Mission

To promote the independence of residents north of the river in Chattanooga by providing a hand up through education and assistance.

What We Do

The Northside Neighborhood House is committed to assisting individuals with limited access to resources across northern Hamilton County with direct assistance for utilities, rent/mortgage, and food as well as with educational programs and multiple levels of academic, socioemotional, and enrichment for students in ten CommUNITY Schools in the seven zip code footprint. The NNH programs focus on connecting residents with resources to help them thrive, as well as empowering them to overcome barriers that prevent them from living outside of financial instability. Our ability to address the varying needs of our neighbors positions us to provide a holistic support approach for individuals of all ages and stages of life, ensuring they have a pathway to prosperity.

The NNH focuses its work on two primary bodies of work that enable the NNH to serve our neighbors. Through our Stability and CommUNITY Schools programming, our work is based on listening and responding to the needs of students, families, schools, and communities within the NNHs seven zip code service areas.

Stability work is based on meeting the immediate basic needs of our neighbors. Individuals and families that daily face the burden of possible homelessness due to the lack of or limited resources remain housed through case management providing emergency assistance for rent/mortgage and utilities. NNH's motto of a "hand up, not a hand out" is embedded in this work, with clients required to spend time developing a budget, working to ensure neighbors are equipped to deal with future hardships. In addition to emergency assistance, the NNH has multiple programs as part of its Stability work focused on developing neighbors' access to economic mobility like Computer classes and Good Tenant Workshops, aimed at educating renters on their responsibilities when entering a lease.

The CommUNITY School model devotes a full-time CommUNITY School Coordinator to serve 10 schools in the NNH footprint: Red Bank Elementary, Middle, High; Hixson Elementary, Middle, High, Soddy Elementary, Soddy Daisy Middle and High and Sale Creek Middle/High.

These NNH staff are embedded in the school, and are focused on identifying/creating collaborative partnerships that provide wrap-around supports that address socio-emotional and mental health needs of the students, as well as additive community support for the school's administration and teachers. Because they are present in the schools daily, Coordinators have the opportunity to build relationships with students, faculty, and administrators, identifying barriers to a student's success. Through these relationships, the Coordinators have the opportunity to identify resources to increase graduation and promotion rates, as well as resources focused on improving attendance and behavior referrals. They also work to connect resources that can benefit the entire community, like community job/health fairs, leveraging the school as a central resource for building stronger communities.