First Look Into Volunteering At KARM: Church Volunteers

One of the groups I spoke to was Christ United Methodist Church from Watertown, Wisconsin. That’s right, Wisconsin! Not only did they travel all the way to Knox to serve, but they also spent two years planning and coordinating their trip. That is true Christ-like dedication to serving those in need.

Mandi and Jeff led the group of high schoolers. Most of the students were excited to make connections with our guests and did so naturally. Some shared how this was their first time participating in something like this. Jeff mentioned that they have a homeless population back where they are from; however, there aren’t any resources close to what they encountered at KARM.

I could see the Wisconsin team’s passion to bring what they learned at KARM back home. Mandy said it like this, “How can we help people just get back on their feet? People who maybe are just struggling with just everyday life. How do you provide for children, or divorce, or addiction? I know we have to start small somewhere, but it’s just taking that first step. I want to bring that back and just try to figure out what that first step is.”

What is our next step? If this group was willing to travel all the way from Wisconsin to serve our community, how much more should we, since Knoxville is our home?

I loved what a student said from John McMilligan Presbyterian Church.

“Just being in this building and seeing all they do makes me want to get involved in the community.”

The truth is, we don’t often think about how we can serve our community because we aren’t exposed to its needs. This volunteer came face to face with our guests and what we do at KARM and felt compelled to get involved. How can we do the same?

If you and your family, friends, work, or church are looking for ways to get involved and serve the Knox area, KARM is a great place to start. You can begin with a tour or jump right into volunteering. (Links below in Did You Know!)

That’s what these volunteers have done, and what many continue to do. For your benefit, I compiled a questionnaire about our volunteers, their experience, and what they learned.

Volunteer Experience at KARM

This summer, a total of 12 church groups volunteered with us at KARM, logging 5,000 volunteer hours. At the moment, we have around 32 active church partners who have at least served once in 2026!

From our questionnaire, the majority of groups we gathered information from were church-affiliated groups; some others represented workplaces and the Next Steps program.

70% of the questionnaire respondents said it was their first time volunteering! The groups varied in age, most falling into the 18-24 range, though there was a steady set of groups aged around 35-55. About 41% of participants said they had a moderate understanding of those who are experiencing homelessness. 26% stated they had little to none.

When asked what their prior assumptions about homelessness were, the graph below showcases their answers. The highest category shown to be a prior assumption was Bad Choices. However, some of the comments stating what participants learned instead said:

“Homelessness isn’t necessarily the result of choices made; it can be circumstantial. It can result from a lack of a support system, things many of us take for granted.”

“I learned that homelessness can happen to literally anyone and that it’s not always caused by health issues or poor choices.”

I also learned that homelessness is not always necessarily their fault. They don’t always make bad choices, but were just dealt an unfair hand at life.”

Out of all the assumptions listed, the only one that people 0% associated homelessness with was being young. (That’s why it’s not shown on the graph). One participant stated they were surprised with how many elderly AND young people struggled with homelessness.

All of our participants contributed KARM to shaping their understanding of homelessness. Many shared how eye-opening it was to sit down with people “human to human” and just get to know more about them. Some participants explained how interacting with our guests “tore down biases and misconceptions” and their “preconceived notions”.

Some quotes that stood out:

“The experience made me grateful to have all the blessings I have in my life and to remember that others are not as fortunate, and I have the resources to help give back.”

“How little homelessness can have to do with addiction most times.”

“I did not expect them to be kind people, and the fact they always look to what they do have instead of what they don’t possess.

“I wanted to be a part of serving the community and letting these people know that they matter and God loves them. The experience was beyond words. They were all extremely nice, wanted to share their testimony, and were some of the most grateful individuals I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.”

“Homeless people are not scary or lazy lesser-thans. They are people with all different kinds of backgrounds and different ways to be served.”

“KARM offers meaningful solutions to the complex and difficult issues of homelessness”

What stood out among the rest was people’s realization that our homeless neighbors are just like us; they just happen to be sitting in different life circumstances than us at the moment.

That, I believe, is what makes volunteering at KARM so special. It takes the vague idea of homelessness and makes it tangible. Because what once was a concept is now a person sitting in front of you. That is where connection flourishes and where the love of God permeates into our community.

All it takes is choosing to get involved and be present. That alone changes communities and restores lives in Jesus’ name!

Highlights

I personally loved meeting with our volunteers to hear what they had learned about homelessness. They shared about eye-opening experiences and things they never thought of before. I was watching our volunteers soak in everything at KARM.

I know in my experience, I had felt the Lord stirring in my heart for our homeless neighbors, yet I remained stagnant. I didn’t know the right thing to do, so I didn’t do anything.

Eventually, I had to begin educating myself, seeking to understand, and putting myself in situations to serve.

The problem is usually not whether we know about homelessness; the problem is whether we are willing to dive deeper and do something about it.

All it takes to impact our community is a willingness to take the next step!

Did You Know

Last year we had 27,120 volunteer hours. This year, we are already at around 18,540 volunteer hours! That’s a lot of time dedicated to helping our community by our volunteers.

KARM is fueled by volunteers who are passionate about loving our homeless neighbors. I would love to invite you to get involved and be a part of what God is doing in the Knox area through KARM.

By: Laura Lee Cochran; Marketing and Copy Coordinator

This post is a part of our First Look article series. Its goal is to give you a first look experience into volunteering at KARM while highlighting our many programs.