Metropolitan Ministries, the 40-year-old church-sponsored program that has helped thousands of Chattanoogans pay their bills and put food on the table, is moving south.
MetMin will relocate from its McCallie Avenue site, which lacks enough parking, to a renovated former Choo Choo Printing facility on Rossville Boulevard and will be one of a half dozen social service agencies offering services in a new “Impact Hub” by late summer.
“We’re trying to better serve our guests in a location where poverty is deep and sticky, and to do so in collaboration and cooperation with like-minded service agencies as partners,” said Rebecca Whelchel, executive director of Metropolitan Ministries for the past 14 years. “In addition, the new facility will be large enough to accommodate programmatic, collaborative and service growth for at least the next 15 years.”
Whelchel said MetMin has outgrown its current site at 1112 McCallie Ave., where it has been located for nearly 15 years but recently lost part of its parking facilities and is in violation of several fire codes. As Highland Park has attracted wealthier renters and home buyers, Whelchel said, the ministry is eager to locate nearer to where many of those in need reside.
“We like to go to places where most people don’t,” Whelchel said.