THE RESTORATION HOUSE STORY
The Restoration House began with one question: “If you could do anything in life, what would you do?” In the summer of 2005, God gave Daniel and Mandy Watson a vision of a ministry for mother-led families that provided transitional housing in an environment that was family oriented and reconciling in nature.
OUR TIMELINE
November 2018
The Village: Phase II Opens
The Restoration House opened 12 of the final 18 units for The Village, more doubling TRH’s capacity.
November 2017
Celebrating 10 Years
The Restoration House celebrates 10 years of coming alongside mother-led families.
July 2017
The Village: Phase II
The Restoration House launched Phase II of The Village, constructing 18 more units for mother-led families.
August 2015
First Families Move into the Village
Six families move into the first residential building at The Village and begin The Restoration House Program.
July 2015
EYF Partnership
Staff from TRH and Emerald Youth Foundation’s on-site Just Lead program move into their offices.
June 2015
Village Ribbon Cutting
The Restoration House cuts the ribbon on Phase 1 of the Village, a community for single mother families.
August 2013
Village Groundbreaking
The Restoration House breaks ground on The Village, a 24 unit community for single mother families.
November 2012
5 Year Anniversary
The Restoration House celebrates five years of serving single mothers and their children in Knoxville.
January 2012
Extreme Makeover
The Restoration House, including the Watson family residences and The Restoration House residences at Robinson Road, were the beneficiaries of a makeover from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
September 2010
Strong Alliances
The Restoration House held its first partners’ with 60 people in attendance including 16 churches, 4 foundations, 10 board members, and 20 other significant stakeholders.
November 2009
Roots for Expansion
The Restoration House officially announced a new partnership with Central Baptist Church of Bearden (CBCB) in the development of an expansion project for The Restoration House.
February 2009
Mentoring
The Knoxville Mentoring Initiative was founded in cooperation with TRH and five other local nonprofits to increase mentoring capacity and community involvement in mentoring programs.
August 2008
A Day in the Life
“A Day in the Life” a free monthly event that gives people an opportunity to see the day to day struggles of a low-income single mother family, was inaugurated.
June 2008
More Doors
The Restoration House developed a partnership with a local property owner for the use of a four-plex in the Mechanicsville area to serve as a second site. The property was home for three additional families, bringing the total capacity to five single-mother families at any given time. In January of 2011, The Restoration House ended its contract with the owners of the four-plex and began leasing three units at a West Knoxville apartment complex in order to have the five families in the program closer together geographically.
November 2007
First Family
After two years of tireless research to find out how they could best serve single-mother families in Knoxville, the Restoration House welcome it’s first single-mother family into the program.
August 2007
501(c)(3) Status
The Restoration House became an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
January 2007
Structural Roots
The first Board of Directors of the Restoration House was appointed. Daniel Watson was approved as the Executive Director and Mandy Watson transitioned to the part-time Program Coordinator position.
October 2006
Planting the Seed
The Restoration House became an official organization chartered in the state of Tennessee.
August 2005
Leap of Faith
The Watson’s purchased the property at 2329 Robinson Road to start what would become the Restoration House.