Local Heroes

TVARA Knoxville Chapter, TVA Veterans Association, and TVA Employees Join Forces to Support homeless Veterans 

The Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Valley Authority Retirees Association (TVARA) is stepping up in a powerful way to serve some of the most vulnerable Veterans living in our community. Through a partnership with the Hero’s Hill project, the VA Homeless Veterans Program, and support from TVA’s Veterans Association, retirees and employees are working together to help end Veteran homelessness in Knox County. 

Kevin Rudnitzki, a TVA senior equipment operations and rigging training specialist and member of the TVA Veterans Association, helps carry a Veteran’s new bed.

A Community Need That Calls for Action 

Today, 140 Veterans in Knox County are experiencing homelessness. Operation Hero’s Hill is responding to this urgent need by building 20 tiny homes and a community center, providing safe and dignified shelter for Veterans who have given much in service to our country. This project expands the progress already made with the 32-unit Liberty Place development completed in 2024.

The heart of the Hero’s Hill project has always been service—service to the Veterans who once protected our communities and now need our communities to stand by them. With construction on the 20 new tiny homes complete, volunteers prepared for one of the most meaningful phases of the project: helping furnish and stock each home so Veterans could move in with comfort and dignity.

TVA retirees Trena Palmer, left, and Reny McClain Lee help arrange a new home for a Veteran.

Service in Action

Earlier this spring, the Knoxville Chapter partnered with Knox County Mayor Glen Jacobs and TVA’s Veterans Association to stock essential kitchen items needed for the first group of residents. Additionally, volunteers worked together to sort and organize other household essentials procured by the VA Homeless Veteran’s program.

But the service doesn’t stop at shopping lists.

Last week, retirees and TVA employees worked side‑by‑side with Knoxville’s Community Development Corporation (KCDC) moving and setting up beds, storage drawers and mattresses creating a space to say, You are home. 

“Projects like Hero’s Hill demonstrate the powerful impact we can make when TVA retirees and TVA employees work hand-in-hand, showing that our shared commitment to service doesn’t end at retirement—it evolves,” said Vickie Ellis, TVARA president. “By collaborating on initiatives that strengthen our communities and honor our legacy, we continue to uphold the values that built the Tennessee Valley. Hero’s Hill is more than a project; it’s a testament to what we can achieve together.”

This support provides more than a stocked kitchen or a clean towel. It gives each Veteran dignity, comfort and a true sense of home on the very first night in their new space.

Retired TVA employees Reny McClain Lee, on left, Leslie Bazzoon unload furniture in a new home.

A Community Effort with Longstanding Impact

This work builds on the Knoxville TVARA Chapter’s earlier success in raising $12,000 through Bicentennial Volunteers, Inc., chapter members, and TVA’s Veterans Association. Those contributions helped purchase supplies needed for move-in. 

Volunteers say the move‑in effort is where the mission truly comes to life.

“Driving onto that campus and seeing the homes was such a humbling experience,” TVA retiree Trena Palmer said. “As we were working, I got to talk to a few of the new residents about how excited they were to move in. Knowing that I was able to serve a group of people who have been such a vital part of our democracy meant so much.” 

TVA employees who are part of the Veterans Association also joined the effort, reinforcing TVA’s culture of service to the Valley region.

“I’m glad we were able to be there and help give them the support Veterans need to get past this low point in their lives after all they sacrificed for our country,” said Kevin Rudnitzki, Senior Equipment Operations and Rigging Training Specialist and member of the TVA Veterans Association. “It is fulfilling to be able to help put the final touches on these tiny homes and see this project, that is giving hope for the future to our homeless veterans, reach completion.  It has truly been a blessing.”

Project partners from Hero’s Hill and the VA Homeless Veterans Program continue to emphasize how critical this volunteer work is to the long-term success of residents. 

“KCDC is very grateful to the TVA Retirees and the TVA Veterans Association,” said Jenna Bailey, KCDC Partnerships Manager. “Thanks to the items purchased with the donated funds, and to the volunteers who labored to help set up beds and sort home goods, we were able to ensure all first residents at Hero’s Hill moved into a house with everything they needed to make it a home.”