Sharing God’s Goodness 2023 Grant Nominees

Covenant Keypers

Founders: Gary and Rosalyn Hickman

About our ministry:

We believe that Biblical Marriage is God’s means of the Gospel to the World: Christ and the Church. Covenant Keypers works alongside pastors to provide marital services and to help decrease the divorce rate in the church and beyond. Our staple service is to provide complimentary marriage and pre-marital counseling for those who would otherwise not be able to afford effective, long-term, Biblically based counseling. Other services provided to pastors, couples, and families include one-on-one mentoring, coaching, and ongoing educational empowerment assistance within local church assemblies. Currently, our partner churches consist of 25 African American Churches and 1 Caucasian congregation with 3 campuses. With the participation of churches on Marriage Recognition Sunday alone, we can estimate that over 2000 African American homes are exposed to biblical marriage education.  Through our “Taking the Biblical Message of Marriage to the Next Generation Initiative,” we keep the biblical message of marriage integrated in all media platforms throughout Hamilton County to ensure that we build “God-Healthy Marriages” beyond government programs on marriage.

Our Request:

This grant will help us broaden and increase our promotions and maximize the number of times audiences experience our promotions in real time. The goal: to reach our parents, teens, and younger age-children in a natural and exciting way as they go about their daily routine, specifically through Carta Bus Shuttle Ads. It will also be used to monitor and track our overall ministry goal: To grow God healthy marriages and ultimately significantly decrease the number of divorces in the local church and surrounding communities. The grant will allow us to research, design, and develop the tools to track such data in the churches we have already helped to establish ongoing in-house marriage enrichment programs as opposed to those who have not implemented a program.  The budget will be used to:

  • Expand our Carta Bus Shuttle Ads: Rental of the space on the back of each bus and “Education on Wheels” through December 2023
  • Provide a Tracking System: Includes food, gas, handouts, and other needs through December 2023. 

 

Family Impact

Founders/Directors: Jonathan and Jamie Johnson

About our ministry 

Family Impact provides opportunities for families to have a better life. Our mission is to develop cross-cultural relationships that cultivate a community of resources which meets the needs of marginalized communities. Noticing a growing trend of people not attending or seeing the importance of church, we encourage the family unit to prioritize by attending Church. We believe that a strong church can only be made from strong families, and strong families can only be made from a relationship with the Lord.

In addition, we provide programming such as food boxes, mentoring, elderly assistance, housing and other initiatives that create opportunities for families in the inner city to have a chance at a better life. Our target community is the Wheeler Holmes Community, which is 95% African American. 

Our request:

Funds will go toward supplementing our housing program that provides shelter for homeless families. Through this housing ministry, we partner with different churches around the Chattanooga area to create community for the families we are serving. Our initiative will be accomplished through a six to twelve-month restoration plan, where families will receive Christian-based financial literacy courses, training, and participate in group bible studies.

  • Family Essential Kits
  • Program maintenance
  • Transportation (gas)
  • Bus Passes
  • Clothes Closet

Resurrected Baptist Church – Fellowship of Churches

Leader: Pastor Eddie Jacks 

About our ministry

Purpose: Providing Christ-centered preaching that encourages Christ-Centered living, the Fellowship of Churches trains and equips local Christian leaders through an annual conference each August. Each conference features powerful teachers of Word from across the region/country who inspire and renew pastors, preachers, and lay people in the local black community. Those who attend our conference are often leaders without formal training in preaching and teaching. The conference provides intensive training in preaching and teaching. By implementing Biblical exegesis, we provide the true explanation of the text of Scripture to local pastors each summer. 

Our request:

Your support for our training conference in August 2023 will cover a portion of the cost of this year’s conference.
Budget:
  • Airfare for speakers
  • Hotel
  • Gas
  • Lunch
  • Dinner and snacks 

For the Culture by J

Director, Janaria Mcintoch (Ms. J)

About our ministry:

For The Culture by J is located in the heart of the community.  We serve 90% African American boys and girls. With in the last few years, we have been able to help kids build self-esteem and give them confidence to have a great day at school or to simply feel good about themselves. You LOOK GOOD. You FEEL GOOD is our motto. We are changing kids’ lives one haircut or hairstyle at a time.  Every 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, we feed the kids a great meal and snacks before we start our services. After the meal, the volunteer barbers and stylists begin to cut and style.  In minutes, the kids have a fresh new look. While they wait, we provide coloring books, games, nail painting for entertainment. With permission from parents, the kids may have their photos taken to give their families. Our hope is that every kid will meet a positive role model who is giving love and care to them throughout the day. We believe in the potential of very kid we serve! Showing kids love and consistent support is the key to showing the love of Christ. Through our services, we can help them realize their greatness within ─ the greatness at is in each of God’s children.

Our request:

  • Swivel stools and supplies for barbers and stylists (clippers, sheers, stools)
  • Games and activities for kids while they wait for their services
  • Website design, marketing, and subscriptions
  • Charitable goods for kids (clothes and accessories)
  • Transportation and assistance for families in need (gas cards)
  • Food supplies for the year

Hope Unlimited

Executive Director, Dr. Rita Carr

About our Ministry

Hope Unlimited Ministry began in 1996 with the mission of reaching single parent families with the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray that they will receive salvation (John 3:16) and surrender their lives to Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:20). Many single parents find themselves on a life path that is the result of negative choices they have made. Once they find their way to Hope Unlimited, they are seeking to change their behavior and become productive adults in society. By sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them and encouraging each family to live a godly lifestyle, our ministry helps our clients change personally, as well as influence the next generation in their care. In our work, we find that most single mothers struggle to move forward because of shame and pain in their life. Through Christ-centered counseling coupled with life-skills training and setting goals and objectives, they are able to unfold their pain within the “God-shaped vacuum” of love and support that Hope Unlimited provides.

Our request:

We have recently received a grant for a van and will need additional funds to support it:

  • To pay for gas
  • To provide insurance

We provide Christian educational supplies to the women and families we serve and are asking for fund to cover the cost of 50 copies of each book in “My Journey Home Series”:

Hope Beyond Pain (Book and Study Guide (Adolescent series)

Lord I Surrender ((Devotional

Jesus Christ, My Hope in Grief: My Gentle Giant – Victor Carr (Study Guide)

My Journey Home: Jesus Christ, the Rescuer of Wounded Emotions (Study Guide)

My Journey Home: There is Hope for Single-Parent Families and Hurting Women

Vision of Mercy

Directors: Markill and Diane Moore

About our ministry

Vision of Mercy provides services to the homeless community in the Chattanooga area. Our mission is to restore hope and dignity to those who are altered by conflict and disaster and to help them survive. Our vision is to assist and improve the lives of people who are experiencing homelessness. An estimated 4,000 individuals are reported homeless each year, and almost 1,000 are children.  On any given night in our city, over 750 people reside in shelters, transitional housing, or public spaces.

We serve individuals who are displaced from their families, homes, and society while assisting them with every day essential needs. We provide non-perishable food boxes, essential needs such as tents, emergency shelter, blankets, raincoats, medication. Our focus is marginalized communities, and our greatest impact is on African Americans in the homeless communities.

 Our request

With this grant we plan to provide:

  • 125 boxes of supplies to the homeless area near the community kitchen, now CHATT Foundation.
  • Services to other tent communities: additional 100 boxes
  • Monthly hot meals and food distribution to tent community near Calvin Donaldson Elementary.
  • Additional supplies for food distribution