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Commercial Appeal, October 2024

“In Memphis, there are hundreds of homeless children. They bounce from shelters to hotels to relatives’ homes to the street. They sleep in cars and
outside restaurants and under bus stops. Many of them attend school but struggle to focus, unsure of what they’ll eat or where they’ll sleep when the evening comes.”

Faith West Tennessee, September 2024

Congregational shelter is the core mission of Room in the Inn, Anderson said, and the model is simple: something to eat, somewhere to sleep, and someone to talk to. That simplicity is key to its effectiveness.
It’s not rocket science; it’s hospitality,” Anderson said. “We believe Jesus calls us to treat our fellow humans with dignity and respect. That’s what we do.”

Memphis Magazine, July 2024

“[Tracy] remembers the worst of it, when she had cancer and no place to stay… She had her service animal, so wasn’t eligible at the first place her doctor reached out to, but Room in the Inn accepted Logan and Marley. She was able to have her surgery — her fifth in four years — and stay at Room in the Inn while recuperating.”

Commercial Appeal, July 2024

“Today, we celebrate an opportunity to expand our capacity to serve families with children who come to our Family Inn on this campus for a place to breathe and a place to find new ways to navigate systems that are often beyond their capacity,” said Lisa Anderson, executive director of Room in the Inn.

Daily Memphian, July 2024

A law expediting the process for removing a “squatter” from a residential property went into effect Monday, July 1… “I just think this is going to make what is already a crisis a bigger crisis,” Anderson said of the new law.

WKNO, The SPARK, June 2024

Host Jeremy C. Park interviews Reverend Lisa Anderson, Executive Director of Room in the Inn – Memphis as part of The SPARK’s focus on “Caring for the Wellbeing and Welfare of Others.”

Bluff City Life, Action News 5, April 2024

Breakfast For Dinner Yields Hope For The Unhoused: All the fixings of breakfast, for dinner – This annual fundraiser is flipping things around to create a safe place for Memphians!

CityCurrent Radio Show, March 2024

Host Andrew Bartolotta sits down with Lisa Anderson, founder of RITI, a transformative nonprofit providing sanctuary and support to the unhoused across Memphis. Lisa shares RITI’s journey from a small church project to a city-wide mission with over 50 congregations involved.

Daily Memphian, Feb. 2024

“But very early, we were seeing people were that were ill, too ill really to be going to sleep on a cot or a mattress at a church, people who had had surgeries, outpatient surgeries, people who had pneumonia, people who had chronic illnesses, like cancer, things that weren’t going to get better … “So, we started planning, thinking about a recuperative care center for these people very early on. And so that’s what led us to have this space now.”

ABC24, December 2023

Room In The Inn hosted a vigil on Thursday night at Memphis’ First Presbyterian Church in remembrance of the members of the city’s homeless community who died in the last year.

Commercial Appeal, Dec. 2023

“No insurance, no income, little educational opportunities, poor access to healthcare, poor access to transportation all impact the journey into and out of homelessness. Poverty is a prison, and often the sentence is served out on the streets, homeless.”

Commercial Appeal, Nov. 2023

“Even though our whole congregation is not involved in the ministry, it’s changed the atmosphere of our church, Neugebauer said. “We are more caring and giving, and recognizing of the humanity in others.”

Meanwhile in Memphis Podcast, Nov. 2023

“Life changes when you know someone’s name. Life changes when you have held a baby who is unsheltered. That’s what changes people’s perspective on what’s happening… that’s one of the things I believe Room in the Inn offers.”
RITI’s Executive Director, Rev. Lisa Anderson joined Dr. Elena Delavega on the Meanwhile in Memphis podcast to discuss homelessness, especially among children & youth, and the impact it has on both those who are experiencing it and the entire community.

Commercial Appeal, Nov. 2023

As cold weather approaches in Memphis, Room In The Inn has started its winter season. Here’s what the first night of the winter season looked like.

Commercial Appeal, Oct. 2023

“We feel a little bit urgent about getting congregations to understand that this is not just a service opportunity, this is a lifesaving opportunity,” Anderson said. “This is keeping children and women and vulnerable men in a place of safety during a time that it is very unsafe to be on the street.”

WMC Action News 5, Sept. 2022

“Hundreds of families are living in housing that is not adequate, that is not safe. This was certainly an extreme version of that,” said Lisa Anderson, executive director of Room in the Inn, a local shelter. “There are so few places in our city for those, so, even knowing about people who are living in conditions that are unsafe, sometimes there are not a lot of options.”

Daily Memphian: The Sidebar Podcast, Apr. 2023

Rev. Lisa Anderson shares about Room in the Inn’s three unique programs and the upcoming Breakfast for Dinner fundraiser happening April 29.

WMC Action News 5, Dec. 2022

With dangerously cold temperatures pushing into parts of the Mid-South, Room in the Inn is stepping up in preparation ahead of this Christmas cold freeze.

The inn has locked arms with several congregations, such as Calvary Episcopal Church in the heart of Downtown, to house and feed the homeless ahead of the arctic blast.

WREG News Channel 3, May 2022

Memphis is near the top of the list for eviction rates among U.S. cities and that’s contributed to a spike in homelessness during the pandemic. The challenges of the unhoused get even bigger when one is hospitalized: what if they’re discharged and have nowhere to go? That’s where ‘Room in the Inn-Memphis’ steps in…

Faithfully Memphis Podcast, April 2022

The Rev. Paul McLain in conversation with Rev. Lisa Anderson and Christine Fox from Room in the Inn.

Commercial Appeal, June 2021

“They make it so there’s nothing to hinder you from reaching a goal you want to reach,” Perkins said. “They’ve got everything put in stone for you. You’ve just got to accept it. They’re handing it to you on a silver platter. You either take it or you don’t. I look at it as a blessing.”

Forever Ready Productions, April 2021

It’s your monthly dose of positivity right here on our Facebook and YouTube channels. This month we’ve got Lisa Anderson with Room In The Inn Memphis on LIVE to talk more about their vision for their new location. Find out how you can help support their efforts, especially now.

CityCurrent Radio Show, April 2021

Host Andrew Bartolotta talks with Room In The Inn – Memphis’s Director of Programming, Whitney Brown, who shares about their mission to shelter those experiencing homelessness in a safe environment of hospitality.

Commercial Appeal, April 2021

The hospital once was one of the few places that offered care to African Americans during segregation. Now, it will be the only recuperative care center for people experiencing homelessness in the region. “A location just like this one has been a dream for the most vulnerable and those we have served. In this space, many medically fragile unsheltered Memphians will no longer recover from their illness on the street,” said The Rev. Lisa Anderson, executive director of Room in the Inn – Memphis.

City of Memphis: Housing and Community Development, April 2021

Collins Chapel Connectional Hospital, Ribbon Cutting, coordinated by CME Church and Room in the Inn

Memphis Magazine, August 2020

On both cold winter nights or blazing hot summer days, Room in the Inn workers are waiting by their phones for a call. The volunteers from all walks of life have been trained in assisting individuals experiencing homelessness, and with every call they have one goal in mind: How can we get a roof over this person’s head?

Commercial Appeal, Jan. 2020

To run an entirely different sort of check-in process, the four-person staff of the Room in the Inn nonprofit uses space at the church, putting dozens of people in beds, every night. Operating on the basis of “holy hospitality,” the group works with 56 faith-based organizations across Shelby County to host up to 15 people in each of their places of worship on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis.

WREG News Channel 3 Memphis, Nov. 2019

“I love it here because they send us to places where we can sleep, have a warm bed, we have food to eat, and the people that host us are very nice to us,” Verlanda Lane said.

Mark Billingsley, The Chairman’s Perspective, Dec. 2019

On this episode Shelby County Board of Commissioners Chairman, Mark Billingsley discusses: Homelessness in Shelby County with Alise Davis, Chair of the Board of Room in the Inn.

Memphis Theological Seminary, The Good News, Dec. 2019

Volunteering with RITI is about saying grace, breaking bread together, drawing on the restorative power of stillness, and spending time with others around a dinner table on a Sunday evening.

Commercial Appeal, Dec. 2017

Women and families can come to the shelters during the day, but are being referred to Room In the Inn or the library for overnight accommodations. Cold temperatures are an inconvenience for most people, Carpenter said, but for the homeless, “it’s deadly.”

Commercial Appeal, Nov. 2017

Eight years ago, tiny Colonial Cumberland Presbyterian Church answered God’s call to welcome strangers into the warm, safe sanctuary of a building that was underused in winter. Four guests shared dinner and fellowship that night with members of the church.

Commercial Appeal, Mar. 2017

On Thursday in Downtown, several men lined up to see if they might win a lottery to stay the night at Room in the Inn, a program that provides overnight housing in the winter with help from local congregations. Whitney Brown, program and outreach director at the ministry, came outside to announce how many spots were left. There was one.

Commercial Appeal, 2016

There is more Room in the Inn some nights than others. The recent cold snap hasn’t helped with temperatures dipping below freezing every night for the past week. Monday night, 59 people asked for shelter from temperatures in the mid-teens. Two congregations had room for 19 women and seven men.

At Home Memphis & Mid-South Magazine, Dec. 2015

The homeless situation in Memphis is not a new one. While the local community provides several shelters that help homeless people, often the need is too great. That’s the need Room In The Inn seeks to fill.

Memphis Flyer, 2015

The spirit of hospitality is really what is different about Room In the Inn,” Anderson said. “Guests are invited to stay in small groups. […] It presents opportunities for real conversation, real relationships. […] It’s about being together and creating a place of sanctuary. 

Videos Featuring RITI Memphis:

Podcasts Featuring RITI Memphis: