Hard Knox

Effective Compassion: Women find help after life-changing difficulties | Kathleen Thorne

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knox County Christian Women's Job Corps applied for the Samaritan Award independently of its Nashville sister and also became a finalist. Its A Hand Up for Women program began three years ago and boasts 28 graduates. Here are the stories of two of them:

Four years ago Tammy Edwards, 38, sat in a jail cell facing charges of possessing five ounces of crack cocaine with the intent to sell. After posting bail, Edwards returned home to find her house being robbed by her drug dealers: "I got robbed on a Thursday and went to church that Sunday. It was time for a change."

The pastor at New Covenant Baptist Church referred her to A Hand Up for Women, and she entered the program in February 2003. Two nights a week students study biblical lessons and learn basic job and interpersonal skills. For the first half of the 20-week term, the women read through parts of Angela Thomas' book, Living Your Life as a Beautiful Offering, and in the second half of the class instructors cover topics like "Professional Phone Manners" and "Budgeting Basics."