The work at Hand UP for Women doesn’t stop once graduates complete the program – it’s a lifelong support system. Kim Davis and Betty Anderson have a special place in their hearts for the women they’ve helped over the years while volunteering with Hand UP for Women, a Knoxville-based nonprofit that offers life-building classes to participants who have chosen to rise up to a higher calling after hardship.
Both Kim and Betty’s hearts have felt the pain, the hope and the empowerment experienced by the participants of not only the Hand UP For Women program, but also what comes afterward with the Hand UP Graduates in Service, or HUGS alumni program, which the two women co-lead.
HUGS alumni meet once a month, where leaders offer ongoing support to the graduates of the Hand UP For Women program. It’s not always easy going from the career-readiness classroom setting to the greater community, but both Betty and Kim are there to help with their whole hearts.
“Our mission statement for HUGS is this: ‘It starts with a Hand UP, and ends with a lifetime of Hugs,’” Betty said. “The women get to live out their purpose with what they’ve learned in the Hand UP program, and Hugs ensures a seamless transition.”
Betty has volunteered with Hand UP For Women for years, starting as a hairdresser for the participants’ makeover glamour photoshoots, before getting involved with HUGS.
“I’m a hairdresser by trade, and volunteering to do their hair for the photoshoots was heartfelt because helping them see themselves as beautiful – you love them where they are and who they are in God’s eyes – but as a hairdresser, watching them change not only on the outside but inside too, was beautiful.”
Betty compares the transformation to that of butterflies – we all know that the winged pollinators emerge from a cocoon after their biological metamorphosis – and the women change in a natural sequence of their own while participating in both Hand UP and HUGS programs.
“It’s my favorite thing, watching the change happen, they’re all like butterflies,” Betty said. “And I want to be there to serve and continue serving.”
HUGS offers Hand UP alumni a chance to develop friendship and even family-like ties with other like-minded “butterflies” of women involved after they’ve completed the Hand UP program.
Kim’s calling to volunteer with HUGS came after graduating from Hand UP herself back in 2016. She’s been a HUGS leader for several years and says the participants become like family.
“It’s great to see these women ‘make it,’ and we become a forever family to them,” Kim said. “Some of them don’t have any family, or any good family, and we step in as sisters of Christ to be their forever family.”
Kim offered an example of when a participant’s partner relapsed and the participant had nowhere else to go, so Kim offered her a safe place to stay. Without hesitation, Kim wanted to help her so she could stay with the program and not stray from the positive path she had been walking.
It’s examples like this, that Kim says are part of her higher calling; to be involved in the community, and help the women involved in Hand UP and HUGS.
“There’s also so much that we get to witness,” Kim said. “As a leader, we help some of these women who have young children, or are pregnant and we throw them a baby shower, then get to watch the children grow up, and they also become like family. We get to watch these families grow up.”
The HUGS group stays active with community events related to Hand UP, such as carwashes to raise funds, the volunteer appreciation dinner for Hand UP volunteers, and the nonprofit’s biggest fundraiser, the annual gala.
HUGS graduates participated in the 2025 Hand UP For Women Annual Gala Red Carpet Event. They helped gala attendees with registration, seating and coordination.
“They saved our lives, so we have to give back,” Kim said. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them.”
To learn more about Hand UP for Women, check out the About Us section here.