
Yolanda Putman has been a reporter at the Times Free Press for 11 years. She covers housing and previously covered education and crime.
Yolanda is a Chattanooga native who has a master’s degree in communication from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Alabama State University. She previously worked at the Lima (Ohio) News.
She enjoys running, reading and writing and is the mother of one son, Tyreese.
She has also received the Media Award from the Unity Group.
Contact Yolanda at 423-757-6431 or yputman@timesfreepress.com.
Recent Stories »
Nearly two dozen ministers from different denominations are launching a local voter empowerment movement in Chattanooga to make sure no person who is eligible and wants to vote is denied the right.
The Great Recession carried special pain for black women like Jane Ladson. She had always been the one her family members turned to when they needed help, and she didn’t hesitate to give it. She helped pay for weddings and rent.
Westside residents say they don't want "Purpose Built" in their community and they're asking other public housing residents to stand with them against the destruction of more public housing sites.
Jocelyn Johnson wanted to ask a question about the future of College Hill Courts, the largest public housing site in the city, but she had to stop crying first.
HIV doesn't just target people in poverty, gay people or promiscuous people. It can happen to anybody, said Cynthia Rodgers, a HIV/AIDS advocate and author from Birmingham, Ala.
A nonprofit that found jobs for at least 200 felons a year for more than a decade lost its funding in 2011. As gang violence simmers and members of an increasing prison population return to the streets, ex-felons say the need is even greater for the jobs program at Chattanooga Endeavors.
Westside residents attending a meeting of the Chattanooga City Council's Housing Committee thought they were going to comment on a proposed plan that could put a new, mixed-use community in their neighborhood.
Some Westside residents say they did not invite the Atlanta-based Purpose Built Communities to revitalize their neighborhood.
Jesse Lawrence has smoked for more than 20 years, but she supports the Chattanooga Housing Authority's policy to make Fairmount Apartments the first nonsmoking public housing site in the city.
Mark Abrell had no money and no medical or dental insurance, so he suffered for more than a month with a toothache.






