Name: Carry the Torch Knoxville
Start: 2024-10-24T11:45:00-04:00
End: 2024-10-24T13:00:00-04:00
Location: Knoxville Convention Center

The Volunteer Ministry Center is the Host Agency for Carry the Torch Knoxville. This annual event aspires to not only raise funds but also raise awareness of the myriad factors surrounding the issue of homelessness. There will also be opportunities for the public to become involved in the solution to homelessness.
VMC is thrilled and privileged to feature Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize Winner, and Best -Selling Author of Rough Sleepers AND Dr. Jim O’Connell, President of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
Tracy Kidder is an outstanding author whose best-selling works include House, Among Schoolchildren, Old Friends, Home Town, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Strength in What Remains, and The Soul of a New Machine, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. His most recent book, Rough Sleepers, is the powerful story of an inspiring doctor, Dr. Jim O’Connell, who helped create a program to care for Boston’s homeless community.
Dr. Jim O’Connell is the founding physician of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, which now serves over 10,000 homeless individuals and families each year in two hospital-based clinics and in 30 shelters and outreach sites and on the streets of Boston. He assisted in establishing the nation’s first medical respite program for homeless persons and designed and implemented the nation’s first computerized medical record for the homeless program. He has been featured on ABC’s Nightline, CBS Evening News, and in several feature-length documentaries.
Carry the Torch will begin with a Mission Fair at 10:00 am. Agencies which provide housing, general assistance, medical, and behavioral health services throughout our community, along with VMC will present booths and interact with visitors who are looking for volunteer opportunities. The Carry the Torch luncheon will begin promptly at 11:45 am in the Ballroom of the Knoxville Convention Center.
Sponsorship and/or sponsored tables and limited reserve seating are available. Limited reserve seating is available at $125 per seat. Please contact Mary Beth Ramey at (865) 524-3926 x229 or [email protected] for more information.