Johnson County -TN Long Term Recovery Group

09/02/2026

08/31/2026

🎉💪 Y’ALL… LOOK WHAT WE DID TODAY!! 💪🎉

What. A. DAY!! 🙌

Our JCLTRG Work Day was a HUGE success, and we made SO MUCH PROGRESS! 🔨🧹🪚

There was cleaning, hauling, moving, fixing, organizing, sweating, laughing — and probably a few moments of wondering, “Who thought this was a good idea?” 😂 But WOW… just look at what happens when an amazing group of people shows up ready to WORK!

❤️ THIS is what community looks like.

To every single person who came out today — THANK YOU! Whether you stayed all day, stopped by for a few hours, carried something heavy, picked up a broom, hauled trash, brought food, or simply jumped in wherever you were needed… YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE!

We started the day with a BIG to-do list…

And we’re ending it saying:

🔥 LOOK AT THAT PROGRESS! 🔥

Our new JCLTRG home is coming together, and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead!

We may be tired.
We may be dirty.
We may discover muscles tomorrow that we forgot we had. 😂

BUT WE GOT IT DONE! 💪🙌

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who showed up and showed out today!

❤️ Best team. Best volunteers. Best community. PERIOD.

08/29/2026

08/28/2026

What a wonderful and unforgettable day! ❤️🏡

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our very first Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) home dedication. Seeing this home completed and a family begin a new chapter was a powerful reminder of what can happen when people come together with compassion, faith, and a willingness to serve.

We are deeply grateful to MDS, our dedicated volunteers, community members, donors, churches, local leaders, and every partner who contributed time, resources, prayers, and support. This special day would not have been possible without each of you.

Our first MDS dedication was more than the celebration of a new house—it was a celebration of hope, healing, partnership, and the strength of our community.

Thank you for making this such a beautiful day and for continuing to stand with the families of Johnson County throughout recovery. This is what rebuilding together looks like! 💙

08/24/2026

The Amish volunteers rebuilding homes in Johnson County, need a home for themselves.

08/24/2026

A Call to Stop the Debate

I’m going to make one appeal: please stop the social media debate over housing for the Amish who are here rebuilding homes in our community.

We can disagree. We can have questions. We can have conversations about how recovery resources are used. But at some point, the constant arguing, accusations, and division online do nothing to help the families who are still trying to rebuild their lives.

These men have left their own families, traveled here, and are giving their time and skills to rebuild homes for people who need them. Whether you agree with every decision surrounding their housing or not, their work is helping our community recover.

Recovery is already hard enough without turning every decision into another fight.

If you have a legitimate concern, bring it forward through the appropriate channels. If you have a solution, step up and help. But please stop tearing each other apart on Facebook.

We have homes to rebuild. Families to help. A community to heal.

Let’s put the arguments down and get back to what matters: helping Johnson County recover. ❤️🇺🇸

08/23/2026

Work continues

08/22/2026

Why Forge Creek Community Center Is Needed Right Now

I understand the concerns about Forge Creek Community Center and the events and activities that take place there. Those things absolutely matter to our community.

But there is another side of this conversation that needs to be understood.

Forge Creek Community Center is needed right now as part of our long-term recovery effort.

The Amish crews are here to rebuild homes for families who were devastated by Hurricane Helene. They aren’t here for a vacation. They are here working long days, putting their skills and labor into rebuilding our community.

To continue that work, they need safe, adequate housing and a place where the crews can stay together.

This isn’t simply about finding somewhere for people to sleep. Housing these crews close to the work allows them to spend their time and energy rebuilding homes instead of spending hours every day traveling back and forth.

Every hour saved from commuting is another hour that can potentially be spent helping a survivor.

The reality is that recovery requires infrastructure—not just construction materials and volunteers. It requires places for volunteer crews to stay, eat, shower, coordinate, rest and prepare for the next day’s work.

That’s why the community center is important to the recovery effort.

And this isn’t about saying Forge Creek Community Center doesn’t matter. It does matter. The people who have invested their time in maintaining it matter. The events held there matter. The families who use it matter.

But right now, Johnson County is still recovering.

We have families who are still waiting for homes to be repaired or rebuilt.

We have volunteer crews willing to come here and do the work.

What we cannot afford to do is lose the people and resources necessary to complete that recovery simply because we don’t have adequate places to house them.

The goal should be to find a way to support our community center while also providing the housing necessary to keep these crews here and keep homes being rebuilt.

Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about a building.

It’s about families getting back into their homes.

It’s about keeping skilled volunteers here.

It’s about making the most of the people who have traveled here to help Johnson County.

And it’s about finishing what Hurricane Helene left unfinished.

Recovery isn’t over. And if we want to keep rebuilding homes, we have to make sure we have the infrastructure to support the people doing the rebuilding.

Let’s keep working together to find solutions that allow both our community activities and our recovery efforts to continue. ❤️

08/21/2026

We are stronger when we stand together.

Recovery isn’t over.
The work continues.
And sometimes, doing what is best for our community means having the courage to make the hard decisions.