The Northside Neighborhood House will celebrate its 94th anniversary of serving the community on Feb. 14. The NNH started as a small settlement house, but has grown to serve over 5,000 neighbors in need each year through direct assistance and educational programming.
“We are excited to continue the legacy of our founders who established a neighborhood center in 1924 as a way to help those in need around them,” says Rachel Gammon, CEO of the NNH. “They wanted to move their neighbors toward stability and self sufficiency so they taught them skills like quilting and offered education programs for children and adults. Our team is honored to continue their work today, almost one hundred years later.”
Today, the NNH is comprised of two offices and three thrift stores. Service is provided to the community through three programs: Emergency Direct Assistance (help with food, utility bills, prescriptions and supplemental programs), Education for Children and Adults and three Thrift Stores. The NNH’s main office is located on the Northshore and they have a second office in Soddy Daisy for neighbors living in North Hamilton County.
“We have seen tremendous growth in recent years, which has allowed us to respond to community needs, establishing additional programs, like our Healthy Families Program that provides computer and cooking classes and Family Dinner Nights,” says Gammon. “Through a partnership with Chattanooga 2.0 and Red Bank High School, we launched the first Community School in Hamilton County in early 2017. We are eager to expand our Community School work to other schools in the future.”
To help celebrate the agency’s birthday, community members can make a donation to the NNH by visiting
www.nnhouse.org/donate. They are also encouraging offices and civic groups to collect 94 items (such as toiletries, soups and canned vegetables) for their on-site food pantry. To learn more about how you can help the NNH celebrate, follow them on Facebook by liking “Northside Neighborhood House.”