FAQs

CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, who are trained to represent the best interests of children in juvenile abuse and neglect court cases. CASA is a local, nonprofit organization in communities all across the nation. The core purpose of CASA of the Tennessee Heartland is to provide a voice for abused and neglected children in our community. As a non-profit, volunteer-based agency, our mission is to empower CASA volunteers to advocate on behalf of abused and neglected children in juvenile court.

Knox Area Rescue Ministries’ mission is to rescue and restore the poor and needy of the Knoxville area by providing recovery services in Jesus’ name. KARM provides daily for those most vulnerable and desperate among us, first supplying rescue services of food and shelter, then healthy, supportive relationships, and ultimately restoration, including job-training opportunities.

ORICL is a lifelong learning program for adults in East Tennessee. Its mission is to enrich the lives of interested adults through opportunities for continued learning, teaching and social interactions.

Remote Area Medical® – RAM is a major nonprofit provider of pop-up clinics with a mission to prevent pain and alleviate suffering by providing free, quality healthcare to those in need. RAM’s clinics provide free dental, vision, medical, and veterinary services to everyone, regardless of background, in an ongoing effort to address healthcare disparities. Since its founding in 1985, RAM’s corps of more than 196,000 volunteers – comprised of licensed dental, vision, medical, and veterinary professionals, as well as general support staff – have treated more than 910,500 individuals delivering more than $189.5 million worth of free healthcare services.

TORCH opened its doors in January 2013 as the only comprehensive homeless service in Anderson County, TN.

Because there is no shelter in the county, TORCH operates the Housing First model. Efforts are made to find affordable, sustainable housing as quickly as possible. If extra financial assistance is needed after an address is established and a client qualifies an agreement may be made to assist for a predesigned amount and/or time. We call that plan “Shelter in the Future Home” and find it a much more cost-effective way to assist those we house in reaching self-sufficiency. The first step in future success is establishing a permanent address.