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For more information contact James Moreland at 364-1697Donations are tax deductible.Checks or money orders may be made out to the East Chattanooga Improvement Inc. and marked for “Healing On Both Sides”
Amy Smartt has to provide Christmas for her grandchildren because the children's mother was murdered and their father was arrested for the crime.
It's been more than a year since 20-year-old Keiara Patton was shot in the head. Smartt, Patton's mother, said she still cries daily.
But instead of focusing on her pain, Smartt joined a host of parents and law enforcement officers working to help other grandparents get Christmas gifts for their grandchildren.
"'Healing on Both Sides' is just trying to come together to help kids left without a parent," Smartt said.
The support group of mothers and fathers who have lost loved ones to murder will collect financial donations for grandparents raising grandchildren at the Shell gas station on Wilcox Boulevard, across from the Avondale Youth and Family Development Center, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today.
The money will be used for Christmas gifts and supplies for the children of murdered or jailed parents.
James Moreland, who founded "Healing on Both Sides," said he knows of about 100 local children being raised by grandparents because of violence.
More than 3,800 grandparents in Hamilton County are raising their grandchildren, according to the Grandparents Raising Grand Children Awareness page on Facebook.
Sometimes local grandmothers struggle to provide for the children, said Moreland.
More than 760 Hamilton County grandparents raising their grandchildren live in poverty.
Being the primary caregiver of small children is not a role most grandparents expect or plan. Many of them are focused on retirement and aren't prepared for the financial toll that comes with raising children, he said.
Smartt's daughter died just before Smartt's youngest child turned 18. Smartt had planned to travel and start her own business, but instead the 39-year-old is raising her daughter's two young children.
Smartt said she's not worried about Christmas at her house. Her grandchildren, ages 2 and 4, ask for Doc McStuffins and Mickey Mouse toys that she can't afford now, but she expects to get them something later.
Moreland said he wants no child to lack anything on Christmas.
"The children didn't cause any problem. They are also victims," he said. "Because of the decision of others, some of them will grow up without one or both of their parents."
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 757-6431.