The mission of the Holy Friendship Collaborative is to inspire the Church in our region to follow the Biblical mandate to meet people in distress wherever they are and extend to them Christ’s redeeming love. This can be seen in our efforts to mobilize the Christian community to address addiction.
We plan to educate and nurture individuals, congregations, clergy, health care practitioners, and community and health care organizations as we facilitate a “deeper dive” to explore how we can best serve and meet the needs of those suffering from addiction, especially in the midst of the opioid crisis in Southern Appalachia. The Holy Friendship Collaborative leadership has developed a program, in partnership with Duke Divinity School’s Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative, in which a trained facilitator will guide interested members of the Holy Friendship Collaborative through the process of Biblical study, prayer, discussion, and discernment, and encourage joining together in “Holy Friendship” to discern and participate in Biblically-inspired ways to promote health, wholeness, and wellbeing, and to care for those who are suffering.
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The Holy Friendship Collaborative Formalized
The Holy Friendship Collaborative has been formalized as a nonprofit organization. We are in the process of formalizing MOUs (Memorandums of Understanding) between the HFC and five other organizations (Ballad Health, ETSU Department of Psychology, Frontier Health, Highlands Community Services, and Duke Divinity Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative). The Holy Friendship Collaborative is in the process of applying for 501c3 status.
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Collaboration
The HFC is Collaborating with Other Regional Grant Recipients. Four organizations received these federal planning grants. As a result, the HFC is collaborating with the other grantees in our region:
One Care in Southwest Virginia,
Virginia Department of Health,
ASAC in Southwest Virginia, and
Ballad Health in both Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
We are collaborating to assess capacity and needs in opioid use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. We meet together bimonthly, pool resources, and work to ensure that all of our target areas are being benefited and that we aren’t duplicating efforts.
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Federal Funding Grant Received
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A federal (Health Resources & Services Administration - HRSA) grant was written and funded for $200,000. The purpose of this grant is to formalize a consortium of organizations to address opioid use disorder in our region. It is a planning grant, with the purpose of encouraging organizations to work with other organizations in their regions to identify needs; what prevention, treatment, and recovery capacities already exist; and where the gaps in capacity exist. Strategic planning will take place to develop a workforce to address the gaps.
The Holy Friendship Collaborative will apply for an “implementation” grant through HRSA. All of the organizations that received planning grants are encouraged to apply for continued funding to implement the ideas that they have planned. This will be several years of funding to continue developing programs and networks facilitated by the HFC.
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The Holy Friendship Collaborative Hires Regional Project Facilitator
The Holy Friendship Collaborative has hired Teronya Holmes as the new Regional Project Facilitator. A native of Kingsport, Tennessee, Teronya has a background in healthcare management & sales, non-profit management, and community involvement. Her love and passion for serving Christ and others, and for mobilizing and motivating the Church to extend Christ’s redeeming love to those struggling with addiction - where they are, as they are - inspires her in this new role.
As Regional Project Facilitator, Teronya will coordinate church selection, engagement, training, and planning of gatherings for the HFC Congregational Cohorts. She will also oversee the coordination of the HFC Community Partners and the Friends of the HFC, coordinating education and training opportunities and facilitating community connections for ministry and support opportunities. She will be available to congregations for ongoing consultation/support, providing both content and process support as they envision and enact demonstration projects.
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HFC Organization Meeting Held January 31st
The Holy Friendship Collaborative (HFC) hosted an Organizational Meeting at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon, Virginia on the evening of January 31st.
The purpose of the event was to educate nearly one hundred interested attendees from churches, community organizations, and individuals in the 22-county service region of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia on the mission of the Holy Friendship Collaborative, and to share information as to how they may become involved.
Speakers from the HFC included:
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Dr. Andrea Clements (Professor, Dept. of Psychology, ETSU & HFC Executive Director)
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Becky Haas (Trauma Informed Administrator, Ballad Health)
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Logan Horne (Peer Support Specialists, Highlands Community Services)
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Linda Austin (Hands and Feet Ministries, Executive Director)
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Gary Metcalf (Corporate Director, Center for Spiritual Health, Ballad Health)
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Teronya Holmes (HFC Regional Project Facilitator)
Collaborators from Duke Divinity School Theology, Medicine & Culture Initiative also spoke:
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Dr. Joel Shuman (Professor of Theology at King’s College and TMC Scholar in Residence at Duke University Divinity School)
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Rachel Meyer (Program Director, Duke Divinity School Theology, Medicine, & Culture Reimagining Health Collaborative)
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Where is the HFC involved?
Our target service area is a 22-county region comprising Southwest Virginia (12 counties with a total population of 328,294) and Northeast Tennessee (10 counties with a total population of 606,154). The 22-county region has a total population of nearly 1 million and has over 2300 churches and faith groups.
http://holyfriendshipcollaborative.com/resources/
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JOIN US
While building the Holy Friendship Collaborative program in partnership with Duke Divinity School Theology, Medicine, & Culture Initiative’s “Reimagining Health Collaborative,” we realized that there is more than one pathway in which we, as churches, organizations, and individuals, may choose to connect and follow going forward. Therefore, we have developed
Three Pathways for Involvement in the Holy Friendship Collaborative
, each with its own distinct
application process
:
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The Holy Friendship Collaborative
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