Community Chest Spotlight: Blue Monarch
The 2022-23 Sewanee Community Chest (SCC) Fund Drive is underway. Sponsored by the Sewanee Civic Association, the SCC raises money yearly for local charitable organizations serving the area. This year’s goal of $106,425 will help 17 organizations that have requested basic needs funding for quality of life, community aid, children’s programs, and those who are beyond Sewanee but still serve our entire community.
This week we shine the spotlight on Blue Monarch.
Blue Monarch’s mission is to provide a long-term, residential and therapeutic Christian community for women and their children to break adverse cycles and rebuild their families. Blue Monarch assists women and their children who are dealing with addiction, domestic violence, and economic hardship to transform in mind, body, and spirit. Blue Monarch provides a nurturing and therapeutic environment for individuals and families to achieve sobriety, enhance mother and child relationships, and develop improved life skills. Blue Monarch provides one-on-one as well as family counseling for all the residents and children.
The CORE residential program spans 18-24 months and the WINGS transitional program offers an additional 12 months of recovery under the Blue Monarch umbrella. Since opening in 2003, Blue Monarch has served more than 885 women and children, and more than 325 children have re-established a relationship with their mother. Blue Monarch accepts residents from all over the United States, but most of the population comes from Middle Tennessee, which would include Sewanee residents.
Blue Monarch is requesting $4,000. With the addition of a new eight family home, the core resident population has increased by 45 percent. At full capacity, Blue Monarch is now responsible for transporting 48-64 individuals at one time. Blue Monarch is looking to purchase a larger vehicle, most likely a coach or charter bus. This new vehicle will transport children to daycare, transport children and residents to church, to the grocery store, to school activities, and to community service and volunteer opportunities.
Since 1908, the goal of the Sewanee Community Chest has been to help citizens by funding the community. With Community Chest donations, local organizations provide for basic needs such as books, food, animal care, housing, scholarships, recreational spaces, elder care, children’s educational needs and more. The Sewanee Community Chest is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and donations are tax-deductible. Send your donation to Sewanee Community Chest, P.O. Box 99, Sewanee, TN 37375. Go to <http://sewaneecivic.org; for more information or to donate online.