KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — CareCuts, a ministry in Knoxville providing homeless individuals with meals, haircuts and more, served its final meal downtown Friday as it prepared to move to its new location on Clinton Highway.
For the last 10 years, CareCuts has grown from a ministry offering haircuts to a full operation offering free meals, showers, mailboxes, and clean clothing while walking alongside people experiencing homelessness. While it’s a bittersweet move to their new location, Carecuts Ministry founder Marti Baker explained to 6 News that a gentleman purchased a building for the organization in North Knoxville in an area where there are quite a few homeless people who do not have access to resources.
“It’s bittersweet, but we feel like we’re going to the desert and we’re going to help as many as we can,” Baker said. “We thank all the community that has supported us here. And a lot of people didn’t care for us, and then they wound up volunteering with us once they found out what we were about. We don’t just feed the belly. We feed the soul, we clean them up, we give them showers, cut their hair. It makes a change in your life.”
Baker said at their new location, which is at 5200 Clinton Highway, CareCuts will continue offering the same services it has been offering on the same schedule, with one addition: a church service. They will begin offering services in the Clinton Highway location on August 21. Over the next week, CareCuts volunteers will be working to pack and prepare for the move…