Ending Homelessness in Tennessee

Mr. Hobbs, Dr. Pelot, Director Mangano, 10-Year Plan Director Lawler, Knoxville Mayor Haslam, and Knox County Mayor Ragsdale

Philip Mangano, Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness visited Knoxville, Tennessee in August, 2007, and joined Mayor Bill Haslam to present two local volunteers with the prestigious President's Call to Service Award, saying"Volunteerism is no better understood anywhere in our country than it is here in Tennessee, the Volunteer State. The power of the volunteers and the impact on change in the community, in our neighborhoods and in the lives of our most vulnerable citizens, has a special place here in the great tradition of your state and your city."

In presenting awards to Dr. Reuben Pelot and Kennett Hobbs, Director Mangano noted that the attorney and dentist represent a new standard for volunteerism: "The new volunteerism combines that emergency hands-on approach with the opportunity to volunteer into, not away from, the expertise present in their professional lives. In Dr. Reuben Pelot and Kennett Hobbs we find their professional skills invading their volunteerism and offering legal and medical attention to our homeless neighbors."

Kennett Hobbs has worked as a volunteer with the Volunteer Ministry Center (VMC) for 20 years, starting out as an interviewer in The Refuge program, meeting one on one with individuals in crisis and working with them to find solutions. As an attorney and member of the Bar in the state of Tennessee, Mr. Hobbs also offered free legal assistance to many of Knoxville's poor. Over the years, he has served in every capacity and every program which VMC operates. While he has served several terms on the Board of Directors, Mr. Hobbs pitches in wherever needed, and has conducted several classes including a movie review and discussion group that was highly popular. According to the Volunteer Ministry Center, it would be impossible to overstate the contribution Mr. Hobbs has made to VMC and to homeless people over the years, and a conservative estimate of his volunteer time would easily exceed 10,000 hours over the past 20 years.

Dr. Reuben Pelot was recognized as someone who saw suffering among his neighbors and acted to relieve it. Dr. Pelot volunteered with a group from his church to serve breakfast to people who come to the Volunteer Ministry Center Day Room. As he watched people move through the meal line, he was struck by the number of homeless people who avoided hot or cold food. He soon discovered that their food choices were related to their dental problems and he resolved to do something about it. After recruiting donations of dental equipment, Dr. Pelot established the dental service at VMC, volunteering his day off to see homeless patients who could not pay. The dedication of the Clinic was held in April of 1999 and Dr. Pelot has been coming weekly since that time. Word of this service quickly spread and patients would arrive by three o'clock in the morning to stand in line to be seen by Dr. Pelot. By 2002, the clinic had outgrown its available space and the dental service, along with the medical services offered on other days, moved to a free standing building a half block away. Dr. Pelot not only performs dental procedures, he is also active in fund-raising to keep the dental clinic supplied. Dr. Pelot has volunteered an estimated more than 4240 hours since he began providing dental services to his poorest neighbors in Knoxville. Dr. Pelot has also provided dental services at Project Homeless Connect events in Knoxville. Dr Pelot is assisted in the clinic by his wife Barbara, who currently serves on the Knoxville City Council, and who volunteers each Friday as a dental assistant in the no-fee dental clinic at the Volunteer Ministry Center.