STRONGacc

10/17/2026

Congratulations to STRONG ACC partner Johnson City Recovery Center for the addition of Mountain Hollow, a new recovery home for men. They will be having an Open House on October 20th! Please see details below!

🏡❤️ YOU’RE INVITED! ❤️🏡

Johnson City Recovery Center is excited to announce the opening of our new men’s recovery residence, Mountain Hollow! 🎉

Join us for an Open House on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at 2905 Newton St., Johnson City, TN 37604.

Mountain Hollow offers men in recovery a supportive community, lived-experience peer support, programmatic support, and a stable, recovery-focused environment to help build a strong foundation for lasting recovery.

Come tour the home, learn more about what we offer, and celebrate this exciting addition to our recovery community! Light refreshments will be provided. 🥤

We look forward to seeing you there! 💙

📍 2905 Newton St., Johnson City, TN 37604
🗓️ October 20, 2026 | 4:00–6:00 PM

10/16/2026

Today, we celebrated our STRONG ACC partner, Bethany Christian Services, and the one-year anniversary of their Early Head Start Program!

Program Director Kendra Brooks shared the program’s journey over the past year and recognized the dedication and hard work of her incredible team. 💙

Through a home-visiting model, the program currently serves 65 children, supporting families and helping young learners build a strong foundation for lifelong success.

Congratulations to Kendra and the entire Bethany Christian Services team on this wonderful milestone! We’re grateful for your partnership and the meaningful impact you’re making for children and families across our region.

10/13/2026

10/13/2026

Two weeks ago, our team traveled to Baltimore for the 2026 StriveTogether National Convening, and we’re still energized by it! 🙌

We left with new connections and fresh ideas from national partners and from others doing this same work across the country. Rural or urban, the same threads ran through every conversation: collective impact, place-based partnerships, and/or cradle-to-career connected systems (however you want to frame it 😊) lead to real change.

Building civic infrastructure is hard, complex work. But when we come together, learn from one another, and carry that learning back to the communities and regions we serve, it demonstrates the power of convening.

Thank you to all the speakers and presenters who shared their time, stories, and lessons with us. We especially enjoyed learning from E3 Alliance, Rebecca Winthrop, Chattanooga 2.0, Measure Well, Rocky Mountain Partnership Cradle to Career, Spartanburg Academic Movement and many others! Thank you Cradle to Career Tennessee and Partners for Rural Impact for setting up times for peer connection and fellowship. We can’t wait to put what we learned into action in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee.

10/08/2026

🚀 Have a business idea? Let’s bring it to life!

A fresh start can open the door to new opportunities. 💙 The FoundersForge Avante Business Bootcamp is coming to Southwest Virginia to help individuals in recovery turn their ideas into action and explore entrepreneurship as a path forward!

This FREE, six-week program will walk you through the steps to validate a business idea, start a business, and navigate the challenges of becoming an entrepreneur.

📅 Starting October 22 | 5:30–7:30 PM
📍 People Incorporated Financial Services
1217 W. Main Street, Abingdon, VA 24210

✨ **Here’s what you can expect:**
✅ Free six-week business training
✅ Free course materials
✅ Dinner provided each night
✅ Childcare provided each night

Entrepreneurship can create new possibilities for individuals facing barriers to traditional employment. Whether you already have a business idea or are just curious about what’s possible, this bootcamp is a chance to learn, grow, and take your next step!

You do NOT have to be a parent to participate!

🎯 Ready to get started? Reserve your spot today!

👉 Register here: https://fforge.co/swva-avante-recovery

10/06/2026

We were proud to support our partner, Tennessee Kids Belong, along with many other Greene County partners and congratulate them on Greene County officially becoming a 🎉 TKB’s community development strategy to mobilize the business and faith communities around foster parents and their children is amazing!

Wondering how your county or community can become foster friendly?
Click the link below to learn more!

https://americaskidsbelong.org/states/tn/foster-friendly-communities-tn-2/

10/01/2026

Proud of our Cradle to Career Tennessee colleague, Jennifer Andrews with Chattanooga 2.0, presenting Aligning Action, Policy, and Outcomes at the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Convening!

Appreciated the nested civic infrastructure exercise and the reminder that:

“Nested infrastructure is not about working everywhere. It is about identifying where change can happen and intentionally connecting the people, levels, data, resources, and decisions required to make it possible.”

09/30/2026

We're headed to Baltimore for the StriveTogether Network Convening!

We can't wait to connect with changemakers from across the country who are working to build brighter futures for every child, every step of the way.

Will we be seeing you there?