Sample Page - Tennessee Resettlement Aid

Many needed almost everything, a bed to sleep in, food in the refrigerator, household necessities, clothing for their children, and someone willing to help them navigate an unfamiliar community.

TRA was created to help fill those gaps. Since 2021, we have provided food and essential assistance to more than 7,000 individuals in need, helping families through some of the most difficult periods of their lives.

Over the past several years, our donors, volunteers, and community partners have helped families take important steps forward. Children have started school. Parents have found jobs. Families have established homes. Many of the people we once assisted regularly have become increasingly independent and no longer need our help.

That is what success looks like. But success does not mean the need has disappeared.

The Need Is Changing.

Today, we serve approximately 200 families in our community who continue to need support, and they are facing a different set of challenges.

The cost of groceries, housing, gasoline, diapers, formula, and other necessities has increased significantly. At the same time, changes to public assistance programs and eligibility requirements are putting additional pressure on families already living close to the financial edge. Uncertainty surrounding immigration status and enforcement has created additional fear and hardship.

These pressures are changing what families need from TRA.

A few years ago, the most urgent request might have been a bed, a winter coat, or a backpack for a child starting school. Today, increasingly, the needs are much more basic.

But the road to self-sufficiency is rarely a straight line. A family can be working, paying rent, raising children, and doing everything right, and still be one lost benefit, unexpected expense, or emergency away from falling backward.

That is where TRA can make a difference. We know the families we serve, listen to what they actually need, and can respond quickly when a family faces a genuine crisis.

This fall, rather than focusing on another traditional seasonal campaign, we are directing our efforts toward the most urgent needs facing families today.

Our Fall Campaign has set a goal to raise $65,000 by December 31
to meet these changing needs while positioning TRA to enter the new year prepared to do even more.

As you have done in the past, will you help us take care of these families in need?

We invite you to join TRA’s Partners Program with a gift of $1,000 or more, providing TRA with the resources and flexibility to respond wherever the need is greatest. And if your employer offers a matching gift program, your contribution may have twice the impact.

A gift of $150 can help feed a family for a month. A gift of $200 can help provide food and diapers. A gift of $1,000 helps TRA respond wherever the need is greatest.

TRA intends to be there to provide a helping hand when it is needed most, helping families regain their footing, continue moving toward independence, and build successful lives in the community they now call home.

The needs have evolved. Our commitment hasn’t. With your help, neither will our ability to respond.

Thank you for your continued support. It means the world to us.

With appreciation,
Jeff Schenkel
Executive Director