What Sethra does

SETHRA (Southeast Tennessee Human Resource Agency) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit social services organization headquartered in Dunlap, Tennessee, that has operated continuously since 1965 (originally as Progress for People and reorganized under the Human Resource Act of 1973). It holds dual designation as one of nine Human Resource Agencies and one of 20 Community Action Agencies in Tennessee, granting it statutory access to a defined set of state and federal funding streams. The organization administers more than 30 programs across 11 counties (Bledsoe, Bradley, Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea, and Sequatchie) through 14 physical office locations, with a tripartite board structure comprising elected officials, private sector representatives, and low-income residents.

The service portfolio spans eight categories: Corrections (misdemeanor probation, community corrections, juvenile intervention); Elderly Support (CHOICES, homemaker, personal care, family caregiver support, OPTIONS); Employment & Education (Family Self-Sufficiency); Housing & Energy (LIHEAP, Weatherization, HUD vouchers, FEMA emergency assistance, Cedar Grove Way Apartments, USDA loan packaging); Meals & Medicine (Child and Adult Care Food Program, Commodities, pharmaceutical assistance); Representative Payee (SSA/SSI/VA financial management); Transportation (CUATS five fixed-route transit system plus regional demand-response service); and Youth Programs (Head Start-linked juvenile intervention). The technology footprint is minimal: an informational website on sethra.us, an Indeed careers listing, online application portals hosted on smartsimple.us, PDF-based client education materials, and no proprietary platforms, APIs, or AI/ML capability.

The business model is grant-and-fee funded rather than commercial. Primary revenue streams are federal grants (Community Services Block Grant 93.569, LIHEAP 93.568, HUD, USDA, FEMA, Federal Transit Authority), Tennessee state agency contracts (DHS, DCS, DOT, Bureau of TennCare, Tennessee Housing Development Agency, Commission on Aging), United Way, local city/town/county government appropriations, utility co-op customer programs (Sequatchie Valley Electric, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas), offender supervision fees (corrections programs), participant fees (Representative Payee), and tax-deductible private donations. Services are delivered at low or no cost to eligible low-income clients; no disclosed pricing model, no commercial customers, and no equity funding rounds exist in the data.

Name

Sethra

Legal name

Southeast Tennessee Human Resource Agency

Website

https://sethra.us

Company type

Private

Founded year

1973

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SETHRA (Southeast Tennessee Human Resource Agency) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit social services organization that administers more than 30 programs across corrections, elderly support, housing, energy, transportation, and youth services for low-income residents of 11 Southeast Tennessee counties.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social and Human Services

NAICS

Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120), Vocational Rehabilitation Services (624310), Child and Youth Services (62411), Emergency and Other Relief Services (62423)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Financial Assistance & Benefits Navigation Services (BPAGAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Disability Services & Independent Living Support (BPAGACAG), Special Needs Early Intervention & Preschool Programs (EDAKAAAE)

Keywords

• Community social services
• Human resource agency
• Community action agency
• Low-income assistance programs
• Probation supervision services

Headquarters

HQ city

Dunlap

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices14 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Grants: Primary funding from federal grants including Community Services Block Grant (93.569), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (93.568), and grants from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
2. State Grants and Funding: Funding from Tennessee state agencies including Tennessee Department of Human Services, Tennessee Department of Children's Services, Tennessee Department of Transportation, Bureau of TennCare, Tennessee Housing Development Agency, and Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability.
3. United Way and Local Government Funding: Funding from United Way and local city, town, and county governments in the service area.
4. Offender Supervision Fees: The Misdemeanor Probation Program and Community Corrections program are funded entirely through offender supervision fees.
5. Participant Fees: Representative Payee program is funded entirely through participant fees.
6. Private Donations and Fundraising: Accepts private donations and holds fundraisers to supplement government funding and maintain low or no-cost services to clients. All donations are tax deductible as the organization is a 501(c)(3).
7. Utility Customer Programs: Project Help funded by Sequatchie Valley Electric Co-op customers; Project Hometown funded by Middle Tennessee Natural Gas customers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SETHRA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Human Resource Agency and Community Action Agency that delivers more than 30 social-service programs across 11 Southeast Tennessee counties. Core offerings include corrections and probation supervision, elderly in-home support, employment and education assistance, housing and energy aid, meals and medicine programs, representative payee financial management, public transportation, and youth intervention services for low-income residents and court-referred individuals.

Product overview

Sethra (Southeast Tennessee Human Resource Agency) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit social services organization that operates as both a Human Resource Agency and a Community Action Agency. Rather than a unified software product or platform, the organization delivers a comprehensive portfolio of social service programs across 11 Tennessee counties. The core programs include Corrections (misdemeanor probation, community corrections), Elderly Support (CHOICES, homemaker services, OPTIONS), Employment & Education (Family Self-Sufficiency), Housing & Energy (LIHEAP, weatherization, housing vouchers), Meals & Medicine (food programs, pharmaceutical assistance), Representative Payee (SSA/SSI/VA financial management), Transportation (CUATS transit, public transportation), and Youth Programs (juvenile intervention). These programs are funded by federal, state, and local grants and serve low-income residents across Bledsoe, Bradley, Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea, and Sequatchie counties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Corrections Provides supervision for misdemeanor and felony offenders through monitoring, drug testing, public service work, and treatment placement programs. Funded entirely through offender supervision fees for misdemeanor probation and community corrections programs.
• Elderly Support Offers community-based care alternatives for elderly residents (60+) including CHOICES program, homemaker services, personal care, family caregiver support, and OPTIONS for home and community-based services delivered in clients' homes.
• Employment and Education Provides financial assistance for employment and education expenses including mileage reimbursement, child care, uniforms, and auto repair through the Family Self-Sufficiency program for low-income residents pursuing work or training.
• Housing and Energy Comprehensive housing and energy assistance including Cedar Grove Way Apartments, Crisis Intervention, FEMA assistance, Homeless Assistance, Housing Choice Voucher, LIHEAP, Project Help, Project Hometown, Supportive Housing, Weatherization, Emergency Repair, and USDA loan packaging for low-income residents.
• Meals and Medicine Provides food assistance through Child and Adult Care Food Program, USDA Commodities Foods distribution, and pharmaceutical assistance for prescription medications and supplies for eligible low-income residents.
• Representative Payee Manages finances on behalf of Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Income, and Veterans Affairs recipients to ensure basic needs for shelter, food, and clothing are met. Program is funded entirely through participant fees.
• Transportation Provides Cleveland Urban Area Transit System (CUATS) with five fixed routes and public transportation across the nine-county service area, including demand-response service for disabled clients.
• Youth Programs Juvenile Community Intervention program providing intensive probation services, counseling, drug screens, and community service referrals for juvenile offenders referred through the court system.

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and DisabilitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner agency for elderly services. Family Care Giver Support services are authorized through referral from this agency.
• Tennessee Association of Human Resource Agencies (TAHRA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState association membership. SETHRA works in concert with other Human Resource Agencies across Tennessee through TAHRA membership.
• Tennessee Association of Community ActioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState association membership. SETHRA is one of 20 Community Action Agencies actively participating in combating poverty.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Community Action Partnership (National): National membership organization for the nationwide network of Community Action Agencies, including SETHRA's CAA designation. Provides national-level benchmarking, training, and policy advocacy relevant to CSBG-funded programming.
• Tennessee Association of Community Action: State association of Tennessee's 20 Community Action Agencies, of which SETHRA is a member. Provides peer coordination, training, and advocacy; directly relevant for benchmarking CAA funding and compliance practices.
• Tennessee Association of Human Resource Agencies (TAHRA): State-level association that SETHRA is a member of, comprising all nine Tennessee HRAs. Functions as a peer network and advocacy body rather than a service competitor; useful as a coordination and benchmarking reference for the SETHRA model.

Direct peers

• Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency: One of the other nine Tennessee Human Resource Agencies, serving a similar multi-county region in the Upper Cumberland area of Tennessee. Operates as a comparable CAA/HRA dual-designated agency with a comparable mix of corrections, elderly support, transit, and social service programs funded by the same federal block grants.
• Mid-Cumberland Human Resource Agency: Tennessee HRA serving the Mid-Cumberland region with the same statutory mandate under the Human Resource Act. Directly comparable peer with similar elderly support, transit, housing, and employment program portfolios.
• East Tennessee Human Resource Agency: Another Tennessee HRA serving multiple counties in the East Tennessee region with the same statutory structure under the Human Resource Act of 1973. Provides directly comparable programs including aging services, transportation, and community services with overlapping federal funding sources.
• Northwest Tennessee Human Resource Agency: Tennessee HRA serving a multi-county service area in northwest Tennessee with similar HRA and CAA designations. Directly comparable in program scope, funding mix, and rural regional footprint.

Regional players

• Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga: Regional housing nonprofit serving the broader Chattanooga/Southeast Tennessee area. Comparable as a peer in housing assistance and community development for low-income populations, though focused on homeownership construction rather than SETHRA's rental and energy assistance model.
• Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability: State-designated Area Agency on Aging serving the same 11-county Southeast Tennessee region as SETHRA. Coordinates aging services and refers clients to SETHRA's elderly support programs; a close regional partner and adjacent service provider in the same geography.
• Chattanooga Area Food Bank: Regional food distribution nonprofit serving the same Southeast Tennessee service area. Comparable as a regional nonprofit addressing food insecurity, partially overlapping with SETHRA's USDA commodities and meal programs though operating a different distribution model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SoutheastTennesseeHRA

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sethra