KIN - CONNECT
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer >
      • LaMP
      • Embrace Initiative
      • Adult English Programs
      • 2nd Home
      • Occasional Opportunities
      • Translate/Interpret
    • Training >
      • Adult English Teacher Certification
      • ELL Teacher Continuing Education
      • Cross-Cultural Seminar
      • Knoxville International Experience
      • Culture Orientation
    • Growth Resources
    • Events & Festivals
    • Other Language Classes
    • Finances & Donations
  • The Network
    • Partner Portal
    • Volunteer Portal
  • Resources for Local Internationals
    • Adult English Classes
    • Immigration & Naturalization
    • International businesses >
      • Restaurants
      • Food Trucks
    • Multilingual Churches >
      • Arabic
      • Burmese
      • Chinese
      • English
      • Kirundi
      • Korean
      • Romanian
      • Russian
      • Spanish
      • Swahili
    • Employment Assistance
    • Healthcare Resources
    • Driving Resources
    • Home Ownership & Money Management
  • Impact Stories
  • DONATE

Hospitality Means More Than Food

5/11/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
2021 n04
​In Clair’s first tutoring relationship through KIN, she helped a middle school boy learn to use his new hearing aids, which helped him excel in school. As much as Clair liked the family—and they liked her—eventually, they didn’t need a tutor anymore. 
Clair stays in touch, but since then, she has worked with two other new-to-Knoxville families.

In the first, an elementary-age girl needed help with math. Clair has coached her up so that she rarely needs tutoring now. Instead, Clair visits them as friends, including an iftar meal this past month to break their Ramadan fast. (Yum!)

Read More
0 Comments

Smart Girls and Smoke Detectors

1/22/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
2021 n01
​Celia heard the beep as soon as she entered the apartment. Using Google translate, she asked Sada, “What is that noise?” But Sada didn’t know, so 
Celia followed the sound to the smoke detector in the hallway. She showed Sada and tried to explain that they needed to change the battery.

Sada and her husband, Abe, fled their home after Abe’s life was threatened because of his work with the US military. ​

Read More
0 Comments

An Eagle Scout and an Elder Stateman

11/9/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
2020 n16
​It sounds like the beginning of a joke: An Eagle Scout and an elder stateman walk into a used bookstore…
​

But it’s not a joke. It’s the kind of thing that happens often in KIN’s LaMP program.

Read More
0 Comments

The Books Are Free!

9/7/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
2020 n14
​Where is the one place you can—for free—find books:
  • to help your children with math,
  • to learn how to cook something new,
  • to improve your English skills,
  • and to entertain your children for a few minutes?
“It’s the library, of course,” you say. But what if you had never seen a library?

Read More
0 Comments

More Alike Than Different

8/3/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
2020 n13
​Sarah’s purple hair catches many by surprise, so 
she walked into her KIN interview willing to change the color if Jani, KIN’s Volunteer Outreach Coordinator, thought she should. But Jani loved it, and Sarah began her internship with KIN a couple of days later.

As a college senior, Sarah already knew she wanted a career helping those without a voice in society. 

Read More
0 Comments

The Encourager Professor

4/21/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
2020 n07
With over 300 active volunteers, KIN representatives serve the international population of metro Knoxville in many ways. Only a few of those have changed since we began facing COVID-19. For example, while it may look a little different, 
one-on-one conversation and pronunciation practice continues. For example, Diane* began volunteering with KIN last fall.

Read More
0 Comments

The Van Was Loaded Down

2/25/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
​2020 n04
​The back of
FBC Concord’s 18-passenger van was loaded down with framed prints, floor rugs, linens, kitchen utensils, pottery, even a small statue. On a rainy November afternoon, all the talking fogged up the windows, too, providing a great “whiteboard” for an Arabic lesson.
​

That’s what happens when six Arab women (and two children) join four American women for a trip to the Great Smokies Flea Market!


Read More
0 Comments

Does Mentoring Make a Difference?

1/14/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
2020 n01
Her tear-filled eyes wide, Abe’s mother pulled her teacher aside after adult English class one day in late August. Her teenage son, a high school senior, was failing chemistry at school and hiding in his room at home. Could the English instructor find a tutor for him? The instructor jumped into action, reaching out to several potential tutors before she found a very bright university student with a keen grasp of chemistry. They began meeting regularly, and Abe’s grades soon rose.


Read More
1 Comment

He Left with a Smile

10/14/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
2019 n21
He walked into the large room with no expression on his face. After a full day of kindergarten in a new classroom, in a new school, in a new country, he had nothing left to give. If anything, there was a bit of fear in his eyes. Three other children—two first graders and a second grader—entered with him.

An American lady approached him. Was she another teacher? She told him something in English, but he didn’t understand even the first word.


Read More
0 Comments

When We Work Together

6/3/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
2019 n11
Clapping and cheers erupted from the middle of the gym. Another assembly line had completed another box of mac-n-cheese packs. Another table wasn’t far behind. Their assembly line of ten people completed a box—192 individual packets—with high-fives and cheers. Then they immediately started another box. The boxes were stacking up against the opposite wall, coming from ten assembly lines, and it was only 10:30am. By the end of the day, there were 45,000 meals in more than 220 boxes.


Read More
0 Comments

A New Way to Welcome

3/25/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
2019 n06
Last week, a refugee family of nine arrived in Knoxville. It’s hard to find rental property to fit nine, so they had to wait in a hotel for a few days. 

Cindy Hood doesn’t want that to happen again.


Read More
0 Comments

The Cleaning Expert

3/11/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
2019 n05
Yasmin was upset. She handed her quarterly inspection report to our culture coach, wondering why she was on the verge of being evicted. It said “uncleanliness,” but she kept her house clean and tidy. Our culture coach went to her apartment and found everything else clean, but the two bathrooms covered with mold and mildew.

Mold and mildew don’t grow in the dessert. It’s too dry. But here in East Tennessee, they can grow in a couple of days--just one of the thousands of things to which many immigrants and refugees must adjust!


Read More
0 Comments

Laying Rubber in the Parking Lot

2/18/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
2019 n04
Some might find his driving lessons...unconventional. When Ezra* first lets a new student sit behind the wheel, he instructs them to accelerate quickly then slam on the brakes. Then he teaches them how to do “donuts” in the empty parking lot. But his methods are effective. He has already helped four internationals learn to drive.


Read More
0 Comments

Replacing Ronaldo's Hope

12/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
2018 n03
A bomb robbed young Ronaldo of much of his hearing. Then an international move robbed him and his family of their home and everything familiar. It’s no surprise Ronaldo struggled in school after they reached Knoxville. He couldn’t hear well, and what he heard wasn’t always understandable. He couldn’t sit still in class. He couldn’t finish his homework, and he resisted discipline at school. Ronaldo was frustrated. His parents were desperate.

Read More
0 Comments

    IMPACT

    Read the stories of Knoxville's local internationals and the volunteers who have impacted their lives. Get a first-hand view of what it's like to move here and/or to serve those who've moved here from other countries. Discover how KIN has impacted life and culture in metro Knoxville.

    Archives

    December 2022
    October 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    October 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018

    Categories

    All
    Accent
    Adult English Class
    Afghanistan
    Africa
    Asia
    Asylees
    Behind The Scenes
    Birthday
    Children
    China
    Christmas
    Citizenship
    Covid
    Culture Class
    Donations
    Driving
    ELL
    Embrace
    Families
    Field Trip
    Food
    Healthcare
    History
    Home Ownership
    Hospitality
    Immigrant
    Immigrant Heritage Month
    Intern
    Internationals
    INVEST
    Iraq
    KIN
    LaMP
    Library
    Mental Health
    Mentoring
    Middle East
    Multi-cultural Celebration
    Nations Next Door
    Partner Organization
    Reading
    Refugees
    Restaurant
    School
    Special Immigrant Visa
    Students
    Teachers
    Thailand
    Thanksgiving
    Transportation
    Tutoring
    Ukraine
    Venezuela
    Volunteer
    Volunteers
    World Refugee Day

    RSS Feed

About

Why KIN?
​
Our Team
​KIN's History
Statement of Faith
Numbers & Need
KIN in the News

Contact KIN

865.235.1476​
admin@kin-connect.org

Mailing
PO Box 31052
Knoxville, TN 37930
​
Office
6300 Deane Hill Drive
Knoxville, TN 37919
Picture
Picture
Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from shixart1985, jonkriz, shixart1985
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer >
      • LaMP
      • Embrace Initiative
      • Adult English Programs
      • 2nd Home
      • Occasional Opportunities
      • Translate/Interpret
    • Training >
      • Adult English Teacher Certification
      • ELL Teacher Continuing Education
      • Cross-Cultural Seminar
      • Knoxville International Experience
      • Culture Orientation
    • Growth Resources
    • Events & Festivals
    • Other Language Classes
    • Finances & Donations
  • The Network
    • Partner Portal
    • Volunteer Portal
  • Resources for Local Internationals
    • Adult English Classes
    • Immigration & Naturalization
    • International businesses >
      • Restaurants
      • Food Trucks
    • Multilingual Churches >
      • Arabic
      • Burmese
      • Chinese
      • English
      • Kirundi
      • Korean
      • Romanian
      • Russian
      • Spanish
      • Swahili
    • Employment Assistance
    • Healthcare Resources
    • Driving Resources
    • Home Ownership & Money Management
  • Impact Stories
  • DONATE