Molly Hirsch moved to Knoxville from Longmont, Colo., a year and a half ago, with a man she says abused her.

One month after arriving, she left that man and lived on the streets with son Colton, now 5, and unborn Michael, now 10 months.

All Hirsch had was the clothes she wore.

"Literally," the 24-year-old said after eating a meal and enjoying some entertainment Sunday evening at the Gibbs Hall cafeteria on the University of Tennessee campus.

Hirsch and sons were three of about 40 people selected from the Volunteer Ministry Center (VMC) to attend the second annual holiday dinner. Fifteen UT student-athletes volunteered to serve.

The VMC is a grassroots organization located in downtown. With help from its self-sufficiency program, Hirsch has a job and apartment.

It's folks like her, executive director Ginny Weatherstone said, that deserve such a dinner.

"We select the clients that get to come," Weatherstone said. "It's a way to reward them for making some really good efforts to get out of homelessness.

"It's one thing we can do to make them feel special, and they deserve to feel special, because they've really worked hard."

"Homelessness," Hirsch said, is "the most terrifying thing in the world, especially when you've got one child and another one on the way.

"It was terrifying because I didn't know where to go or who to turn to. Just thinking back on it brings tears to my eyes."

Lending a helping hand put a smile on Sidney Spencer's face.

"It's great just to see them happy," the junior UT women's basketball player said. "It's a lot of fun for the people who are working, too. I enjoy it."

As does women's soccer player Melissa Amado.

"I'm here on scholarship from Canada," the junior said. "I'm given so much, and I just want to give back for everything I'm given."

"Yeah, definitely," junior women's softball player Monica Abbot said. "The community supports us in so many ways. They show us so much love that we want to reciprocate that back to them, and show them how much we appreciate them.

"Anything that we can do, from holiday dinners to canned food drives, just to help the community. We want to set an example, and we want to give back to them."

Matt Lapp, vice president of conference affairs at UT and a track and field athlete, said he hopes the dinners continue for years to come.

"We're so blessed here at the University of Tennessee," said Lapp, a senior. "We're really treated very, very well, in every sense of our lives.

"To have people in Knoxville that look up to us as athletes, and look to the university for a hand sometimes, we're in a position to give that to them."

William Wilson Jr. had to get away from Louisville, Ky.

It was May 2004, and his father, William Wilson Sr., had died March 17. He was 72, unable to overcome an alcohol addiction or survive numerous strokes in a one-month span.

"I watched him pass and had to get away," Wilson said. "I ended up here."

He arrived a homeless man and remained one until he learned of the VMC. With support from the self-sufficiency program, he now lives in and pays rent for an apartment.

"I miss my family," Wilson said. "I really do. It's good to have people around here who care about you. Knoxville's a very caring community, and I enjoy being here.

"This time of year it's kind of hard. It really is."

The hardest of times may soon be through for Lisa Zach, 42, also in the self-sufficiency program.

"These people have helped quite a few people before, so they know what they're doing," she said. "Without that program, you know, I would be in a tough position to get up off the street.

"I'm getting close now."