Erica Hobbs find peace and support at CADAS in Chattanooga

The journey to recovery has been a tough one for Erica Hobbs. For years she worked to maintain sobriety as she dealt with mental health, legal issues, and an unstable living environment. Now clean and sober for nearly two years, Hobbs credits her move to a sober living facility in Chattanooga as a catalyst for her efforts to get her life back on track. “It’s amazing,” she said. “I am able to go to school and be on the dean’s list, and I have a place where I can study with as little distraction as possible. If it wasn’t for CADAS and the support system, the team there and my apartment, I wouldn’t be where I am today and reach the goals I set for myself. “There are definitely not a lot of places like this. A lot of people end up homeless or in the system because of mental illness and addiction, and we definitely need more places like this that can really help people deal with these issues.”

A permanent home that caters to her needs helped Shirley Jackson find peace of mind

Memphis resident Shirley Nelson has battled mental illness for years. For the last four years, Nelson moved from place to place, living with different family members causing her to miss doctor appointments or have her prescribed medicine shipped to the wrong address. Then in January 2021, she was the first resident to move into one of eight newly-renovated Boyette Memorial Apartments, a project aided in funding by a $225,251 grant from theTHDA's Housing Trust Fund (THTF) awarded to Memphis’ CMI Healthcare Services.

A dream come true for Dominique Brent

Dominique Brent has dreamed of being a homeowner all her life. In 2011, Brent, who lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Covington with no kids in a neighborhood where she felt uncomfortable, said her dream seem far-fetched. But in 2012, shortly after the birth of her first son, Brent said she was able to move to a safer neighborhood with assistance from THDA's Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program, a state-level Section 8 program. “I would definitely recommend this program. I even ask people I know on Section 8, why would you continue to rent something you can’t own,” Brent said. “Homeownership is the best way. You’re owning something you could one day give to your kids and THDA could help you do that.”

From Burundi to Knoxville, the Michel family is finally home

The path to homeownership for Minani and Manirakiza Michel has been anything but typical. Michel and his wife have lived in Knoxville for the past 13 years, but their journey to becoming homeowners began across the Atlantic Ocean in Africa. Natives of Burundi, the Michels spent 11 years living in refugee camps in Congo and Tanzania in an effort to protect their growing family from the war and conflicts that were taking place around them. The couple and their seven children recently left their cramped apartment and moved into a five-bedroom home built by Knoxville Habitat for Humanity with the help of funding from THDA’s Housing Trust Fund. The family also was also able to utilize THDA’s New Start loan program, which enables them to receive a zero percent interest mortgage.

Ritchie Johnson on recovery, home, and new starts

For over a year now, Ritchie Johnson has been working to overcome the alcohol addiction that impacted much of his adult life. A resident of the Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Service’s sober-living facility (CADAS) in Chattanooga, Johnson said he had nothing when he decided it was time to get clean. Johnson is one of 24 residents living at the apartment complex located in Chattanooga’s Northshore neighborhood. “This gives me hope, I have a bed to lay in, I have money to buy food,” Johnson said. “There’s just the hope that I have every day to be a better man and to make a difference in this world. I’m finding it here and I’m really blessed."

Jessica Lovelace finds safety and security at home in Johnson City

Jessica Lovelace doesn't know where she'd be right now if not for Baker Court Apartments in Johnson City. "I think every day how thankful I am to have this and how fortunate I am to live where I live. I think it's amazing for all of us that live here. We all get along and it's great to be able to bring people together and I think it's a beautiful thing that they were able to do this and help some of the community out."