This is Living Ministries (TILM) is a 501c3 (EIN: 82-0832575, CO# CO32821) year-long faith-based recovery facility for women who have been in prison.  Two out of three women who enter this program have Opioid Use Disorder.  TILM created a tab on their website call “The Jabez Project” outlining their 4-phase expansion plan for the property on Tucker Ridge Road.  Please see below:

Phase 1:  Procure the campus and have 15 beds move-in ready.
Phase 2:  Utilize completed blueprints to build a duplex on the campus, adding 30 beds.
Phase 3:  Build another 30-bed duplex on the campus.
Phase 4:  Build a 30-bed apartment complex on campus along with a workforce development center.  
 

Per TILM's website, a grant will be issued to fund part of this purchase and the organization will procure bank financing for the rest.  Currently, there are no records publicly available for the request for information on this grant or its dissemination.  This seems problematic given the fact that this farm was on the market for $850,000 and state/federal taxpayer dollars will be funding part of the purchase.

If you are not familiar with the Silver Point area, but Tucker Ridge Road is one mile off of Interstate 40.  It is a small, two-lane country road with only residential housing.  We only have city water and no city sewer.  A project of this magnitude should require an extensive environmental survey to ensure this property complies with the Tenn. Code Ann 68-221-403 for septic systems and to our knowledge, this has not been completed.  An influx of 100+ people on what has historically been a single-family farm will cause a significant environmental impact to Silver Point. 

The residents of Silver Point or Putnam County as a whole were unaware that this project was even on the table for this small community.  We do not have the infrastructure to support a commercial compound as is being proposed by TILM.  There is no plan on file with the Putnam County Planning Commission for this proposed expansion and no plan to upgrade/increase our infrastructure.  We do not have access to public transportation, police, fire, or EMS in Silver Point.  We depend on Putnam County services located in Cookeville which is at least 25 minutes away in the event of an emergency. 

Two out of three of the women who enter this program have Opioid Use Disorder.  If TILM were truly interested in supporting the recovery of these women, their new facility would be located closer to county services, public transportation and jobs for the women.  This organization also does not have medical staff or licensed counselors on their staff to care for the women who are in their program. 

Women entering this program may either be parolees from prisons in Tennessee or other locations.  Women may also be sentenced to serve their sentence in this facility.   Our community does not have a local police department that will be close to the facility to support any issues that may arise.

The Community of Silver Point, TN needs your help to stop this invasion on our community.  Our community members are outraged and have no desire to have our small town compromised by a halfway house and the increased crime that is sure to follow.  Please sign the petition to show your support and be on the lookout on the Good Neighbors of Silver Point, TN Facebook page for updates on upcoming community town hall meetings and upcoming plans to address the Putnam County Commission.