
Cordia Harrington, Amy Alexander
On June 6, The Refuge Center for Counseling, a non-profit located in Franklin, hosted their Capital Campaign Fundraiser benefiting their new building.
The intimate garden party was held at the home of Cordia and Tom Harrington, and featured live music, dinner, and a short presentation from Amy Alexander, CEO and co-founder of The Refuge Center. Guests saw renderings of the new 15,000-square-foot facility and its seven acres, construction updates, and a breakdown of naming opportunities. Also present at the event was First Lady Maria Lee, wife to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, and Randy Clark, a businessman from Idaho and the source of the $500,000 match Refuge is now working towards.
“Refuge is so thankful for the generosity of the Harrington’s in hosting and introducing new friends to our mission," says Alexander. "It was a wonderful opportunity to increase visibility so we can serve more people who need it.”
The ongoing campaign for the permanent facility has currently raised $8,500,000 out of a total project cost of $13,100,000. The Refuge Center’s new building will allow the center to extend their reach, serving a significantly larger portion of the community with the potential to help 5,000 clients through 42,000 counseling sessions. The facility will feature dedicated spaces like a child and teen wing, a spacious multi-purpose room for seminars and group activities, and many outdoor features such as a prayer chapel, serene walking trails, healing gardens, a labyrinth, a playground, an enclosed pavilion, and an expansive patio with therapeutic elements.