History
Y.E.S. began in 1974 as an idea formulated by concerned citizens who became aware that the only placements available to meet the needs of children in crisis situations were a limited number of foster homes and local jails.
In 1975, Y.E.S. was chartered by the State of Tennessee as a Private-Nonprofit Corporation and is governed by a twenty-seven member volunteer Board of Directors. Plans were made to acquire property and to build a facility. Led by the Federated Women's Club, local churches, civic organizations, the entire community became involved in raising over $200,000 to build the facility.
Construction of the permanent shelter was delayed. The YES Board of Directors had achieved approval of a Law Enforcement Planning Agency Grant for operating expenses that would be revoked if YES did not begin providing residential care for children. The decision was made by the Board of Directors to rent a temporary facility. With the aid and leadership of the Federated Women's Clubs of Morristown a "home" was furnished, stocked and prepared for abused, needy and troubled children.
YES began providing shelter care for children on January 1, 1979 when the first two children (ages 2 and 4) were admitted to the YES temporary shelter located in a three bedroom rental house in West Morristown. In the beginning of YES, Eddie and Betty Davis were the entire staff and they lived in the temporary shelter, (with their daughter Kimberly who was born December 28, 1978 and arrived "home" also on 1-1-79), for 161 days admitting 69 children and providing 449 days of care for an average of 2.8 children in shelter per day. The temporary shelter was licensed be the Tennessee Department of Human Services to care for a maximum of four children per day. Joyce Wright was hired in April of 1979 to provide the Davis' ten (10) hours of free time per week. The temporary shelter was closed on June 10, 1979 in preparation to move into the permanent shelter.
A majority of the construction was completed for the first permanent shelter in early June of 1979. Once again with the leadership and aid of the Federated Women's Clubs of Morristown and the Hamblen County Sheriff's Department the new facility was furnished, stocked and prepared for abused, needy and troubled children. Dedication and Open House was held on June 16, 1979 and YES opened for business the next day. Eight children were admitted that first day and YES has been in continuous operation since June 17, 1979, serving 9,613 children from forty counties in Tennessee and runaways from 46 states picked up on our interstate highways. Since June 17, 1979 YES has not had one day without children in their care.
The first permanent shelter was located at 407 West Fifth North Street on a lot donated by the Hamblen County Commission. The building consisted of six bedrooms, three for boys, three for girls, a nursery, a multi-purpose living area, playground, recreational room, and two-room crafts area. In 1993 YES converted the crafts rooms into two classrooms for in-house school. In the late 90's the Board of Director's were concerned about the growing number of children needing YES' services and that the current building did not meet new fire and life safety standards.
Architects were engaged to advise the Board the best way to expand the building to provide additional bedrooms, additional classroom area and administrative space along with bringing the facility up to current fire and health standards.
After much study all three consulting architects separately advised the Board the most economical path to meet YES' needs was to construct a new facility on a separate site. The City of Morristown, under the leadership of Mayor John Johnson, donated a two acre lot located at 320 West Third North Street, approximately 300 yards South East of the first permanent facility. Construction of the new facility began in 2000 and substantially completed in the summer of 2002. The YES children were moved into the new building on August 13, 2002.
The first permanent shelter, located on Fifth North Street, was operated for 8,451 Days (23+ years), admitting 9,379 Children who lived there for 93,187 days-of-care for an average of 11.1 children in shelter per day whose average stay was 9.9 days per child. The first permanent shelter was licensed be the Tennessee Department of Human Services/Tennessee Department of Children's Services to care for a maximum of twelve children per day. After three expansions of the first facility there was approximately 8,500 square feet of space.
The construction of the second permanent shelter, located on West Third Street, began in 2000 and was substantially completed in 2002. The YES children were moved into the new building on August 13, 2002. Highlights of the new shelter include twenty bedrooms for children, four of them designed for multi-use as nurseries for infants and joint sleeping accommodations for young siblings. Adequate spaces was provided for the school, living and recreational areas, a health clinic, and administrative and meeting areas which includes a community room where YES plans to provide Parent Assistance/Training Classes to needy parents. Furnishing the new facility was greatly enhanced by the manufacture and contribution of twenty sets of bedroom furniture by Adams Wood Products and by the contribution of slightly used office furniture by the East Tennessee Community Services Agency. The Hamblen County Sheriff's Department provided the labor and transportation for the move along with Morristown Ford
providing the ongoing use of trucks. The new facility contains almost 20,000 square feet and is designed for future expansion in all areas if the need arises. Cost of the new facility was approximately $2,100,000. Fund Raising for the new YES continued with over $1,650,000 contributed or pledged through 2006.
YES celebrated its 29th birthday in 2007 and welcomed its 12,000th child, including children from more than 40 counties of Tennessee and over 400 out-of-state runaways who came from 46 states. However, approximately 75% of YES residents were from Hamblen, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hawkins, Jefferson and Sevier Counties. As of May 2008 YES has provided over 120,983 days of care for children in need.
YES is in the worst financial state in its history. Unfortunately with the rising cost of food, salaries, and utilities along with the volume of children we are serving and the lack of an increase in state funding in over ten years, Y.E.S. is suffering. We are doing everything we can to hang on. During this difficult time we are reaching out to the public. Y.E.S has also entered into a contractual partnership with the Helen Ross McNabb Center as of June 1, 2008. Y.E.S will continue to provide emergency shelter care as it has since Y.E.S began.
We are so fortunate that the dream of a facility where children may be cared for, while a resolution to their problems is sought, continues to be a REALITY in Hamblen County! Help us maintain this unique facility designed with the needs of children in mind, which stands as a monument to a caring and concerned community. Help us keep this dream alive.