Lewis named Rutherford Housing Partnership's new executive director

Photo by Jean Gordon.

Rutherford Housing Partnership (RHP) has named its new executive director.

Michael Lewis, a native of Mississippi, was RHP's grant manager before being named to the new position.

"As RHP's Board Vice President, we are excited to announce to our community our decision for Michael Lewis to fill the position of Executive Director for Rutherford Housing Partnership," said Kisha McDowell.

"Michael began with RHP as our Grant Administer and he has worked very hard to write grants that would help to move RHP closer to our mission of serving low-income families in Rutherford County with repairs that make their homes livable and safe," McDowell said.

"We are grateful and excited to have Michael as a part of our team and he and the staff, Tricia Wheat as Program Director, and Molly Jimerson Admin Assistant," she added.

Lewis attended the University of Mississippi for a year then joined the US Army as a Military Policeman where he served two combat tours. During his time in the Army, Lewis attended University of Mississippi's Hybrid education program and earned his bachelor's degree in criminal justice. He later attended Virginia Tech and earned his MBA.

Lewis has been employed in the nonprofit sector for more than 20 years.

His future goals for RHP are to get back to the grassroots and establish a closer connection with the community.

"In the long term, I want to build RHP's sustainability, ensuring its longevity and increasing our ability to serve people in the community," he said.

Lewis said his heart is in nonprofits because he enjoys helping people.

A few years ago when he saw the Grant Manager job was available, he felt it was a good fit, he said.

Lewis said a good day at RHP is where we can complete a needed repair for a client and know they are in a safe and healthy home.

A difficult day for Lewis is when he goes into a client's home to access their needs and realize their needs far exceeds RHP's capacity.

"Since coming to work at RHP there have been times where I have gone into someone's home and walked out with tears in my eyes realizing people who have worked their whole lives and most times due to circumstances out of their control are living in unhealthy situations," Lewis said.