KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A new center for kids, teens and neighbors is now open in East Knoxville. It's called World United Community Outreach Center. The director says it aims to help kids stay away from crime and violence while giving them a safe space.
Lawrence Williams directs the World United Ministries, a nonprofit organization that helps kids and teens from East Knoxville stay off the streets. His mission through the organization is to save lives and plant seeds of hope in kids who are surrounded by violence.
"Our goal here is to want to save as many lives as we can," he said.
Every day, kids and teens from the area can show up at the center from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. World United Community Outreach Center helps about 15 kids.
"A lot of people are in survival mode," he said. "It's easy for us to judge folks and things like that. But you know, we got to be a beacon of light to the community."
The center is located at 2519 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. Williams says the area is often seen for its violence and not for its people.
"East Knoxville gets a bad rep but there's good people in East Knoxville," Williams said.
In two months, the center went from being under construction to a place with games, computers and couches. The center is three blocks away from Austin East High School, where many of the kids go or will someday go.
Williams said kids that enter are in search of belonging and community.
"They are looking for support, they look for love and looking for someone to listen to them," he said.
Williams also directs Safe Haven Youth Empowerment. That center offers people without a home a short-term place to stay. It's currently being rebuilt after a car in a drag race slammed into the building back in January.
Williams says Safe Haven is set to reopen in late May.