A Place to Exhale and Rest!

Since 2019, WHK has welcomed 107 guests (57 kids) including 11 single-mom families.  In February of 2025, we welcomed our first new birth! Guests have represented parts of Africa, Vietnam, Turkmenistan, Mexico, Venezuela, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.  Since 2022, the nightly occupancy has exceeds 90%. At both locations, we have a house host who lives on site to provide daily contact and assistance as needed. The guests at our houses support each other as a community and learn the basics of caring for a home.

WHK is supported by a team of volunteers who offer hospitality, settlement assistance and integration into the Knoxville community.  Church partners and individuals give to meet our monthly financial needs. Monthly donations are needed to help subsidize rent for the guests to pay our expenses yet keep their rent affordable.  We also collect/donate items for our guests’ next home.  Locally, we are partners with Bridge Refugee Services, KIN, Center for English and churches.

Welcome House is a temporary housing ministry but it is so much more.  It is a place for the church to practice Christian hospitality.  Our new neighbors have physical needs but more than that they need friends and a network.  Also, we have so much to learn from them.  As scripture promises, you will receive more than you give.  There is huge need for more safe and affordable housing with the current housing shortage.  Please follow us on Facebook and BlueSky to find updates and specific needs.

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What is Welcome House Knoxville?

Our main goal at Welcome House Knoxville (WHK) is to share the love of Jesus through the ministries of hospitality and friendship. We provide safe and loving space for Internationals including refugees - individuals and families - in transition to permanent housing. A place to exhale and rest!

Why are we doing this? - Biblical Response to Immigration:

• Matthew 25 - The way we treat “the least of these” is actually our response to Jesus.  Joseph, Mary and Jesus were refugees in Egypt.

• Acts 17:26-27 - God determines the exact places where we should live. (including Knoxville!)

• Revelation 7:9 - The great multitude in heaven will be from every nation, tribe, people and language before the throne.  ALL people are God’s image bearers.  You can practice God’s Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.  

Who are we working with? 

There are 123.2 million forcibly displaced persons around the world as of the end of 2024 and about half are children. Over 36.8 million are refugees. 1 in every 74 people on earth has fled their home as a result of conflict or persecution. Updated as of 2024.

It is heartbreaking to watch the news on television. We cannot help them all but we can welcome those who come to Knoxville.  God is sovereign and migration is part of HIS redemptive plan.  Christians around the world are being called to action!

Where are we? 

Welcome House Knoxville currently operates two residential properties that provide safe, welcoming, and affordable housing. Our first home, a rented church property off Kingston Pike near the University of Tennessee campus, opened in August 2019. In May 2024, we took a bold step of faith and purchased a second property, expanding our capacity by four additional housing units. Both homes are now fully up and running and fully rented offering a refuge for those in need of stability and community.

But the need in Knoxville continues to grow. Safe and affordable housing remains out of reach for many, and we are actively working to expand our reach by purchasing additional properties in the near future. Radical hospitality is at the heart of our mission, and we believe every person deserves a place to call home.