Morgan-Scott Project

MSP News Editor Ray Boles

We don’t usually like to keep track of good deeds, but when I read Executive Director Ella Smith’s January Newsletter which reviewed activities for 2009, I was staggered by the number of people helped by Morgan-Scott Project.  I write about them here so that our supporters will know how much their gifts are accomplishing and how much they are appreciated.  Here are some of the numbers:

Emergency aid in the form of help with utility bills, rent, medical co-pay, and medication were provided for 1,236 individuals in 409 families.  A total of 614 food boxes were provided to feed 1,663 individuals.  The MSP-sponsored Scott County Homeless Shelter provided food and shelter to 30 men, 35 women and 35 children for a total of 1,965 bed stays.  Fifteen workgroups totaling 193 volunteers built 12 wheelchair ramps while upgrading 15 homes.  Backpacks were provided for 27 children.  A total of 59 adults were assisted in job training at the Tennessee Technology Center.  Three high school seniors received $500 scholarships to attend Roane State Community College.  The Good Earth Program provided seeds, plants, and fertilizer to 384 families for their home gardens. Thanks to the combined efforts of MSP, The Unicorn Fund, and the Salvation Army, 2,832 children in 858 families received Christmas gifts. 

It is impossible to know the exact number, but we estimate that at least 7,500 people in Morgan and Scott counties were assisted in 2009.  This is approximately 18% of the combined population of these two counties.  That there are these many people in need of help should not be surprising given the December 2009 statistics which show 12.3 % unemployment in Morgan County and 18.8% in Scott County.  This compares to 10.0% in the U.S. and 10.9% in Tennessee.  By contrast, the more urban Knox and Hamilton counties had unemployment rates of 8.1 and 8.9%, respectively. Times are tough all over, but they are especially tough in rural America.

This was accomplished on MSP expenditures of $175,000, but of course this does not count the many gifts in kind of toys, clothing, and labor.  Ultimately it was accomplished thanks to the many churches and individuals who contributed their time, money, and energy to help the people of Morgan and Scott Counties.  It was much needed and very much appreciated.

Article by Ray Boles

MSP Treasurer Tamia Bible

The Morgan Scott Project is very pleased to report that only 23 cents of every dollar contributed went to overhead during 2009, leaving 77 cents available for our charitable programs.  Overhead represents the cost of operating the organization and it has been our goal to reduce all operating expenses in order to increase the amount that we are able to spend on our programs, such as emergency aid, home repair, educational assistance, and others.  Since the end of 2007, 14 more cents of every dollar contributed is going directly to programs.  At that time, 37 cents of every dollar had to be spent on overhead as compared to 23 cents this year. 

The Project completed 2009 with total receipts of approximately $180,000 and total expenditures (both programs and overhead) of about $175,000 for a slight surplus of approximately $5,000.  We were concerned at the end of the third quarter because receipts had not kept pace with expenditures at that point, but due to the generosity of our many contributors, we were able to make up that deficit. 

Our largest charitable program in terms of expenditures is Emergency Aid.  We spent approximately $48,000 in 2009 to assist residents of Morgan and Scott Counties in Tennessee with rent, utilities, and other emergency needs.  Almost $16,000 was spent on home repairs for individuals, such as wheel chair ramps, new roofs, and other repairs.  $13,000 went to our New Light educational program, which assists individuals with education that will enable them to support themselves and their families.  We also spent about $5,000 each on providing food boxes to those in need as well as on our Good Earth program, which provides seeds and seedlings for a home garden.  These are just some of the programs that your contributions support.

2010 has started off with a major layoff in one of the largest employers in Scott County.  This will probably force Scott County’s unemployment percentage, already the second highest in the state at 18.8%, even higher.  Your contributions in the upcoming year, be they money, time, or items for our thrift store, will help make a difference.  Thank you to all. 

Article by Tamia Bible

A Good Earth Home Garden

Janet lives in Sunbright, Tennessee,  and has been a gardener for many years.  She has been acquainted with a variety of Morgan-Scott Projects.  As a matter of fact, she is a regular customer at the thrift store and has family members who help sort stock.  Still, this is the first year she has received seeds from the MSP Good Earth Program.  Due to the success of her garden last summer, it will likely not be the last time her family will enjoy being part of the spring seed distribution program.

Janet and her husband both tended this very fruitful garden.   “It was wet this summer, which was great for the vegetables,” said Janet.   “Two rows of bush beans yielded 25 gallons.”  What an amazing result!  We also talked about fertilizer, which was obtained from a local plant which also had some tomatoes for the families.

This fall and winter the family is enjoying potatoes, corn, okra, green peppers and beans thanks to their diligent work and help from MSP.  The site of the families’ canning efforts is their garage.  Her daughters help by bringing their supplies, so they get the job done in half the time.  The oldest daughter brings her pressure cooker.  “I have had some bad experiences with that method”, said Janet, ”so I continue to use the cold bath method.”

Prayer is a vital component to the success of gardening for the Brock family. Janet tells us that she was ready to serve her roast chicken when she went out in the garden to round out her dinner with fruits of the harvest.  Shovel in hand, she prayed to find some potatoes and did.  Next she said, “Lord I need an onion,” and found one.  Thus it went until she had enough to serve her family a lovely dinner.  The Lord does answer prayers.

Last year Morgan-Scott distributed seeds, plants and fertilizer for home gardens to 384 families.  The Good Earth seed distribution is planned for April 10^th this year.  If you would like to donate vegetable seeds they are needed by April 5.  If you would like to donate money to buy seeds, plants or fertilizer, you can do so anytime by sending your contributions to Morgan-Scott Project, PO Box 8, Deer Lodge, TN 37726.  If you have questions call us at (423)965-3131.

Article by Sonja DuBois

[Editor’s note:  Mike Stallings is the choir director at Concord UMC near Knoxville, TN and is also a student at Asbury Theological Seminary.  He wrote this report as his Seminary Kingdom Project after spending two days working at MSP.  It is reprinted here because it gives an outsider’s perspective of typical activities at MSP]

For my Kingdom Project I elected to volunteer my time and whatever skills I could offer to the Morgan-Scott Project, a non-profit relief agency that serves Morgan and Scott Counties in northern Tennessee.  I was acquainted with the agency through the support efforts of my church, but had not been involved in ways other than encouraging my choir members to support food and toy drives.  The Kingdom Project was an opportunity to serve in a direct way, while also gaining a first-hand perspective of the problems faced by one of the state’s most economically disadvantaged areas and the efforts being made to eliminate some of those problems.

The Morgan-Scott Project is only about an hour and quarter’s drive from my home, but in many ways it is like driving to a foreign land.  To get there, I had to travel to Deer Lodge, TN, which is off the main highway that runs through Sunbright – a town named by someone with a deep appreciation for either irony or sarcasm.  I was immediately struck by the lack of industrial or commercial areas.  This is rural America, beautiful with natural scenery, but also clearly lacking in opportunities for economic gain without hard work.  Morgan-Scott is a compound with a warehouse for donations, an office, a thrift store, storage for food donations, and housing areas for missionary work groups.  They provide immediate help to those in need by providing food, but also offer help with gaining GED’s, small home repair for those unable to do the work themselves or who can’t afford to have it done, and help with utilities or rent payments.  Perhaps most importantly, they are guides –pointing the way to other avenues of help or opportunity that people may be unaware of.

My jobs varied.  I began by helping unload a church van full of donations from our church.  During the two days I was there, I helped sort items for the thrift store, helped compose letters to be sent to donors, carried food boxes to the cars of recipients, and helped unload a truck of donated food from a local food bank.  The most important job, however, was to pay attention and learn.  I asked questions, some of which I am sure were insulting due to my ignorance.  I listened, I watched closely, and I learned what it is like to be actively engaged in bringing God’s kingdom to the world.

The director of Morgan-Scott, Ella Smith, knows the people of the area and their condition intimately.  She grew up nearby, the 10^th of 18 children raised in a small home with no running water or electricity.  She moved away, became a successful businesswoman, but felt called to come back and assist those who were struggling.  She is tireless, doing everything from filling out countless grant forms to washing potatoes that will be placed in food boxes.  She is assisted by Holly Williams.  The two are constantly busy, talking to people who drop in for assistance, and answering continual phone calls for people in need of help.  In the small breaks, there are government forms to complete, food shelves to restock, and clothes to be sorted.  In the midst of their business, I didn’t hear a single word of complaint or judgment of those asking for help.  The office reflects the nature of Ella’s discipleship:  don’t question the need in the moment; in the moment, alleviate the need.

In my brief time at Morgan-Scott, I learned that the needs of people are seemingly greater than the capacity to fill them.  I learned that confronting those needs is intensely difficult work, and that the battle is often with ignorance and lack of education as well as financial shortfalls.  More importantly, I learned that there is desperate need out of the view, and thus out of the minds, of upper middle-class suburban churches like my own.  That perhaps is the most important thing that I learned in my time with Ella and Holly.  My ongoing job is to help raise awareness both of the needs of the people in Morgan and Scott Counties and of the valiant efforts of those disciples who work long hours to do what they can.

I stated earlier that I was asked to compose a letter to donors.  I was honored to do so.  I’m including a portion of that letter that is my honest assessment of the work being done at Morgan-Scott Project:

“Jesus proclaimed that he came to bring good news to the poor, release to the captive, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed.  At Morgan-Scott we are constantly trying to follow Christ’s lead in proclaiming God’s news of help and hope; releasing those held captive by ignorance and lack of education; bringing a vision of possibility to those blinded by constant worry; and freedom from the oppression of poverty and need.”

Article by Mike Stallings

Joel Zibelin Plays at COS Coffee House

Knoxville’s Church of the Savior UCC has developed a unique and fun tradition to support Morgan-Scott Project.  For many years they have held a Christmas Coffee House event where talented church members and friends perform by singing, playing instruments, reading poetry, or performing in other ways, according to their talents.  Donations of money and toys are collected and taken to MSP before Christmas as part of a program to insure that all children in Morgan and Scott Counties have Christmas presents.  What a great way demonstrate God’s love for children while having fun!

With unemployment officially at 11.7% in Morgan County and 17.8% in Scott County, this fills a great need.  Many churches and social service agencies, including Morgan-Scott Project, Appalachian Life Quality Initiative, the Unicorn Fund, the Salvation Army, and Mission of Hope, and have worked together to donate over 3000 toys to under-served children in these counties.

Thanks to Church of the Savior for their gifts and for demonstarting that there are fun ways to support a deserving charity.  We would love to hear from other churches who have found creative ways to support Morgan-Scott.

Article by Joel Zibelin and Ray Boles

Our 9/26/09 post saluted Bob Wright for his many weeks of volunteer work at Morgan-Scott Project this summer.   Bob spent 8 weeks of his summer leading work groups from Maryland. Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, as they built wheel chair ramps and did some much needed home repair in Morgan and Scott County.

Bob is also president of the Morgan County Cattleman’s Association, where he works very hard at fund raising to provide scholarships for high school seniors who intend to major in Agriculture.

In  honor of his time and hard work, the Board of Directors at Morgan Scott was very pleased to present  Bob with a certificate of appreciation along with a check for $500.00 for his scholarship fund.  This is consistent with the mission of Morgan-Scott to help individuals and families become self-sustaining members of the community and with the MSP Board’s policy of working cooperatively with other organizations which serve this  area.

The certificate and check were presented to Bob by Executive Director Ella Smith at the Morgan County Cattleman’s Association’s Christmas dinner on December 1.

Article by Holly Williams and Ray Boles

Although it is the primary objective of MSP to help individuals and families become healthy, productive, and self sustaining, we recognize that some people in the community are elderly and/or disabled and just need compassionate Christian care.  One of the ways this is addressed is through our Home Repair program.  Frequently, older and disabled folks are unable to do their own home repairs and have meager resources with which to pay for even the most basic necessities.  Some use walkers or are confined to wheelchairs so that it is difficult for them to even leave their homes.

Our 8/22/09 post recognized groups from Knoxville and Bristol, TN, Caledonia, MI, and Orrville, OH, as well as some local volunteers who came to Morgan-Scott during the first part of the summer.  Since then, we have had groups from Dittner, MO, Harrisburg, PA, and Catonsville and Baltimore, MD.  Each of these groups improved the quality of life for at least one family in Morgan or Scott County.  Three of these groups brought adults with experience in home repairs along with some youth who were willing to work hard.

A group of 10 adults and 11 youth from Colonial Park UCC in Harrisburg, PA worked on the yard of Margie, who was recently widowed.  They cleaned her yard, removing a lot of overgrown shrubbery, replaced some boards, repaired gutters, painted the outside of her home, and replaced the outdoor carpet on her front porch.  Then they worked on the home of an elderly lady named Ruth, cleaning and repairing her yard, painting the outside of her house and one room on the inside.

A group from St. John’s UCC in Catonsville, MD returned this year and brought friends from the United Evangelical Church in Baltimore.  They totaled 15 very able adults and 9 older youth.  They built a long and difficult wheelchair ramp for Alberta in Lancing, removed an old and unsafe porch, built a new porch, painted her roof, and cleaned her yard.  Alberta’s situation was especially difficult.  This is the third group to work on her home.  They also built a wheelchair ramp for David, a single gentleman who has had trouble walking since his hip and knee replacement. 

Then this industrious group went to work on the home of Clifton and Phyllis who are both disabled, he due to a heart condition and her due to a stroke that left her partially paralyzed.  They underpinned their trailer, put steps on their back porch, replaced a front door, removed the bath tub and replaced it with a walk-in shower, and replaced the floor covering in the bathroom, living room and kitchen.

Some of the groups paid for all of the materials used in their work, some paid for part of the materials.  One group even left a check to fund a scholarship for a CNA student in our New Light Program.  The remaining materials will be paid for by grants or the contributions of other supporters, but nothing can replace the hard work and compassion shown by these wonderful volunteers.

Article by Ella Smith and Ray Boles

Bob Hirst, Ella Smith, and Fred Weller

Barb Buell and Alex Ebneth at FFGCC-MSP Pantry

Morgan-Scott Project could not exist without the support of many churches.  One of our most faithful supporters is the Fairfield Glade Community Church (FFGCC).  Located in nearby Cumberland County, Tennessee, Fairfield Glade is a resort and retirement community.  FFGCC is an interdenominational congregation of more than 400 members from at least 15 different faith traditions.  FFGCC is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ.

Each year FFGCC holds a Mission Partner Fair where each of their mission partners have the opportunity to display information, talk to members, and answer questions about the services they render.  This year Executive Director Ella Smith represented Morgan-Scott Project at the Mission Fair.

Like many churches, FFGCC finds creative ways to support its missions.  Each month members bring food and other supplies to their Fellowship Dinners.  Later, one of the members, usually volunteer fireman Fred Weller, trucks these supplies to MSP where they are distributed to needy families.

In addition, each Sunday morning when tithes and offerings are received, all dimes found in the collection plate are placed in a special fund known as the “Dimes Only Offering”.  Then the Mission Committee allocates donations to Morgan-Scott and to other Mission Partners.  Rumor has it that the members of FFGCC dig extra deep each Sunday to find all those dimes.

Thanks, Fairfield Glade Community Church.  You are making a difference!

Article by Bob Hirst and Ray Boles

MSP News Editor Ray Boles

Morgan-Scott Project (MSP) was founded on Christian concern for the poor in Morgan and Scott counties in rural Tennessee.  Our primary mission is to develop and implement programs that enable impoverished individuals and families within these counties to become healthy, productive, self sustaining members of the community.  A secondary objective is to provide compassionate relief for the elderly and disabled of this community.

MSP derives most of its support from churches and from individuals within those churches.  MSP is non-denominational.  All churches are invited to participate.  It is most appropriate that churches support efforts to help impoverished people because poverty and spiritual problems are so often intertwined.

In their book, “When Helping Hurts”, Corbett and Fikkert point out that the primary causes of poverty are (1) lack of knowledge, (2) oppression, (3) poor life choices, and (4) lack of material resources.  The solutions to poverty, they point out, depend on the causes.  The solution may be (1) education, (2) social justice, (3) changes in lifestyle, or (4) gifts of material resources.  The key is to choose a solution that corrects the root cause.  Though gifts of material resources may be necessary to provide temporary relief and to learn the root cause, they only rarely correct the real problem.

Lack of knowledge, oppression, and poor life choices often lead to material poverty.  When material poverty is present for an extended period of time it may lead to a loss of hope, and that is a spiritual problem.  Oppression itself frequently leads to loss of hope.  Poor life choices are often the result of a lack of spiritual orientation – lack of a relationship with God.  One could even call ignorance, oppression and sin a kind of spiritual poverty.  To repeatedly supply an individual with material gifts when the real cause of his or her situation is lack of education, oppression, or poor life choices only reinforces the spiritual poverty.

Morgan-Scott Project seeks to learn the causes of poverty in this community and to develop programs to address these causes.  This is not an easy task.  Often it is necessary to provide temporary relief while the cause of an individual’s troubles can be ascertained and addressed.

At the same time, we recognize that some people, because of age or infirmity, are unable to help themselves.  To these we extend material relief to demonstrate God’s love to them.

Jesus’ ministry focused on the poor.  He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on  me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).  We hope that you and your church will recognize the relationship between spiritual poverty and material poverty and join us in this endeavor.

Article by Ray Boles

MSP Treasurer Tamia Bible

One of Morgan-Scott Project’s primary goals has been to reduce overhead, or the cost to operate the organization.  By reducing operating expenses, more money is available for charitable programs.  We are very pleased to report that since the end of 2007 an additional 12 cents of every dollar is going to support our mission.  At the end of 2007, 37 cents of every dollar had to be spent on overhead, leaving 63 cents for charitable programs.  Now only 25 cents of every dollar has to be spent on operating overhead, and 75 cents of every dollar is going to our mission of helping the needy of Morgan and Scott counties in Tennessee.

Ultimately, our goal is to cover overhead with the proceeds of our thrift store in Deer Lodge, TN.  This would enable us to apply 100% of every donated dollar to mission programs.  Currently, the thrift store covers approximately one-third of operating overhead.  Many improvements have been made to the store in the past year which we hope will contribute to increased sales and cover more overhead.  However, we want to emphasize that prices are still kept low because the store is part of our ministry to those needing clothing and household goods.

The Project completed the 3rd quarter of 2009 with total receipts of approximately $110,000 and total expenditures (both program and overhead) of $127,000, for a negative change in assets (loss) of approximately $17,000.  Although receipts have not kept up with expenditures at this point, we are hopeful that 4th quarter contributions will make up the difference as has happened in past years.

We are grateful to all who have contributed items for the thrift store, time, and money so far this year.  You are making a difference.

Article by Tamia Bible