- Support for this program is provided by the Weldon F. Osborne Foundation, the Schillhahn-Huskey Foundation, and viewers like you.

Thank you.

- On this episode of Chattanooga: Stronger Together, we'll learn about two nonprofits that are making an impact in our community.

The first promotes health holistically through physical, spiritual, and emotional care.

The second offers mentorship and community building programs in the south Chattanooga community.

We're stronger together Chattanooga.

So stay with us to learn more.

(bright music) - Welcome to Chattanooga Stronger Together.

I'm Barbara Marter.

Purpose Point Community Health is a wellness center in the heart of Chattanooga with a focus on serving the overall wellbeing of individuals in our community.

Christin McWhorter is the executive director of Purpose Point, and I'm happy to have her with us.

Welcome, Christin.

- Thank you for having me.

- Before we get started, I wanna read a little statistics.

So Chattanooga is a growing population.

Unfortunately, 50% are in poverty, struggling with medical and financial issues.

The highest health disparities in our county are in the 37406 zip code, where you are located.

So now can you tell me and the viewers, your mission and the services that you provide through Purpose Point?

- Absolutely.

Purpose Point's mission and purpose, as we like to say, is to develop healthier communities and healthier individuals for that physical, spiritual and emotional care.

And so Purpose Point is a nonprofit arm of the Mt.

Canaan Baptist Church.

And Mt.

Canaan has a long history in Chattanooga, especially in east Chattanooga, the 37406 zip code, in helping to address the needs of the community.

And so when we moved out of that community and still had a building left there, it was important for us as we saw those health disparities to be back in that community and see how we could help to address those.

And so the health department, the Hamilton County Health Department put out a report, stated a report about the health disparities.

And when you look at those numbers, 37406 has the highest numbers of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, really almost all, infant mortality, all of those things that negatively affect people's overall health and wellbeing.

And so we wanted Purpose Point to be there, to be resource and to be a place where people could come and be able to lock arms with us and figure out how they can have access to care.

- Okay.

So when you talk about access to care, what are some of the services that you provide?

- We provide primary medical services for uninsured adults, 18 to 64.

So that's them being able to see a medical provider for their medical care.

If they don't have insurance or don't have a place to go to, they can come to Purpose Point for that medical care.

And we also provide care coordination services, which is helping them to identify and address any other areas that they may have some concerns about outside of their health.

So accessing benefits or accessing resources.

And then we also have a third arm, which is the health and wellness aspect of it.

So we go and have health classes, community education, cooking classes.

Anything that would help provide some tools for individuals, so that when they leave, they can go home and they have the information and knowledge they need to make healthier choices.

- Do you do any lab works or anything like that?

- We do.

So with the medical care and the medical piece we can also provide some basic lab services.

So someone could come to us and say they are just having some issues with gout, for instance, or issues with, you know, heart high blood pressure.

They can come and see one of our medical providers.

And then also get some, have labs drawn during those visits so that we can help see what's going on with them, and the physicians or the nurse practitioners can prescribe medications to help them.

And so all of those services are available in our medical clinic.

- Okay.

And so you use volunteers for the nurses and the doctors and that.

- So our medical clinic is staffed by volunteers.

Our medical director is a volunteer and then our nurses, nurse practitioners and nurses and medical assistants even are all volunteering in our clinic.

And so that's a very important part of our model to make us sustainable and be able to continue to provide care in that community and make an impact is by doing that through volunteers.

And so that's any medical provider at Tennessee.

So wherever they work, we welcome them to come in and kind of help us to provide this service to those in this community.

- And so you're dealing with uninsured and I believe you said 18 to 64.

Being uninsured, do you charge any service fees or is this free clinic to this community?

- So we are a charitable health clinic.

And so there is a sliding fee scale for individuals, but we do not turn anyone away based on their ability to pay that sliding scale fee.

So it's a, $50 is the max, and $5 is the minimum that anyone may have to charge.

And I like to point out that everybody's first visit is at no charge.

- [Barbara] Oh.

- So we want everyone just to come and see what we have to offer, and see that we have compassionate staff, compassionate volunteers who really just wanna help make a difference.

And so we don't charge for that first visit for anyone to come.

- So this is a two part question.

Are there services that you don't provide?

And then, is it only for the 406 area code?

Or could anybody come?

- Great questions.

Even though we're situated in 37406 and wanna be there for that community, we are open to anyone in Hamilton County.

So anyone who's uninsured in Hamilton County can come and access our services.

So that, we would love to have them.

And then-- - The services that you do not provide.

- Thank you, yes.

So we don't provide specialty care.

We just don't have the ability to do that there.

And so we do partner with Project Access in Chattanooga.

- [Barbara] Okay, yeah.

- And so we can refer individuals for primary care.

So if our doctors or nurse practitioners determine that someone needs more, you know, specialized care, then we can make those referrals over to Project Access and try to get them plugged in that way.

And we also have a network of providers and contacts that we reach out to, to see if they're willing to see the patients that we have.

And, are they willing to provide some additional care that we may not be able to.

- And then also to-- Okay, so you provide, you outsource.

If somebody came in and they, problems with their mouth and you come to find out that it's dental.

So you have dentists that will come up and do some pro bono work or other associations that'll help out?

- So in those situations we refer them back out to a local dentist.

So we try to connect and partner with other local providers to see if they'd be willing to see our patients.

But we definitely work with our patients to identify any and every resource available in order to get the care and access the care that they need.

- Okay.

And I also noticed that you have a community garden.

- We do, we do.

So part of our work in the food insecurity field is, is to provide those, those resources for people.

So 37406 is a food desert.

There's not a lot of options for people there.

So we have a community garden that we are growing fruits and vegetables, and the community is helping us do that.

And we are giving that at no charge to individuals who need it.

So it's been a wonderful addition to the clinic space and everything that we're doing there at Purpose Point.

- So do you have a food pantry?

- We do, we have a food pantry.

We're giving away food two days a month, every other Tuesday at our food pantry and that again is at no cost to individuals in need.

And so we also give away those fruits and vegetables out those food pantry days.

- So you'd mentioned earlier about healthy eating food classes and things like that.

Do you partner with anyone on those?

Cause I know you had mentioned people like with a diabetic or heart problems or something like that.

So do you collaborate with other nonprofits to bring in some specialty stuff like that?

- We do.

So we open up our space really to anybody that wants to come and provide education.

And so UT Extension has been a great partner with us and they have come on site to do cooking classes, showing people hands on how they can make healthier meals, even on a budget.

And they've even used food from the community garden during those cooking classes.

So we partner with UT Extension to do you that, and those have been very successful and people really learn a lot about how they can make little choices that really make a big difference in their overall health.

- Well, it sounds like you have an awful lot going on.

So do you need volunteers?

- We absolutely do.

We are always looking for volunteers to come alongside us to really just make a difference in the life of the people in this community.

And so we use, we need volunteers to help us, our nurses, doctors, medical assistants, and even social workers because of that care coordination piece that I mentioned, we are really helping people, not only address those health concerns and problems, but what else is going on that they may need some assistance with to help their overall health be better.

- And how long has the clinic been open from the time that it started to current?

- We've been open a little over a year.

- Okay.

- So we're, we're new there in this community.

But we are there to help people again, not only with health, but any other service that they may be looking for.

We're a resource.

We want to be able to point people in the direction to provide any type of assistance or care that they need.

- Right.

So, for people that are interested in learning more about the clinic, could you share your website and location of it?

- Absolutely.

So Purpose Point's located at 2800 North Chamberlain Avenue right there in east Chattanooga, 37406.

And then people can reach us by our website, which is www.purpose-point.org.

They can also find us on Facebook and they can reach out to us.

We have a place on our website where if you wanna volunteer, you can just click a button, fill out a little form and we'll get your information and get back with you.

- Okay.

Thank you so much for what you're doing in this community and in this zip code, and how you were providing services to those that are less fortunate, not only with education and health, but helping them, you know, with the food pantry and the cooking, and I love the garden aspect.

I love people coming together because if you play in the dirt, you're healthier for it and everything.

So thank you Christin, so much for coming.

I really appreciate it.

We'll be right back with Raquetta Dotley from the Net Resource Foundation.

Stay with us.

We wanna know how you serve your community.

Send us photos or videos of you or your family volunteering and we may feature it on a future episode.

Email stronger@wtcitv.org or use the hashtag #StrongerWTCI on social media.

Welcome back.

Raquetta Dotley is here.

She's the executive director of the Net Resource Foundation.

The foundation was established in 2015 and it offers programs that meet the unique needs of the Alton Park community.

We're pleased to have Raquetta here to share some of the challenges and successes that she's seen in Alton Park.

Welcome Raquetta, thank you so much for coming in today.

What is Net Resource?

Can you kind of share with us what it is?

- Absolutely.

The Net Resource Foundation is a community building and mentorship program in the south Chattanooga community.

We have several programs.

We have youth programming, programs for our seniors, as well as general community building programs.

- So where are you located at?

- Yes.

Oh, we're located at 4001 Hughes Avenue.

We're located inside the Westside Baptist Church.

The organization was actually founded as part of the church initially, but now we've kind of streamed off a little, but it started out as, we had afterschool program, as well as a feeding program.

And once that began to grow, we needed more capacity.

We moved into the foundation, which is a Net Resource Foundation.

- Okay.

And so you serve youth?

- Yes.

- And, in what capacity?

- Well, we have two youth programs.

We have our Westside youth leadership academy afterschool program, as well as a leadership for life summer program.

The afterschool program usually serves students in grades pre-K through five.

The summer program serve students sixth grade, sixth grade and up.

Those students that are not able to get a job but don't necessarily wanna go to a account for elementary students, we serve those students through career prep, life skills training, and it's really great program because they get a stipend if they complete the program.

- Oh, that's cool.

That's really cool.

And so then you also work with the community with elderly?

- Yes.

We, at the onset of the pandemic we partnered with St. Alexis Outreach to provide supply bags for our seniors.

Initially we thought, well, it was just gonna be a program, you know, just, you know, at the onset of pandemic, hoping that it would've been over soon.

But as we began to do that, we realized there were other needs that seniors had.

So now we do it once a month.

We provide supply bags to our seniors and it's a really great program.

We have, we serve about, about 50 seniors and that program is continually to grow.

So it's a really good program.

- And so do they come to you or do you have transportation to deliver those, those items to them?

- It's both actually, we have, I have a really great board of directors.

So some of the seniors actually do come and pick up, others, our board members actually deliver those to some of the seniors as well.

- And what's in those, those bags?

Oh, your basic toiletries such as, maybe toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, dish detergent, soap, deodorant, trash bags, just a pleture of things in the bags, as well as PPE equipment as well, they get mask sanitizer and things of that nature.

- Oh, wow, that's interesting, I like that.

So do you have a feeding program or anything like that?

- Absolutely.

We have the Right Hand Feeding Program, which is one of our core programs.

Initially the program started, we were serving hot meals initially, and again, a pandemic shifted things for us and we began to do, we thought, well, "If we can't fix a meal, let's just do bags with things that they can fix at home as a meal".

And as we saw that grow, we thought, "Well, let's, let's continue this way".

So now we're moving toward a pantry style-- Students, well, anyone in the community come in once a week, they can shop around, get the things they need for the week and then we'll be back the same, you know, same time the next week.

So it's a really good program.

And that's also the same day that we give out the supply bags for the seniors as well.

So Wednesdays are typically a really busy day, a really great day cause community members get to come in, see each other and get the things that they need as well.

- So that's once a week?

- [Raquetta] Once a week.

- And so how many people would come in to, to get the food supplies?

- Somewhere between 70 to 100 people per week.

- And how do you, is it just open to anybody in the community or do you have like certain, certain preferences or requirements or something like that?

- It's open to everyone in the community.

We wanted to make sure that our pantry program was one that people had no barriers to get to.

It's just, we are, we are here once a week, anyone's welcome to come in.

We don't discriminate.

There's nothing for them to fill out.

All we ask is they sign in.

So we'll know that they sign in.

Every couple of months, we'll catch demographics.

But other than that, it's an open program for anyone.

- And how long have you, how long have you been working with Net Resources?

You've had several different jobs within, I think, haven't you?

- Yes I had.

The official start of Net Resource Foundation was in 2015.

So I started out as the program coordinator for the youth program, which is our after school and summer program.

As the foundation began to grow, I began, I became just the program director in general, just making sure all programs were running well.

And then I got promoted to executive director.

So now it's, it's a big shift, is a bit of a shift, but I like it.

So I've been there since they started, since it was founded.

- Well, you really have a heart and passion for it and I can kind of tell that.

So let's get back to the food pantry.

So where do you, where do you get your food and what kind of food and, is there opportunity for the community to donate things to you?

Or do you get them for the food bank?

How's that work?

- Yes.

Well we have a partnership with the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.

So we get all of our food products from there.

We also do take donations.

We ask for donations for the supply items, such as the toiletries and things of that nature, but, or non-perishable items.

Non-perishable items from there sometimes they do have toiletries and things of that nature, and they also have what they call retail frozen, which is all types of meats and things.

The people love that.

So they may get chicken or ground beef or things like that.

So the bulk of our items come from the, the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, who's been a great partner with us since the beginning.

- Okay.

And so the food bank, your food pantry-- - [Raquetta] M-hm.

- Did I hear you mentioned earlier to me in a previous conversation that you're getting ready to redesign it, build it out, make it bigger?

- Yes, and we are so excited about that, if you can't tell about the smile on my face.

We've been wanting to grow that program for quite some time into a pantry.

So the pandemic, as unfortunate as it is has allowed us to reimagine what that looks like.

And so we're partnering with, of course the Westside Church is where we have the program, and we're gonna build out just a whole new pantry, it's gonna be more grocery store style.

And we're looking to have the, the feeding program more than one day.

So we're looking to open maybe three days a week.

- Oh wow.

- With a new pantry and I am just super excited about that, so.

- Well, and also hear that you have a community garden too?

- Yes, the community garden is really fun.

What we do with the garden, we actually incorporate that into our youth programs.

So the students maintain the gardens, during the school year, the younger kids, and in the summer, the older kids maintain it.

With those down times that we have without the students, the community members come in, they maintain it as well.

So we, we plant all three, I don't wanna say three seasons, but we plant three times a year, three times a year.

And it's really nice because we're able to take items from the community garden and have them incorporate it into our Right Hand Feeding Program.

And during our down season residents or anyone in the neighborhood is welcome to come and get whatever items are there in the community garden.

So we are, the community garden has been going since, since we started, and we've changed it a little bit, added a little, taken off a little, but it's a really good garden because, you know, it's just sustainable, we need that type of thing in our, in our neighborhood.

- Well, when I was looking at your website, I notice that the Hughes Project-- - [Raquetta] Yes.

- Could you kind of share with our viewers what that is?

- Yes.

The Hughes Project is, was a brain child of our board.

We wanna beautify, wanted to beautify one block of Hughes Avenue, which is where we're located, the area between our community garden.

And then we had a open lot, that was across the street.

So we thought, "Well, what can we do to enhance this block", to make it more community friendly, maybe help community and engage our youth there.

And so we came up with a Hughes Project, so we will be expanding our garden, adding benches, we'll have a stage, it'll be an area for students to come out and do, you know, experiments projects, programming, as well as for some of our seniors as well to come out and do program, outdoor programming with us as well.

With the Hughes Project it's more focused on environmental, environmental things, such as the urban heat island impact that shows that in urban areas, in urban core, it's just hotter.

It's at least 10 degrees hotter in our area.

So bringing people outdoors, adding more trees, just making it beautiful and having a good environmental impact.

So we we're able to do that.

And we're excited about that program.

- When you talk about Alton Park, you just kind of glow and everything.

- [Raquetta] Yes.

- Tell me about the spirit of Alton Park.

- Yes.

Alton Park is home.

I mean, once you come out there, you always feel welcomed.

You all always feel loved.

And, just the people are wonderful.

You come and you begin to talk, and before you know you're out there hours talking to people, walking around.

It's just a great community to be in.

And I encourage anyone to come out and visit, visit the neighborhoods, visit the parks out there because it has so many assets out there.

They have, maybe, there are about maybe four or five parks out there.

Some have just, we have new playgrounds and all type of things out there.

So I would recommend Alton Park to anybody.

- That's great.

So what kind of volunteer opportunities for either the Hughes Project or the Net Resource Foundation, do you need volunteers?

Do you want volunteers?

- Absolutely.

We have a very small staff, so the majority of our programs run because of volunteers.

So we're always in need of volunteers.

We need volunteers for our Right Hand Feeding Program, to come in and help sort out all of the products that we receive, as well as help distribute those products.

Also, we need volunteers for our afterschool program and youth leadership program in the summer to come in and help do tutoring, do reading, come in and help do some of the life skills training.

So if anybody's looking for volunteers or any students need volunteer hours, we are more than welcome to have them with us.

- Okay.

Share with our viewers your website and how to reach you.

- Absolutely.

They can visit our website, the NetResourceFoundation.org, or they can contact us 4-2-3-4-0-1-0-5-0-3.

Or also we do email at thenetresourcefoundation@gmail.com - Okay.

Raquetta, thank you so much for coming in today and sharing about the Net Resource, sharing about Alton Park and the Hughes Project.

Really do appreciate it.

- Yes, thank you.

- And thank you for joining us as well.

We hope that Chattanooga Stronger Together has provided some new perspectives for viewers like you who are looking to a difference in our community.

We hope you'll let us know what you think.

Email us at stronger@wtcitv.org, or use the hashtag #StrongerWTCI on social media.

I'm Barbara Marter.

We'll see you next time.

(bright music) - Get access to even more of the shows you love with WTCI Passport, an exclusive benefit for members of WTCI PBS.

Watch your favorite shows in Passport on the PBS video app.

Download it today.

Support for this program is provided by the Weldon F. Osborne Foundation, the Schillhahn-Huskey Foundation, and viewers like you.

Thank you.