In celebration of Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter’s new designation as a Parents As Tender Healers training facility for Southeast Tennessee, the Shelter held a ribbon cutting Tuesday. As a result of a $25,000 donation from Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C. for facility renovations earlier this year, the state of Tennessee awarded Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter a PATH contract to train foster parents throughout the Tennessee Valley and South Central Tennessee.
PATH is a nine-week course designed to orient prospective individuals to becoming adoptive, foster and kinship care parents. Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter has already trained more than 200 parents since the program began in May, helping to ensure that foster children are placed in qualified, approved foster homes.
“The support Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel provided was a determining factor in our ability to accept the PATH contract,” said Susan Stein, assistant director of development at Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter. “Every child deserves to live in a loving environment, and the PATH designation will help us to provide that for area foster children. In addition, the renovations have greatly improved the facility’s overall aesthetics.”
In partnership with Office Coordinators Inc., the Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter was able to furnish five rooms with the money donated by Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel. The Children’s Home was established in 1872, making it one of the oldest nonprofits and first 24 hour per day, 365 days per year child care facility in the area. Today, the nonprofit cares for more than 350 children ranging from six weeks to 12 years old, with fees based on a sliding scale.
The Chambliss Shelter began in 1946, when, as a result of seeing abused and neglected children coming through his court with no safe place to go, Judge Alexander W. Chambliss donated the money to build the Alexander W. Chambliss Home. In 1982, the facility relocated to the Children's Home campus, where both programs became known jointly as Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter.
“In carrying out the tradition that Judge Chambliss started more than 65 years ago, we feel honored and extremely thankful to be able to give this donation to the Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter,” said Dana Perry, managing partner for Chambliss.