Volunteers move beds for John Sevier Center residents

Dozens of mattresses were stacked high outside the Tapestry at Roan Hill apartments Monday morning. Later this year, they'll belong to residents of the John Sevier Center moving into the new apartments. Tallal Shakarchi, vice president of development with building owners LHP, said they are hoping to begin moving the residents into the building by early December. The mattresses and bed frames came from the local BoxDrop Furniture franchise, and Good Samaritan Ministries provided funding to buy them. A team of volunteers affiliated with those organizations spent the day moving the mattresses inside. Jim Wilson, owner of the BoxDrop franchise in the Tri Cities, said he was glad to be able to help. "When they start this new chapter, we wanted to make sure they started on a new bed," he said. Good Samaritan Ministries CEO Aaron T. Murphy said the work on Monday was part of "the ongoing community collaboration for the purposes of serving a vulnerable population." "When you live in a community that cares, that's the difference maker in all this," Murphy said. "I am a true believer that that's what we have here." Shakarchi said the last remaining thing to do is get a certificate of occupancy from the City of Johnson City ahead of a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development site visit on Dec. 1. The move was delayed for the past month because the company needed to make sure they had disability signs in place at the Tapestry building, which he said has been completed. Visit Johnson City Executive Director Brenda Whitson said they were done with the "Roots at Roan Hill" fundraiser started in September to raise money for various smaller household items for residents. "The money we collected helped us to provide bedding for mattresses, pillows, Swiffers, laundry material and towels," she said. "It enabled us to give every single resident the same things."