KNOXVILLE — Knox Area Rescue Ministries has placed 38 former guests of its homeless shelter into permanent housing at Morningside Gardens Apartments since September through its AfterCare program. The Knoxville complex is undergoing renovations and accepting applications for newly renovated units, including several reserved for referrals from the ministry.

The AfterCare program, run by Terry Bray, helps former shelter guests transition into permanent housing. Bray described the adjustment facing those leaving the shelter for an apartment of their own. "When someone in crisis comes to us for help at KARM, we're able to give them a period of healing and of rest and gather people around them that care for them and support them and encourage them," Bray said. "So, they go from being housed with 250 to 300 other people each day, always having daytime activities, having a place to sleep at night to moving into an apartment with no furniture and no provisions and so they're staring at four walls, they're alone and isolated and no one."

Bernard Lee Adkins moved into Morningside Gardens in February, one of the 38 placements made through the program since last September. Nichole Kuznicki, the property manager at Morningside Gardens, said the partnership with the ministry has accelerated the application process for incoming residents coming out of the shelter system. "I'm getting them in almost as quickly as 10 days from start to finish with the help of KARM, getting all their documents, and getting them off the street and into housing," Kuznicki said.

The complex houses seniors ages 62 and older and people with disabilities. "We're really trying to not just house the homeless but also house the mentally disabled, the physically disabled, the elderly," she said. "We kind of thrive on that. That's not only our policy, but it's also just a passion to help those who are struggling that way and who need housing."

Bray also cited the value of community support for those making the transition. "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor," he said. "If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But, pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up."