, socialization, recreation opportunites, congregate meals, quilting "bees", craft classes, educational workshops, and transportation to and from the center three days a week.

Home Care:
In-home care is provided to homebound elderly through housekeeping, personal care, and transportation.

In-Home Respite Care:
This is a therapeutic social program of supervision and care provided to eligible individuals to enable the caregiver temporary relief.

Meals on Wheels:
Hot meals are delivered five days a week to the homes of the elderly in need.

Family Ministries

Adult Education:
Literacy training, computer classes, job skills training, and General Education Development (GED) courses are offered by trained volunteers to adults in the area. Local Community Based Service offices partner with us to provide job readiness training to parents receiving welfare and low income adults receiving food stamps.

Red Bird Farmers Project:
Families receive instruction and materials assistance to expand horticultural and livestock family food production boosting family nutrition and income. A community-led group organizes regular continuing education, seasonal farmers markets and greenhouse production and placement of livestock received from Heifer International. However, the monies received through Heifer International will be coming to an end this year(2011). We hope that, through independent donations, we will be able to continue this project for years to come.

Grow Appalachia:
Grow Appalachia has received funding for its second year though a program established with Berea College. This year the program is planning to serve 40 families. Grow Appalachia funding was initiated by the co-founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems, John Paul DeJoria. Red Bird Mission is one of the partner organizations that participate in the Appalachia region to improve healthy food options for families, create potential income opportunities, and education of basic gardening, cooking and food preservation skills.
Click here for more information on this project.

Transitional Housing:
Families at risk of homelessness receive case management assistance before becoming homeless. Two, three-bedroom units are available on the Queendale Campus for three to six months for families that have no options. Transitional Housing residents receive job and financial counseling while searching for permanent housing. Case managers also assist eligible homeless persons secure disability benefits.

Christmas Assistance:
Provide Christmas gifts to 300-400 low income families and their children. Fruit baskets are prepared and distributed to the elderly citizens in the community.
Click here to view our Christmas Needs List

Seasonal Assistance:
Free Tax Preparation and Back to School Assistance for Children.

Women & Children's Ministries

MIHOW (Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker):
A community-based, low-cost intervention program through Vanderbilt University that strives to improve family health and child development for low-income rural families through education and support.
Learn more from the MIHOW website at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

ECD (Early Childhood Development):
A Christian preschool educational program serving three and four year olds and their families. Four year olds meet three mornings a week while three year olds attend a weekly two-hour class at one of three ECD centers. A trained teacher and home visitor lead these sessions. Each family receives either weekly or biweekly home visits to reinforce instructional goals and involve caregivers in the education of each child.

Summer Youth Activities:
A seven-week summer day camp for area youth ages 5-15 that enriches their experiences through the use of daily curriculum that includes Christian Disciplemakers, Pulse, Lifeskills, Environmental Discovery, Wise Lives, and more. Each year three community teen leaders are hired and provided leadership training to assist in the camp.

Women and Children Activities:
Joint quarterly family events for MIHOW and ECD participating famlies provide parent to parent networking and parent/child interactive games and crafts. Annual Community events include a Tri-County Health and Resource Fair. Weekly community education classes offer topics such as nutrition/health, budgeting/credit counseling, parenting skills, and more.