Live and Let Live Celebrates Expansion of Local Homeless Shelter

January 20, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

Shelter from the cold!

One year after the initial opening of Live and Let Live, an emergency shelter for the homeless of DeKalb County, the non-profit group celebrated Saturday, January 18 with an open house of the shelter’s expansion at 656 West Broad Street.

Until recently, the shelter operated in a smaller space in the back of the Vitality Fit building owned by Tyler Cantrell, which the board of Live and Let Live had leased. But after the fitness center changed locations, Live and Let Live saw its opportunity to expand and leased the entire building.

“We became aware that our landlord was going to move his business and open up a larger space with more parking so he offered us the chance to lease the building and or buy it,” said Gina Arnold, Live and Let Live board member and donations executor. “We were not in a place where we could purchase but we were even a little bit cautious about leasing the larger space because it was quite a bit more money than we had been paying before. He (landlord) has been so gracious to give us a discounted rate but still it’s a larger space. He worked with us for a short-term lease to see if we are able to sustain it over a period of time. That’s still to be determined but it has been amazing to watch the outpouring from our community with donations of both goods and time and finances to where we are more assured that this is something our community supports and hopefully we will be able to sustain it long term,” said Arnold.

Currently, the shelter is open on a limited basis from 6 p.m. nightly until 7 a.m. the following morning. On extremely cold days, the shelter could be open more if volunteers are available to staff it.

“When our guests come in at 6 p.m. they usually go straight to the hot coffee to try to warm up a little,” said Arnold. “We are open for showering. Many of them (guests) will give us their laundry. Our volunteers that open up help people get through the showering and the laundry services. We man the machines and give the laundry back to the guests and they do their own folding, putting away. We feed a hot meal at night and snacks through the evening and a breakfast the next morning. We even send out snacks with them if they want to take a few cereal bars, fruit, and things like that the next morning when they leave,” explained Arnold.

“We have storage totes for men and women, sorted by hats, gloves, men’s underwear, women’s underwear, men’s socks, women’s socks, hygiene items, and all of the things you would need including lotions, shampoo, razors, etc. This storage area is separated so when we need a specific thing we don’t have to dig through all of the donations,” Arnold continued. “They (guests) often come in needing a change into something so they can shower and put on something clean and then we will launder what they have on. Sometimes they leave what we have given them in a locker to reuse again and if they have a need to wear it out we let them take it. That’s how we rotate through things that are donated,” she said.

“Our help ranges based on the need. Sometimes we have families who have a home but they may need a food box so we make a food box on occasion. Its not something we normally do but if we are aware of the need, we try to meet it. We also try to put them (homeless) in touch with other agencies that can help. Many of our guests come for just the meal. They may come just for showering or laundry, and they may sleep in their vehicles somewhere else. They don’t all come in and stay overnight but many do,” Arnold said.

Live and Let Live continues to rely on donations and volunteers to sustain its mission.

“People ask how they can help. Financial help allows us to put that toward whatever we need and sometimes that is utility payments, now that we have a larger space, and helping us with our lease. The bulk of our donations come from the goodness of our community,” explained Arnold.

“We have an Amazon wish list on our Facebook page. Live and Let Live DeKalb County is on Facebook and on that Facebook page there is an Amazon wish list and a GoFundMe donation account that is running. They can also see one of us for that purpose. We have our care calendar on Facebook where people can sign up to volunteer their time or to come and serve a meal that someone else has donated or sometimes they can sign up to provide a meal. We have a phone number like a Google number. It actually rings to some of our volunteers, so it may not be the same person that answers each time, but the shelter phone number is 615-281-9799. We won’t be able to see who is calling and they don’t see our number. Its just a random Google number. We can’t call you back on that number unless you leave us your actual phone number. It’ll just say shelter call from our phone,” explained Arnold.

“If you can’t drop off donations after 6 p.m. some of us can arrange to meet you at a different time to accept donations. We do take clean gently used clothing. We try to stick with things that are small, medium, large, or extra-large in size rather than number sizes because we can’t store it all,” she said.

With greater capacity, Arnold hopes the shelter’s outreach will grow.

“Its just been amazing to see the love of this community and our guests are always so very appreciative. I had one gentleman tell me last winter he thought nobody cared about us. We have seen through this ministry that people do care,” said Arnold.

“Some of them (guests) we serve do work a job if they are able but some are unable to work due to a physical or mental disability. We make accommodations around their work schedule so they can come in and out. We have many un-housed that are still in homeless camps in our community. Its our hope that they will see that we are not going to close our doors and that we are going to be here so they will feel free to leave their area and come in and trust us for some stability in housing,” Arnold explained. “With the homeless population often they won’t leave what they have established as their space because its so hard for them to find a space that they don’t get run off of. For them to have found a space, many times they don’t want to leave it to come in and there are other reasons. There are some legitimate safety and trust issues why they don’t leave their space to come in and get warm. We are just hoping they will see and hear through word of mouth from each other that this is a safe place,” said Arnold.

January 20, 2025
By:

DeKalb County’s 2024 Fairest of the Fair Allyson Roxanne Fuller participated in the Tennessee Association of Fairs state competition this past weekend along with 48 other young ladies. Though she did not bring home the crown, she represented DeKalb County with intelligence, beauty and grace. She will pass on her title and crown at this year’s DeKalb County Fair on June 23, 2025. Fuller is the 18 year-old daughter of Anthony and Amanda Fuller of Smithville.

January 20, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

Senior Jordan Parker was named Most Valuable Player of the 2024 DCHS Tiger Football Team during the annual Awards Banquet held Saturday night at the Smithville First Baptist Church Life Enrichment Center building. Meanwhile, Caroline Crook and Madeline Martin, both seniors were co-winners of the Most Valuable Football Cheerleader Award. The trophies are sponsored by Liberty State Bank.

Meanwhile Senior Andrew Dakas was announced as the winner of the Coach Clay Edwards Memorial Tiger Pride Award. Members of Edwards’ family presented the award to Dakas including son Abram Edwards and Abram’s mother Tena Edwards-Jacobs along with Abram’s wife, Shannon and children Emmie Edwards, Carleigh Clay Edwards, and Harmony Edwards.

Seniors Andrew Dakas, Ty Webb, and Jordan Parker shared the title of Kings of the Field as Captains of the football team while Senior Annabella Dakas was named Queen of the Field as voted on by football players. Seniors Madeline Martin and Macy Anderson were equal Touchdown Royalty Court members.

MVP Parker, the Tiger signal caller, led his team to a 6-4 season in 2024.

Coach Steve Trapp, during the banquet, reviewed Parker’s high school football career and his accomplishments.

“As a junior Jordan was an All-Region player at wide receiver and won receiver of the year and then played at quarterback,” said Coach Trapp. ” But just some statistics as a runner, this year in 2024 he led our team with 1,055 yards. I believe he is only the third quarterback who has rushed for over 1,000 yards. He joins Steven Jennings and Axel Aldino in that regard. Jordan led our team in rushing and in rushing touchdowns with 14 this year and he passed for 1,236 yards and had 17 more touchdowns. For his career he had over 2,000 yards passing and 26 touchdowns. Defensively as a junior he started at safety and played some corner. This year he got a pick against Macon County. He has done a lot of different things so as a most valuable player this is an award he has definitely earned. Jordan is a 2024 team captain. A 2024 Region 4 Most Outstanding Quarterback, 2024 Farm Bureau Player of the Month, 2024 DTC All Star and DTC Player of the Game in 2024, Mr. DCHS in 2024-25, 2024 TSSAA Scholar Athlete, a 2023 team voted Receiver of the Year, 2023 All Region player, 2023 Scholar Athlete, 2022 team voted Offensive Back of the Year when he played quarterback those last nine games. All this is why Jordan deserves this award as the 2024 Liberty State Bank Most Valuable Player,” said Coach Trapp.

Six members of the DCHS Tiger Football Team earned Region 4 Superlative honors in 2024. Jordan Parker was named the Region’s Most Outstanding Quarterback while Jarett Hamilton was selected as the Region’s Most Outstanding Tight End. Meanwhile, Ty Webb and Ryan Lyons were selected to the 1st Team All Region while Jon Hendrix and Cecil Ketchum made the 2nd Team All Region.

Individual Football Player Awards are as follows:
Offensive Player of the Year- Ryan Lyons
Offensive Lineman- Kobe Roller
Offensive Back- Cecil Ketchum
Receiver- Jon Hendrix
Defensive Player of the Year- Ty Webb
Defensive Lineman- Jarett Hamilton
Linebacker- Isaac Hannah
Defensive Back- Jesse Foutch
Special Teams Player- Adrian Prater
Most Improved-Caydin Hecker
Liberty State Bank MVP- Jordan Parker
Coach Clay Edwards Memorial Tiger Pride Award-Andrew Dakas
Scout Team Player of the Year: Tucker Webb
Newcomer of the Year: JT Summers

Individual Cheer Awards are as follows:
Liberty State Bank Most Valuable Cheerleader-Caroline Crook and Madeline Martin
Most Spirited- Macy Anderson
Best Dancer- Annabella Dakas
Best Stunts- Deanna Agee
DEAR (Dedication, Enthusiasm, Attitude, and Responsibility- Caroline Crook, Madeline Martin, Macy Anderson, and Annabella Dakas,
Best Jumps-Landen Tubbs
Best Motions: Addyson Swisher and Annabella Dakas

Student Athlete Award of Merit 3.5 GPA or better (Many had a 4.0 GPA): Shelby Driver, Summer Garrett , Bryson Arnold, Blaine Atnip,, Hunter Ballew, Hunter Buchanan, Andrew Dakas, Jesse Foutch, Jarett Hamilton, Caydin Hecker, Jon Hendrix, Jaxson Kleparek,, Adrian Prater, Jordan Parker, Kobe Roller, Connor Talley, Aiden Turner, Tucker Webb, Ty Webb, Benjamin Crook, Jackson Lattimore, Hunter Locklear, Brayden Neal, and Dominic Williamson

The team GPA was 3.2.

DTC All-Star Team members from DeKalb County: Jordan Parker, Cecil Ketchum, Ryan Lyons, Jarett Hamilton, and Ty Webb.

Coach Trapp was presented a plaque by the DCHS Quarterback Club commemorating his 20th year as the Tiger Head Coach.

Tia Adcock, secretary of the quarterback club, made the presentation during the banquet.

“It takes a small village to make this whole program work,” said Adcock. “DeKalb County has one of the best football programs around and we work hard every year to provide more than just the basic necessities, but every team must have a leader and Coach Trapp is our leader. There is so much work that goes on behind the scenes, so much after hours, off the clock, on the weekends, conversations, texts, communications, it takes a lot of effort to win and organize throughout the whole season down to tonight. Coach Trapp has spent the last 20 years building, cultivating, and growing this program to the amazing thing each one of you tonight can experience. Without Coach Trapp and his dedication to not only the game but to this program and the players, I dare to say that the program would not be what it is today. Tonight, we would like to say thank you and congratulations to Coach Trapp on your 20th year as our head coach of the DeKalb County Tigers,” said Adcock.

In his 20 years from 2005 to the present, Coach Trapp has compiled a record of 111-110 and a play-off record of 7-15.

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