Statements
Mission
Layman Lessons Mobile Ministriesˇ vision/mission, since 2001, has been to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the homeless, first in Nashville and Middle Tennessee, then across the U.S. with NO PAID STAFF.
Background
Since 2001 Layman Lessons Ministries has served our local Middle Tennessee homeless and truly needy. Founder Louie E. Johnston, Jr. began this ministry in 2000 by offering hot meals, coffee and ice water every Saturday morning to the homeless on the streets of downtown Nashville. Today Layman Lessons Ministries manages a network of food and drink donors across 24 total states from coast to coast in the U.S., and serves the Nashville community 6 days weekly by delivering donated water, clothes, blankets, sleeping bags, tents, firewood, burn barrels and food "Boxes of Love" to hidden homeless camps and the truly needy, all with NO PAID STAFF, relying on the faithful generosity of Middle Tennessee volunteers to accomplish much good work.
Layman Lessons Ministries procures and provides dozens of semi-trailer loads of food, including fresh produce, milk and dairy products, to our many faith based partners in Nashville and Middle Tennessee, including Nashville Rescue Mission- Men's and Women's, Loaves and Fishes, Salvation Army, Second Harvest Food Bank, Feed America First, Joseph's Storehouse, Manna Cafe in Clarksville, One Generation Away and many other faith-based partners including Pastor/Rep. Harold Love and Lee Chapel AME Church; Pastor Enoch Fuzz and Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church; Scott McCloud and The Foundry; McGruder Center; and One Stone Church.
Layman Lessons Ministries also provides disaster relief, most recently providing semi-trailers of food and water to tornado victims in North Nashville's hard hit neighborhoods one day after tornadoes devastated the north side of Nashville. Our national network of food donors includes USA Produce Farmers, Feed the Children, 700 Club Operation Blessing, Midwest Food Bank, Convoy of Hope among others, so we procure and provide 80 - 100 semi trailer loads annually to feed the hungry and truly needy in 24 states coast to coast.
Impact
During the past year we procured and delivered $7.3 million donated food and drinks to Nashville's homeless, hungry and truly needy and across 23 other states from coast to coast. Additionally we delivered $39,000 worth of donated clothes to Nashville's hidden homeless. Our Mobile Shower and Laundry Center provided over 600 FREE showers and laundry services to Nashvilles homeless population.
Our goals for 2021 are to increase the amount of procured and donated food and drinks to $8.5 million, expand our network of food donors , expand our network of faith-based partners and double the size of our volunteer base.
Needs
1. $25,500 to cover freight costs for 12 semi trailer loads of donated shelf-stable, ready to eat food for Middle Tennessee's homeless and food insecure.
2. $80,000 to cover the cost of a contracted LCSW with trauma informed care experience to counsel and connect our unhoused friends to available resources, and to mentor our leadership and volunteers in best practices for mentoring and building healthy relationships with our broken neighbors, including those who are unhoused.
3. 10,000 sqft warehouse with a loading dock in Davidson County. We presently have 3400 sqft, but need more space to meet the growing needs our community faces regarding the unhoused and truly needy in Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
4. 50 part-time volunteers to donate 3 hours of their time once per month to pack food boxes and load them in cargo trailers for delivery to Nashville's unhoused and/or hungry friends that we serve weekly.
5. 40 part time volunteers to donate 3 hours of their time one Saturday morning per month to help deliver food, clothing and other necessities to our unhoused and food insecure friends.
CEO Statement
When I married Louie Johnston, Jr in the fall of 2019, I was so thrilled and excited about the work being done by Layman Lessons, I refused to take a honeymoon; instead, I got up the following morning and went with Louie to pick up a load of hoodies, sweatshirts and coats that were donated to the ministry. The anticipation of seeing our unhoused friends the following Saturday and sharing our booty with them was heady. I came to Layman Lessons from a medical background, having served Middle Tennessee as a Physician Assistant in the Primary Care/Family Medicine discipline for 21 years. I also had 4 years' experience working with disadvantaged youths as a volunteer mentor with the Smith County Family Resource Center in Carthage, and had walked the path from substance abuse to recovery with a close family member. I had ACE training and assisted the SCFRC with development of a curriculum for training school personnel in ACE awareness; and I knew first-hand the devastation addiction causes, and the stumbling blocks to recovery every addict faces.
Louie asked me to take over the day-to-day administrative responsibilities of Executive Director in January, 2020 while he focused on fundraising, building our resource network and pastoral duties. Sadly, by December of 2020 Louie had been diagnosed with cancer, and succumbed to the disease on February 8, 2021. The Layman Lessons Church Ministries family was rocked, but we never lost our foundation - unconditional love for all mankind, and gratitude for the work laid before us.
Today we continue to serve the greater Nashville area's most vulnerable population - unhoused, broken and hungry families - all with NO PAID STAFF. The landscape has changed somewhat; due to the closure of large homeless encampments, Metro's ongoing Rapid Rehousing program and the subsequent scattering of our unhoused friends into more remote locations, our ability to locate and reach our friends is a challenge. However, we partner with Metro Homeless Impact Division and Metro Social Services and work conjointly with other service organizations in Davidson County to get our friends the help they want and need. We continue to partner with Operation Blessing to bring truckloads of shelf stable, ready to eat food to the unhoused and food insecure, and we partner with many churches and organizations in and around Davidson County to supply clothing and other vital supplies to those in need. We desire to expand our services to include case management, counseling and mentoring, and for that we need financial and human resources.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Human Services - Homeless Services/Centers |
| Secondary Category: | Food, Agriculture & Nutrition - Food Programs |
| Tertiary Category: | Mental Health & Crisis Intervention - Substance Abuse Dependency, Prevention & Treatment |
Areas Served
Our greatest expenditure of financial and human resources is spent assisting those in need in Davidson County, Tennessee; however, our network of food producers and food banks reaches across 25 states from coast to coast.
| TN - Davidson |
| Statewide |
| National |
