In 1974, Tennessee Baptist Adult Homes was founded when Tennessee Baptists saw the need for developing a residential ministry for the aging senior adult population in the state.
Fifty years later, TBAH is still meeting that original need, but has expanded its ministry to include residential care for adults with exceptional needs.
The ministry of Tennessee Baptist Adult Homes is as important as ever, especially when it comes to taking care of adults with exceptional needs, observed Mark Anderson, who is only the fourth president/treasurer of the Tennessee Baptist Convention entity in its 50-year history. The others were Wade Darby, J.L. Ford and Kenny Cooper.
Seeking assurance
Anderson said the ministry answers the question asked by aging parents who have disabled children or children with intellectual disabilities, “What will happen to our children when we can’t care for them anymore?”
These parents want the assurance that their adult children will have the care they need when they are gone, he noted.
In addition, Anderson said, the group homes answer a call from Jesus Christ in Matthew 25:40 (HCSB) — “ ‘… Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ ”
TBAH currently operates residential homes for adults with exceptional needs — two in Knoxville, two in Lebanon and one each in Jacksboro and Hermitage.
In addition, the TBC entity operates the Deer Lake Retirement Community in Nashville and the Baptist Village of Johnson City, for a total of eight ministry facilities ministering to about 200 adults.
While TBAH receives Cooperative Program funding, the group home ministry relies on the disability income of residents and income generated by the annual Father’s Day Offering collected by Tennessee Baptist churches.
“The cost of care for the residents of our group homes exceed what the residents’ disability payments cover,” Anderson said. “Ninety-eight percent of the Father’s Day Offering helps offset what their income does not cover,” he noted.
The residential facilities for senior adults are self-sustaining, added Anderson who has served at the TBAH for 35 years, including the last eight years as president/treasurer.
In this year’s Father’s Day Offering video, Anderson asks Tennessee Baptists to help meet the offering’s goal of $500,000 for the first time in the offering’s 23-year history.
Though the offering is collected on Father’s Day, it can be given any time. “We are honoring our fathers, not a day,” Anderson said. “You will be expressing your gratitude for the ‘Generation of Generosity’ that has made this ministry possible in the first place.”
Anderson has an ideal goal of the offering reaching $800,000. “This is what we need in order to not have further operational deficits,” he said.
The video includes the story of Brooke Fleenor, who became a member of the Rainbow Acres Jacksboro family last August.
Lives changed ‘for the good’
Brooke said her mother died in January of last year, leaving her homeless. “I fell on some really hard times,” she acknowledged. She learned of the ministry of Rainbow Acres and was accepted into the home.
“Rainbow Acres has changed my life for the good,” she affirmed. “Now, I have a job and have met new friends through work and the church. I’m thankful for Rainbow Acres for giving me a home and a family,” she said.
Anderson is extremely grateful for Tennessee Baptist churches who have given faithfully over the years, but more churches are needed in order to keep the ministry viable for “the least of these.”
For information on how to give and resources for your church, visit www.tnbaptisthomes.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Lonnie Wilkey and originally published by Baptist and Reflector.
