C.O.N.N.E.C.T. Ministries answers call to receive supplies for warming center

By Tribune Staff KNOXVILLE, TN — Executive Director Keira Wyatt heard the call and just as she has for almost 20 years, she is providing a space for the All Call to the Community of Knoxville: The nonprofit I AM The Voice of the Voiceless is sending out a call to the people, organizations and churches of Knoxville to fill the storehouses of the spaces designated as Warming Centers for the unhoused during the coming winter months. Wyatt knows it’s not the first time Vivian Shipe, executive director of the organization, has made this call.& Shipe and State Rep. Gloria Johnson held the first warming center a few years ago, turning the democratic headquarters on Morgan Street into a space of refuge against the cold, going out into the community, under the bridge and on the streets, bringing in those who could not get to safety, providing blankets, hot drinks and a meal. Following an appeal to Pastor Evans by Shipe, Eternal Life Harvest Center stepped up and opened it’s gym for the winter and others soon followed. The need is urgent. Just two weeks ago, Shipe spoke to city council about the coming winter and the need to help...