With fierce dedication and hard work, our former Executive Director, Emily Houser, laid a strong foundation for the ministry of SMDC. In the fall of 2023, she felt the Lord prompting her to “pass the torch” for the next chapter of SMDC ministry after 10 years of faithful service.

In January of 2024, the Smoky Mountain Dream Center was excited to welcome our new Executive Director; Jodi Povec. Jodi and her husband, Zac, have been licensed ministers of the Gospel for over 23 years. Having served in New York and Louisiana, they moved to Tennessee in 2016 to serve the Knoxville and surrounding areas. Together they are making a difference by organizing and overseeing a food giveaway program that leverages resources from Operation Blessing to provide essential support to over 200 families every month. This initiative not only addresses a practical need but also serves as a platform for ministering and offering spiritual support to those in need.

Jodi has extensive experience as an Associate Pastor, Church Administrator, and Children’s Pastor. Since 2001, she has orchestrated and led children’s ministries for ages 5-12 offering weekly Sunday School lessons, led teacher trainings, coordinated special events, planned outreaches, executed Parent’s Day Out programs, facilitated the creation of community groups, developed and led small group meetings, managed church interns, and Co-led the Nola Belles Ministry, a program aimed at nurturing the personal and spiritual development of inner-city girls.

Food ministry and children’s ministry are not Jodi’s only passion. She also has a heart for reaching the broken, lonely, and hurting women who have been abused and overlooked. Jodi served the ministry of Unashamed Love, which ministers to women caught in sex trafficking and helps to transition them to a life of freedom. She has also worked with this ministry to get women off the street and out of strip clubs. It is Jodi’s desire to show these women the real love of Jesus, help them understand their value, and restore their dignity and identity as a child of God.

Jodi’s focus has always been to proactively identify key community needs, forge relationships with local leaders, establish trust within the community, cultivate healthy environments, and develop ways to actively demonstrate the love of Jesus to those in need and in dark places. Through these avenues, it is her goal to offer genuine relationship-building within the church and the broader community.