Our History

Hello! We are Jerry & Wyndi, an everyday married couple living in the Brainerd area of Chattanooga, TN.

God placed the plight of the local homeless community living on our hearts during 2022 and called us to begin a grassroots-style benevolence ministry to meet their most basic needs, while also sharing the love of Christ. In December of that year we launched out in a very simple way by purchasing snacks, drinks and hygiene items and packaging them into tote bags. A couple of times each week we would drive around the Brainerd and East Ridge area and pass out the bags to homeless individuals we encountered. Each time we gave away a bag we would get out of our vehicle and engage them in a heartfelt conversation letting them know that Jesus loved them and that they were important to Him.

A few short months later, in Spring 2023, we began hosting informal outdoor “Meet-Up” events near a homeless encampment in Brainerd. Each event featured a delicious meal cooked and served tailgate-style, along with a generous giveaway of clothing, Bibles, shelf-stable food and beverages, toiletries, camp supplies, and other needed items. At each event, our focus was on sharing the love of Christ with those who attended by offering prayer along with a message of encouragement based on the Scriptures. Volunteers, some of whom had previously been homeless themselves, began stepping up to help us as participation in the Meet-Up events skyrocketed. Within 90 days of holding the first Meet-Up event, we felt impressed to establish a storefront location where the needs of the homeless could be better addressed on an ongoing basis.

After much prayer and legwork looking for a suitable location, a former hair salon on Brainerd Road became available, and we transitioned our homeless ministry from being mobile and outdoors to being stationary and indoors. The ministry was formally incorporated as DOING WHAT WE CAN HOMELESS OUTREACH, and quickly received IRS approval in June 2023 as a 503(c)3 public charity with the ability to receive tax-deductible donations.

Since that time, the Lord has continued to grow our homeless outreach ministry at a phenomenal rate. DWWCHO currently provides an ever-growing portfolio of benevolence items and services to the homeless including meals, clothing, showers & haircuts, laundry & transportation services, toiletries & hygiene items, medical and dental care, food for the pets and service animals belonging to the homeless, bedding & paper goods, Bibles & Christian-based literature, weekly Bible studies, camping supplies (such as tents and sleeping bags), and much more. Keeping true to our humble beginnings, we also continue to host outdoor Meet-Up events in our storefront parking lot on a monthly basis.

DWWCHO is currently recognized throughout Chattanooga/Hamilton County as THE primary resource for homeless individuals in the Brainerd-East Ridge area, often logging 150 or more in- person service encounters at our Brainerd Road Operations Center each week. Staffed completely by volunteers, all revenues received are used exclusively to provide Christ-centered benevolence services to the homeless. We have had much success in sharing God’s love and the message of hope, salvation, healing, deliverance, victory, and restoration that only Jesus Christ can provide to many homeless individuals thus far.

If you want to get involved, make a donation, or support us in some other way, please don’t hesitate to call or text us at 423-290-9552.

Thank you, and God Bless!!
- Jerry & Wyndi