Shopper Blog: Need help? The Red Book of Resources, North Knox woman's labor of love, fills a gap
HALLS
Need help? The Red Book of Resources, North Knox woman's labor of love, fills a gap
Al Lesar, Shopper News
Helping others navigate the tough parts of their lives has helped Cheryl Sutton heal the trauma in her own.
About five years ago, the 1983 Gibbs High School graduate was a clerk in the Social Services office of the Knox County Health Department. When people came in off the street with a question, she was the one with the answer.
“When I was there, most of the people who came in were homeless,” Sutton said. “They’d want to know about food pantries or other assistance. I had a red binder that had everything written down. The president (of the United States) has his red phone (with an immediate contact with Russia); I have my Red Book.”
When Sutton left her job in 2019 to take care of some serious family issues, she was allowed to take her binder with her. Since then, the need and the information has grown, but the book hasn’t.
Instead, she has put all the information on the Knox County Red Book of Resources Facebook page.
A lot that people don't know
The highlight of that online presence is the daily calendar (www.knoxredbook.com). It went live a few months ago and is constantly updated by Sutton.
“The calendar will update information on food pantries, clothes closets, legal aid, free hot meals, support groups for widows, whatever,” Sutton said. “Click on an item and it will break down all the information.”
Sutton continues to fill the cracks that might be left by large agencies like the United Way. Sutton likely is passing on information that might be much more informal.
“This gives me a purpose,” Sutton said. “It gives me a reason to wake up each day. I’ve had a lot of loss in my life; a lot of pain.
“I’m taking my energy and putting it in something positive that can help someone else. I have a lot of information that a lot of people wouldn’t know about.”
Needs are changing
In addition to the Red Book of Resources, Sutton said she is the lone director of a backpack program for the homeless. Donated backpacks are filled with Narcan, to offset a drug overdose; condoms, toiletries and nonperishable snacks.
“The backpacks are a year-round project,” Sutton said. “I keep them in my car. When I see someone who might need one, I’ll stop and give them one.
“I might give out a couple hundred a year. I’d like to do more. There’s certainly a need for more.”
Sutton said Knox County Red Book of Resources is applying for its 501(c)(3) designation as a nonprofit. That will help with some of the donations that keep her ministry going.
“Over time, it’s not just the homeless who need the information anymore,” she said. “Now, it’s pregnancy; youth and adult issues; camps for children with autism; internships; food pantries; blessing boxes. They want to know the places that will deliver goods.”
A database with all the information is being compiled.
Sutton said dental services for those without insurance is a critical need that few are able to serve. Where can the homeless take a shower and park their car for the evening?
Volunteers to help with packing backpacks and inputing data are needed. But Sutton won’t let that slow her movement.
“Help would be great, but I’ll keep at it,” she said. “I needed the answers when I was at my lowest point. There have to be others. Those are the ones I want to help.”
Sutton can be contacted at: info@knoxredbook.com, 865-602-1660, or on Facebook.
OPINION
Spousal Management System still working
Leslie Snow, Shopper News
He calls from the office to check on me. “How’s your day going?” my husband wants to know.
I tell him about my morning walk and our Great Dane’s latest adventure. “We met a chihuahua today and he scared Buttercup half to death,” I say with a laugh. We chat for a few minutes before I casually mention I’m having our air conditioner repaired along with Buttercup’s electric fence.
“I didn’t know we were having problems with either,” my husband responds, sounding miffed that he was left out of the loop.
“It was on a need-to-know basis,” I say, trying to keep the conversation light. “And I’ll have everything fixed before you get home from work.”
He chuckles dryly then retorts, “I get it. You’re managing me.” Then he says the line we’ve been repeating for years. “Sometimes you have to wait to tell Daddy things.”
We both laugh. We both remember the long-ago reference and why we’re still repeating it today.
When the kids were little, we were in the process of selling our first Knoxville home. On the day we were supposed to have our home inspection, Zack’s 4-foot-long pet python, Scaly, escaped from his cage and was lost somewhere in the house.
I searched everywhere for that snake. I spent hours looking under towels and inside blankets, in closets and under beds. But, despite my frantic searching, I couldn’t find Scaly before the buyers, their extended family, and the home inspector arrived at the house.
So I gathered the kids together, looked them straight in the eye and said, “We would never lie to Daddy. That would be wrong. But sometimes, we have to wait to tell him things. We have to wait for just the right time so it’s easier for him to hear the news. And this is one of those times.
“So when we meet Daddy for lunch in a few minutes, let’s not tell him about the snake. Let’s wait until he comes home for dinner at the end of the day and then we’ll confess that Scaly was slithering through the house during our home inspection. OK?”
The kids agreed to keep our secret for a few hours, the home inspector didn’t get a ball python surprise, and when we finally found the right time to “tell Daddy the news,” everything was fine. Easy-Peezy.
But the tale of Scaly the snake tipped my hat. It let my husband know that, sometimes, I wait to give him bad news. I wait until I have a solution before I admit there’s a problem. That way, the problem is easier to digest, and he has no reason to be upset. It’s a win-win.
“You manage me,” he complains sometimes. And he’s right. I take care of a lot of little details that might aggravate him or wait for the right time to share bad news.
“I use a ‘Spousal Management System’ or ‘SMS’,” I tease when he realizes I’ve had the garbage disposal replaced before he knew it was broken. “All the best marriages use it.”
And I assume that’s true. I assume I’m not the only one who looks for the best time to say, “Guess what? We need a new washing machine.” I never lie, I just pick the right time to tell the truth.
That technique worked when Scaly was lost in our house and it worked yesterday when I realized the air conditioner was struggling. And after 36 years of marriage, I fully endorse the SMS.
Even though we never did find that snake.
Leslie Snow may be reached at snow column@aol.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Shopper News brings you the latest happenings in your community
