Challenge House held a recognition ceremony at First Baptist Church to honor the volunteers and ambassadors who support its mission of outreach, ministry, and community transformation in some of Hopkinsville’s most underserved neighborhoods.
“Challenge House is an inner city Christian ministry with people who live in our houses,” said Executive Director Michelle Wilson. “We call them Challenge Houses. And they do outreach and ministry in their neighborhoods.”
The organization currently operates in six neighborhoods across the city, with plans to expand into a seventh.
“It surprises a lot of people to say, ‘Okay, we actually have seven inner city neighborhoods,’” Wilson said. “We’re going to put a house in the seventh neighborhood. We just haven’t gotten there yet. But people just find it hard to believe that Hopkinsville has inner city and inner city problems.”
According to Wilson, the neighborhoods served by Challenge House struggle with poverty, addiction, and a lack of resources. Ambassadors who live in the homes offer programs tailored to the needs of their neighbors.
“What works at one Challenge House will not work at another,” she said. “What works in Challenge House 1 won’t work at Challenge House 4 because Challenge House 4 has a large, large population of youth, where Challenge House 1 is an older generation.”
Wilson said the programs range from tutoring and Bible study to snack programs and community events. Last year, the organization provided 15,000 snacks to children.
“We are 100% Jesus Christ driven. We are Christian ministry,” she said. “Our ambassadors become so taxed and so heavy with inner city problems. They have to find, you know, resources to help them mentally and be able to handle those challenges where they help everybody daily.”
The recognition ceremony highlighted the importance of volunteers who help staff events and support programs.
“Our programs cannot exist without the help of volunteers,” Wilson said. “They cannot keep the programs going by themselves. They have to have volunteers.”
Two of those volunteers, April Oatts and Jessica Cannon, serve as ambassadors through New Work Fellowship, a local church that partners with Challenge House.
“New Work Fellowship is a church in our community that supports Challenge House as one of our mission partners,” Oatts said.
Cannon said their involvement began with small group projects, like tutoring and seasonal events.
“I know my small group used to go and do pumpkin painting in October and tutoring and things like that,” she said.
