TDHS Announces Grant Recipients

The Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) announced on Wednesday the first round of 40 grants recipients for the Families First Community Grant Program, an initiative that will award more than $95 million in funding to organizations providing innovative direct services to support Tennessee families in need. The grant program was created through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Opportunity Act, bi-partisan legislation which was passed and signed by Governor Bill Lee in May 2021 in an effort to effectively spend a surplus of federal TANF funds. Among the 40 recipients were several Cock County organizations…including the Cocke County High School. Funds awarded to the Cocke County High School will go to the “Leader in Me” program. That program creates a culture led by students who are encouraged to find their voice and develop critical skills to help them successfully navigate college, career, and life breaking the cycle of poverty for families.

Others receiving funds in Cocke County are: A Step Ahead Foundation of East Tennessee…which provides marginalized women with the economic, physical, and psychosocial resources and support to access the most effective form of birth control, Long-acting Reversible Contraception (LARC), at no cost to them.

Goodwill Industries of Knoxville; The Salvation Army of Tennessee; Save The Children Foundation; and the TBI’s Dangerous Drugs Task Force which operated in Cocke & Sevier counties.

The families First Community Grant Program will also open the next application process for a second round in the coming weeks with approximately $30 million in additional funding available for community organizations.