Two local families are getting some much needed repairs and renovations to their homes this week through a coordinated missions project between the TLC Community Center and a church group from just outside of Detroit.
This week, 62 members of Crosspointe Christian Church in Grosspointe Woods, Mich., (a suburb of Detroit), are in Carter County to help support projects of the TLC Community Center.
“They contacted us and said they had heard about our ministry and they wanted to help us out through a service project,” said TLC Community Center Director Angie Odom.
Jason Coplen, the associate pastor of Crosspointe Christian Church, said they first heard about the TLC Community Center through another ministry program located in Carter County.
“We were connected to them through Fairhaven Ministries,” Coplen said. The children’s ministry leader from Crosspointe had once attended a retreat at Fairhaven Ministries and it was through Fairhaven that they learned about the community service ministry projects at the TLC Community Center.
Coplen said Crosspointe has a very active missions program. Each year the teens in the church go on a mission trip and the adult missions team often goes overseas for door-to-door or medical missions work. Last year, the church added a family missions program to encourage parents and children to work on missions projects together.
“This is fairly new for our church,” Coplen said. “Last year was our first family mission and we had about 40 people. This year we have 62.”
As part of the mission trip, the church members divided into three teams. Two teams of adults and teenagers are working on remodeling projects at the home of two county families in need.
“At first I didn’t think we would be doing mini-home makeovers but some things came along that gave us this wonderful opportunity to help two families and impact their lives in a positive way,” Odom said.
Both of the families are currently clients of the TLC Community Center, according to Odom.
“We do home visits with our clients and through these visits we see the different needs they have,” Odom said. “We make a list and then we pray about it and try to see who we can best help.”

When Crosspointe Christian Church contacted Odom about working with the TLC Community Center on a project, Odom began looking for ways to help two local families who were much in need of some repairs to their homes. Odom worked with local businesses, churches and individuals to donate items and money to get the supplies needed for the repairs. Volunteers with Crosspointe also brought items with them and purchased items here to help with the projects.
Some the work being done at the homes includes heavy duty cleaning, painting, installing carpet, minor electrical work, installing new appliances, building porches and other minor construction.
In addition to the two teams of volunteers working on the homes, a third team consisting of adults and younger children are working this week at the TLC Community Center to help with the programs there. On Tuesday, volunteers were busy helping to sort donations for the Center’s “Mommy Mart” program and helping to conduct a general Spring cleaning of the center.
In addition to volunteering their time, talents and donations for the home renovations, the members of Crosspointe church also collected donations of diapers, wipes, clothing and other baby items to help support the TLC Community Center’s crisis pregnancy program.
“We have just been so blessed that they chose to help us,” Odom said.
Odom said she would like to continue working with Crosspointe on other mission projects in the future, hopefully to help out other families with much-needed home repairs.

In order to maintain ministry projects to help families with needed home repairs and renovations, Odom said the TLC Community Center would need the help of volunteers, community sponsors and local businesses. Odom said she wanted to express thanks to the local churches and businesses that helped with the projects going on this week: Big John’s Closeouts, Winchester Flooring, Lynn Valley Decorating, Sherwin Williams, Sunnyside Baptist’s Sunday School Classes, First Church of God of Elizabethton, Lowe’s Home Improvements, Lynn Valley Baptist Church and their Clothing Closet, Ritchie’s Furniture and Appliance, Fairhaven Ministries, McClain’s Pest Control and Chappell’s Pest Control.