CHATTANOOGA — The City of Chattanooga will donate the Airport Inn at 7725 Lee Highway to the charitable group The Grateful Gobbler, which plans to renovate the property into a family shelter called Provident Place. The Maclellan Foundation is funding the project, and First Things First will operate the facility for homeless children and their families.

The city invested more than $2 million in the property in 2021 to shelter those experiencing homelessness, a plan that encountered neighborhood opposition. Three of the Maclellan Family Foundations provided $2.3 million in seed money to start the project and renovate the building.

"Provident Place will double the number of available beds for families experiencing homelessness in Chattanooga," Mayor Tim Kelly said. "This facility will also provide necessary wrap-around services to ensure they get the support they need to get back on their feet. We appreciate the tremendous work of the Maclellan Foundation, community partners, public and private entities for turning this into a reality. This much needed solution would literally not have been possible without Maclellan's vision and generosity."

First Things First will lead the day-to-day family support model at Provident Place, providing coaching, case management, parenting support, housing and public services navigation, and connections to childcare, employment, mental health, transportation and other community resources. On-site services will include job readiness, basic financial literacy, parenting support groups, family support coaching, full-time and episodic childcare, psychiatric evaluation, therapy, supplemental food support, and youth and adolescent programming including mentoring and tutoring.

Lauren Hall, president and CEO of First Things First, said the shelter is focused on keeping families intact during difficult periods. "Provident Place is about keeping families together at one of the most fragile moments of their lives," Hall said. "A family in crisis needs more than a room. They need safety, a plan, caring accountability, and the right partners around them so they can move toward stability. First Things First is honored to help lead a model that protects children, supports parents, and gives families a real pathway forward."

David Denmark, executive director of the Maclellan Foundation, said the group has been in talks with Silverdale Academy and Silverdale Baptist Church and plans to hold a public meeting at the two institutions. He said he expects the largest group of volunteers at the facility will come from those two organizations. "Just as it took a community-wide solution to address this critical problem, there was a small community of leaders that pulled it all together," Denmark said. "Maclellan could not have done it without the wisdom and guidance from Lauren Hall, Dr. Keri Randolph, Betsy McCright, Bob Bosworth and Karlene Claridy. I am so grateful for the generosity of the City of Chattanooga. The donation of the Airport Inn was the catalyst that ultimately became Provident Place."

Provident Place is a private-public-philanthropic partnership involving at least seven private companies and 33 public entities or non-profits. More than a dozen community partners will provide services and support to families at the shelter, including Big Brothers Big Sisters, the American Job Center, Chattanooga State Community College, the AIM Center, Chattanooga Room at the Inn, Parkridge Hospital, Volunteer Behavioral Health, Homeless Health Care, LifeSpring Community Health, the Chattanooga Autism Center, Head Start, Rock Point Church, Orchard Knob Church, the Hamilton County Medical Society, and East Ridge Church of Christ.

Local companies providing products or services to Provident Place include Tinker Ma, Zirkops Security, Playcore, Home Depot, Quality Fencing, Barnhart Energy Co, and Ooltewah Nursery. Governmental agencies providing services to families served by the shelter include CARTA, the Chattanooga Housing Authority, EPB, Hamilton County Schools, and Hamilton County.