Eight Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) students are headed south for fall break to help the unhoused in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Their primary mission is to work directly and indirectly with the homeless in Knoxville, Oct. 10-16. The students work with three nonprofit organizations in the city – Volunteer Ministries of Knoxville, Metropolitan Drug Coalition of Knoxville and Ladies of Charity Knoxville. They will assemble Narcan kits, deep-clean a kitchen and distribute food to those in need.
This is sophomore Kyleigh Moore’s third alternative break trip at SMWC, after going to Knoxville last fall and Savannah, Georgia, for spring break.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my experience on these previous trips, so I am thrilled to attend another,” said Moore, a Kindergarten-Grade 6/Mild Intervention Education major from Terre Haute. “I’m looking forward to serving those in need and having fun with my friends over the break.”
Last year, SMWC students worked with the Metro Drug Coalition of Knoxville, which ministers to recovering addicts. In previous years, students helped fill emergency medical kits with Narcan, attended a music therapy session and listened to stories from people receiving services. They also spent three days volunteering with Catholic Charities of East Tennessee before visiting with unhoused residents living in the area.
“The alternative break trips provide students with an opportunity to receive something invaluable through sacrificial giving. In this experience, the giving is not so much material or monetary in nature,” said Tim Tesmer, campus minister and organizer of the alternative break trips. “Instead, that which these participants offer is themselves, their fall break, their time, their energy, their sweat and their comfort for people who arguably need it the most and cannot reciprocate. The payoff for such giving cannot be quantified; in fact, it is scarcely describable. One must experience it to know it. To know it is never to forget it, which is life-altering.”
Sophomore Brookelyn DeZarn, of Veedersburg, Indiana., is ready to roll up her sleeves for her second alternative break trip.
“I want to help, support and reach other people outside of my own community,” said DeZarn, a triple major in Art, Graphic Design and Pre-Art Therapy. “Every area and community is a new experience, and I want to meet and support as many people as possible, making this a wonderful experience for me.”
All students are invited to participate in the alternative break trips offered during the fall and spring semesters. Past trips have taken students to West Virginia, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee.
Plans for the 2027 alternative spring break trip will start later this fall.