The East Tennessee Foundation Awards $246,500 in Mount Rest Fund Grants to Support Women and Children

The East Tennessee Foundation (“ETF” or the “Foundation”) has awarded $246,500 in grants to 24  nonprofits whose work supports women, children, and youth in Knox County.

The ETF’s Mount Rest Fund is designed to strengthen the well-being of local families. Projects funded in the 2025 grant cycle address community priorities including early childhood education, drivers of health, and the prevention of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

“Thanks to our mission-minded donors, the East Tennessee Foundation is honored to support these outstanding community partners through the Mount Rest Fund to make lives better for local women and children,” said the East Tennessee Foundation President & CEO Keith Barber. “Each organization is doing critical work – whether serving children directly, expanding educational opportunities or improving community health.”

Organizations received up to $12,000 for two-year grants. The East Tennessee Foundation’s 2025 Mount Rest Fund supported the following nonprofits and their programs serving Knox County:

• Camp Koinonia Foundation – Koinonia Classroom
• Cancer Support Community East Tennessee – Individual support session programming for women navigating a cancer diagnosis
• Center for English and Integration Services – Support for the Center’s first paid executive director
• Centro Hispano – Trauma-responsive early education and enrichment programs for immigrant children
• Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking – Grow Free Tennessee program
• East Tennessee Freedom Schools – Summer literacy and empowerment program for Knox County scholars
• Emory Valley Center, Inc. – Early intervention and support group programming for Knox County families
• Family Promise of Knoxville – Eviction Prevention and Diversion Program
• FISH Hospitality Pantries, Inc. – Children’s BOOST Program
• Girl Talk, Inc. – School and Site-Based Program
• Harmony Family Center – Harmony Rainbow Camps and Connection Days
• InterFaith Health Center – Health care access for women in Knox County
• Knoxville Family Justice Center – One Safe Place project addressing long-term recovery services for survivors of domestic violence
• Knoxville-Knox County CAC – Resilient Families program
• Little Chefs, Big Change – Healthy cooking program
• Metro Drug Coalition – Beamers Buddies program
• Raising a Voice – Magnolia Ministries’ Women’s Center
• Restoration House of East Tennessee – Multi-generational, trauma-responsive therapy for families
• Salvation Army Knoxville – Joy D. Baker Center’s program for women and children
• Senior Citizens Home Assistance Service, Inc. – Financial aid program for in-home caregiving services for female clients in Knox County
• Shora Foundation – Healing Pathways Clinic
• Two Bikes – The Bike School
• Volunteer Ministry Center – Key to Healthy Living Project
• YWCA Knoxville and the Tennessee Valley – Phyllis Wheatley Center’s Summer Kids in Play Program

“The Mount Rest Fund was created to carry on a long-standing tradition of helping those in need, starting with a group of women in 1894 who saw a gap in care and stepped in,” said Rachel Stallings, ETF Vice President of Innovative Impacts. “Today, we’re continuing that legacy by supporting local nonprofits working hard to improve life for women, children, and youth in Knox County.”