MILWAUKEE — Redeemer Lutheran Church in Milwaukee is hosting a mini-fundraiser for its Mental Health Assessment Clinic, founded after someone was killed on the steps of the church in 2019.
Johnny "Tennessee" Smith was killed on the steps of the church on March 29, 2019. According tothe church's GoFundMe, he had lunched at Redeemer's Noon Run meal and was living with undiagnosed and untreated mental illness.
The man accused of killing Smith was also struggling with undiagnosed and untreated mental illness, according to the church.
Because of the incident, the church felt inspired to work with mental health professionals to develop a Mental Health Assessment Clinic at Redeemer Lutheran. Then, the pandemic struck and slowed the development of the new clinic.
The church has a $4 million fundraising goal for the project, and so far, they have raised $2.53 million. This weekend, on the third anniversary of Smith's death, the church hopes their mini-fundraiser helps them reach that goal.
The GoFundMe says the church was inspired by the 3/29 date so they set this weekend's fundraising goal to $3,290. As of Thursday morning, they had raised just over $2,000.
If you wish to donate to the church, click here. The fundraiser will end on Sunday at noon.
