A GOOD FOUNDATION THE NEWSLETTER OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE
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CELEBRATING THE FIRST 25 YEARS OF THE WOMEN’S FUND OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE What a difference 25 years can make. Twenty-five years ago a small group of women along with two enlightened men founded The Women’s Fund within The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to level the charitable playing field and to ensure that there would ALWAYS be money to support women and girls in Middle Tennessee who were in need. After all, we didn’t love our sons more than our daughters, but we did support the Boy Scouts at a whole different level than we did the Girl Scouts; we supported the YMCA to a different degree than the YWCA, etc. The Women’s Fund came to start the process of filling the gap, for perpetuity. There were naysayers 25 years ago. A few asked why there wasn’t a Men’s Fund. A woman who had grown up in Nashville decided to make a founding gift, but she was sure that the South had not yet changed its stripes and the effort was for naught. Others who supported the effort still were uncertain about whether Women’s Funds weren’t meant to be only on the West or East Coast. And, we spent a lot of time assuring women that they would not need to “burn their bra” to become part of the effort. This was an age where many bright and intelligent women believed that the income earned belonged to their husbands rather than to them both. Where the term “pin money” was still used.
That has been made possible by hundreds of donors who have given graciously and generously to make the path easier for our neighbors in need. These have been led by women like Jane Eskind, Ruth Ann Harnisch, and Janet Ayers who have contributed or committed to million-dollar gifts. And then there have been the events — especially the Power of the Purse ‚ and initiatives and informational gatherings like our Forums that have helped create more money for grants and have heightened our individual and collective understanding of the needs of women and girls in our community. Twenty-five years ago when we began, we would never have believed that our community would become a hub of human sex trafficking. We would never have believed that domestic violence would flourish, even out in the open. We would never have believed Tennessee would have an opioid crisis or that hundreds of women and children would be hungry day in and day out. Problems and opportunities have emerged and evolved over these 25 years and, thanks to The Women’s Fund, we were able to draw them out of the darkness into the spotlight. It is with great enthusiasm that we celebrate the past, present and future of our work and those we serve. We look forward to continuing the work, supporting those in need, and finding gaps that we can fill.
One example is the creation, in 2017, of the Girls Give initiative, which plans to introduce and inculcate the love of philanthropy at any level and the joy of giving to causes that matter as much to the donor as to the recipient. Another is Women Will, which exists to make it comfortable, convenient and cost-effective for women to create a legacy by making gifts of real estate, real property (otherwise known as “stuff ”), insurance plans and the like. Rather than turning over our beloved possessions to a yard sale or to our children who may not think it their cup of tea, gifts to The Women’s Fund and/or The Community Foundation can live on to do good deeds and to continue to support this place we all call home. Though we celebrate The Women’s Fund’s Silver Anniversary, when it comes to charitable giving, programs serving women and girls still often remain shortchanged. But we are proud to continue our work to make the path easier for those who will one day stand on the shoulders of those who have come before them, championing progress and pushing ever forward to new heights. Our legacy for our daughters and grandaughters will be the ability to follow in the footsteps of those who have come before them, navigating the paths of service and Connecting Generosity with Need®.
Where when hospitals needed caps for newborns, the women set to work knitting while the men thought about how to buy a knitting machine.
1998-99 BOARD OF ADVISORS
It was a time of dispelling the myths and focusing on investing in the lives and well-being of Middle Tennessee’s women and girls. There wasn’t much on TV at that time, but there was an advertisement for women’s right to smoke that said: “We’ve come a long way, baby. …” Today, 25 years later … there is still much more to be done.
Barbara Chazen, Chair, Julie Boehm, Vice Chair for Development, Stephanie White Perry, MD, Vice Chair for Programs (not shown), Trisha Elcan, Secretary, Denise Alper, Virginia Betts, Louise Burgess, Kathryn Cloninger, Jane Davis, Patricia Davis, Zainab Elberry, Jane Eskind, Ann Houston, Elizabeth Jacobs, Whitney Johns, Thelma Kidd, Ruth Ann Harnisch, Mary Rolando, Mary Schoettle, Mary Ellen Vanderwilt, Sue Fort White, Jamye Williams. Others not shown: Honey Alexander, Betty Brown, May Dean Eberling, Delorse Lewis, Alyne Massey, Gwen McFarland, Kitty Moon, Sandra Roberts, Joyce Searcy, Kay West, and Alice Zimmerman.
But we have — thanks to everyone here today and those that have come before — made incredible strides. Thanks to generous volunteer support and investment, The Women’s Fund has — since 1995 — been awarding grants to programs addressing: economic self-sufficiency for women; prevention of violence against women and girls; and the promotion of health and wellness of women and girls. Under the leadership of Barbara Chazen, our first chair, we humbly began our grantmaking with $4,000 that we used to make eight $500 grants. We were SO excited!!!! In the intervening years, The Women’s Fund’s grantmaking capacity has grown from $4,000 in 1995 to $185,600 in 2018.
2019 BOARD OF ADVISORS Jennifer Pagliara, Ellen Hoffman/Treasurer, Lori Badgett, Meera Ballal/Development Chair, Holly Roche, Valerie Nagoshiner, Zulfat Suara, Vicki Mertz, Meredith Griffith, Jenni Moscardelli, Sarah Sperling, Marci Houff/Grant Co-Chair, Crystal Clark/Grant Co-Chair, Appy Frenchman/Chair, Lisa Cole, Karlen Garrard, and Megan Hart. Not Shown: Elizabeth Akers, Megan Barry, Dawn Becker, Nancy Benskin, Holly Coltea, Sondra Cruickshanks, Katie Crumbo, Leslie DiPiero, Missy Eason, Beth Fortune, Melissa Frist, Lynn Ghertner, Marcela Gomez, Beverly Keel, Ellen Lehman, Julie Morris, Caroline Mullen, Phyllis Qualls-Brooks, Mary Jo Shankle, Susan Short Jones, Mandy Young.
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DAUGHTER CREATES FUND FOR VETERAN OF THREE WARS
Above: Colonel John Geraci Left: Christine Free looks over photographs and memorabilia from her father's distinguished military career.
Valuing the wisdom of her father, a highly decorated veteran of three wars and a 2015 inductee into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame at Fort Benning in Georgia, Christine Geraci Free and her four siblings all earned college degrees. They’ve since created a Fund focused on education with The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee in honor of their father, the late Col. John P. Geraci. “My father told me and my siblings that education is an essential step to improving life’s circumstances from one generation to the next,” said Christine, a self-proclaimed Army brat who moved to Lebanon, Tennessee with her husband about three years ago to be closer to a grandchild in Nashville. Geraci was a first-generation American of Italian decent, according to his daughter, a retired high school math teacher who moved to Lebanon from the Atlanta area. But more importantly, she said he was the first in his family to attend college and experience the benefits and opportunities an education affords, and forever he instilled in his children that hard work, reading, continuous learning and service to others were the core ingredients to a life filled with significant value. What Geraci, a World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veteran, gained from his college education and life experience and insisted his own children appreciate and embrace is what his daughter said she and family members hope to pass along to others through the fund they have created in her father’s honor, the Col. John P. Geraci Educational Assistance Fund. Christine was encouraged to create the educational assistance fund after a number of interactions with former soldiers who knew her father and/or served with him in one of the several command posts he held from his beginning as a second lieutenant platoon leader to brigade commander and later as director of the Army Ranger Department, recognized currently at the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade at Fort Benning in Georgia. Geraci, born in 1925, joined the Marine Corps 10 days after graduating from high school. Following a stint in the Marines where he saw combat in World War II, as
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first a private and was later promoted to corporal, he attended St. John’s College in New York. He left college to join the Army as a second lieutenant. Deployed to combat in Korea, Lt. Geraci earned two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star with Valor and a Purple Heart. Returning to the states after the Korean War, he attended Airborne and Ranger Schools and afterward served three tours in Vietnam and was awarded two additional Silver Stars among other honors. Geraci is the second-most decorated Ranger to be inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame. He died in 1996. While his daughter gleams with pride as she speaks about her father, she cannot help but mention a few specific events and occasions that are especially memorable. High on the list is the credit her father is given for reactivating the famed 3rd Battalion 506th of the 101st Airborne, the unit many Americans remember as portrayed in the World War II movie “Band of Brothers” produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Geraci brought the unit back to life in April 1967 for a combat tour in Vietnam after it was deactivated about 22 years prior following World War II. The plan for reactivation was specific. The battalion was to be made ready within six months as a fully airborne qualified unit to go into combat in Vietnam. Its capability was to be a rapid reaction unit operating as a “stand alone” battalion on search-and-destroy and reconnaissance missions, and perhaps more significantly the 3-506th was tasked to make battalion-size combat parachute jumps in Vietnam. When soldiers across Fort Campbell and at other posts learned a famous Currahee unit from World War II was reactivated, the volume of requests from volunteers asking to transfer so that they might serve in the unit was overwhelming. Geraci, at the time, held the rank of lieutenant colonel and was assigned to command, train and lead the battalion into combat. The event in her father’s lengthy list of accomplishments, honors and decorations holds a special place for her.
Each year on Memorial Day, she and others scattered across the country take on the duty of having flowers placed on the graves of members of the 3-506th Currahee unit, who were killed in action in Vietnam between 1967-71. According to Christine, the Currahee Flower Fund, Flowers-to-Grave program, is responsible for placing flowers on 161 graves nationwide. It’s a special remembrance, she said, of those from the Currahee unit who sacrificed their lives in combat and, because her father played such a prominent role in reactivating and commanding the unit, the Flowers-toGrave program is even more special for her. As an “Army brat,” Free has lived in dozens of communities in the U.S. and abroad as she and the family would follow her father from one leadership post to another throughout his distinguished 36-year career. So the move from Marietta, Georgia, to Lebanon, although she and her husband had lived there for more than 30 years, was not an earth-shattering experience. They decided on Lebanon, she said, because of its proximity to Nashville, available transportation arteries, low taxes and reasonably priced real estate. “We love this community. We’re getting to know it better. We don’t just want to live here. We want to be involved, whether it’s volunteering with some worthy nonprofit or teaching or tutoring at Cumberland University. “This is our new home. We want to be a part of it.” Each year, contributions are made from the Col. John P. Geraci Educational Assistance Fund to various military organizations in support of a number of causes related to education.
This story was first published in the Lebanon Democrat
The Beat of Life brings together songwriters and teens in grade 8-12 participating in the Brentwood YMCA Y-CAP initiative. Singer-songwriter Alissa Griffith (above left, center) performs a song with two Y-CAP students written during one of The Beat of Life sessions.
SAVING LIVES THROUGH THE POWER OF MUSIC Before writing, there was storytelling. Everyone’s story contains countless memories and pieces, some insignificant, some full of meaning, and some we’d much sooner forget. But we have the power to rewrite our stories. Every day can be a fresh start, a new year full of beginnings. In 2007, Casey LeVasseur lost her 13-year-old brother, Alex, in an ATV accident. To permanently memorialize Alex, their parents, Stephanie LeVasseur and Jeffrey Steele, established The Alex LeVasseur Fund at The Community Foundation. Over the past 12 years, the LeVasseur family has been hard at work brainstorming, fundraising, and creating programs that uphold the Fund’s mission: supporting overlooked and at-risk youth in Tennessee and beyond. “We didn’t just want to go around and raise money and throw his name up on a building if it didn’t mean something to our family and if it didn’t mean something to what he would have been involved in or would have enjoyed,” Casey LeVasseur says. Alex enjoyed skateboarding more than anything. So that was his family‘s first focus. They created a skateboarding scholarship program, partnered with The Tony Hawk Foundation, and constructed the Alex LeVasseur Memorial Skatepark at the Brentwood YMCA, which opened in October 2010. In 2013, the LeVasseurs opened the Alex LeVasseur Multi-Media room at the YMCA in North Nashville.
Builders designed the space to give underserved youth access to video and music equipment and also pay homage to Alex’s love of making homemade skate videos. Shortly afterward, the Brentwood YMCA contacted the family about plans to open a media room of their own to coincide with their Y-CAP (Youth and Community Action Program) initiative — an outreach program that serves at-risk teens in grades 8-12. “Steve Saxton, who runs the Brentwood YMCA, shared about Y-CAP with us,” Casey recalls. “And we just thought, ‘That’s it.’ I mean: You have youth that are in the juvenile system, they’re in group homes … they’re at that cusp where if there’s no intervention, there’s no mentorship, if there’s nothing happening — then their story is written already. And we thought what a great opportunity to partner with them and do something.” About this time, Casey began working with The Beat of Life — a therapeutic songwriting program provided to human and social service organizations, founded by Nashville musician and songwriter Jeni Dominelli. “We basically exist to create songwriting and music programs for vulnerable populations,” Dominelli explains. “People who are on the outskirts of society, people battling anything mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. who can use music — in particular songwriting — as a healing mechanism and a way to reframe and think differently about their stories.”
For the LeVasseur family, that’s when everything seemed to click. “I just kept thinking, gosh, it would be so cool to take this program and bring it to Y-CAP and into Alex’s room here,” Casey says, “and see how we can impact these students and the youth and, you know, kind of break the cycle.” After some fundraising and a miraculous anonymous grant, she had $10,000 of seed money to create programming for one school year with The Beat of Life for Brentwood’s YMCA Y-CAP initiative. Being a teenager is so difficult. Emotions ebb like the ocean tide, with pressures from peers and parents and the constant feeling you’re navigating these treacherous waters alone. The Beat of Life wants its participants to know they are not alone. There are people who not only care deeply about their stories, they want to provide a vehicle to share them, heal from them, and grow from them. The Beat of Life now visits Y-CAP twice a month. That isn’t enough, LeVasseur and Dominelli insist. Their vision is to be able to find funding to run the program on a weekly basis. Because time is such a huge part of the healing process. And because every songwriting session is a chance to be the big breakthrough to helping save some young person’s life. To learn more, visit CFMT.org/Stories
The Alex LeVasseur Multimedia Center and Lounge (above center) was funded by The Alex LeVasseur Memorial Fund at The Community Center of Middle Tennessee. The Fund helps give students participating in the Y-CAP initiative access to video and music equipment, which comes in handy when The Beat of Life comes to visit.
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FASHION FORWARD FUND AWARD RECIPIENT ANNOUNCED We are proud to announce fashion designer Van Hoang as our eighth Nashville Fashion Forward Fund recipient. A selection committee from The Community Foundation selected Hoang from a diverse group of experienced fashion industry applicants. The Nashville Fashion Forward Fund is an endowed fund that supports the next generation of fashion industry professionals with ties to Middle Tennessee by providing an annual financial award and resources for experiential professional development opportunities to advance the career of select local talent with demonstrated experience in a fashion-related field based on pre-established criteria. “I am incredibly honored to be the recipient of this year’s Nashville Fashion Forward Fund,” said Hoang. “This award will enable me to attend the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, which is a global conference about sustainability in fashion, and this opportunity will allow me to learn from top leaders in the field. I hope to bring this knowledge back to Nashville and turn ideas into action.” Van Hoang is a designer based in Nashville. She has a B.F.A. in Fashion Design & Merchandising from O’More College of Design as well as an M.A. in Design for Sustainability from Savannah College of Art & Design. Her aesthetic is modern yet timeless, versatile, and functional. She is interested in the intersection of sustainability, fashion, and technology and how those fields can work together to innovate solutions and break down barriers to create a more sustainable fashion system. Hoang’s mission is to offer an alternative to fast fashion that many have become accustomed to. In the past she created one-of-a-kind gowns with intricate craftsmanship and couture techniques. However, she recently launched her namesake high-end ready-to-wear line that is handmade in Nashville and hopes to build a company with sustainability, quality, and community as its core values. Hoang showed on the Nashville Fashion Week runway in 2015 and again in 2019.
HISTORICAL MARKER HONORS NASHVILLE’S FIRST GAY BARS “It’s about time.” On a cold, gray December morning in Downtown Nashville, Mayor David Briley appropriately captured the sentiments of onlookers and organizers as a historical marker was unveiled at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Commerce Street. Long gone but far from forgotten, The Jungle and Juanita's were Nashville’s first gay bars. Nashville author John Bridges spearheaded the historical marker effort, a project of the Metro Historical Commission with support from The H. Franklin Brooks Fund of The Community Foundation. “We’re here to mark memories today,” Bridges said at the unveiling. “These were the places nobody knew about, except for everybody who needed to know. “These were gathering places for men who had no other place to go,” he continued. “The places weren’t pretty, and the guys had to be brave to go there. But it didn’t make any difference. It was their place, and they went there.”
m i dd le t e nn e ss ee 's s h ar e d
day of gi vi ng i s b ack!
The Big Payback is a 24-hour, online giving day helping hundreds of local nonprofits raise money and win prizes.
We are gearing up for another great day in 2019! Joining us already are: The Jane and Richard Eskind and Family Foundation
The Danner Foundation
Jerry and Ernie Williams
The Cromwell Group, Inc. • Cumulus Broadcasting • FW Publishing • Graffiti Indoor Advertising • iHeartRadio • Lamar Advertising • Lightning 100 • Main Street Media of Tennessee Midwest Communications • The Nashville Sign • Nonprofit Jenni Show • The Tennessean • Williamson Herald • WPLN • WKRN Channel 2 • WSMV Channel 4 • WTVF NewsChannel 5
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Charles Strobel pauses for a photo; Strobel makes an acceptance speech; Emmylou Harris performs.
‘THE POWER OF ONE’ — CROWD PACKS MUSIC CITY CENTER TO HONOR CHARLES STROBEL AT 25th ANNUAL KRAFT HUMANITARIAN AWARD LUNCHEON Seldom have so many showed up to honor such a reluctant but oh-so-worthy award recipient. A crowd of about 750 filled the Music City Center’s Davidson Ballroom last fall at a luncheon honoring Room In The Inn founder Charles Strobel as he received the Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award. “We want to let you in on a secret. Charles Strobel did not want to be here today,” said emcee John Seigenthaler. “He has been asked for years if we could honor him with the Kraft Humanitarian Award. "There is, of course, no greater humanitarian in this community. But, persistence finally paid off. And today, we were here not only to honor Charles but to perpetuate his work, which has changed and improved untold numbers of lives.”
Strobel, a native Nashvillian and revered member of the Catholic community, has dedicated his life to offering hospitality and hope to the city’s homeless population and is founding director of Room In The Inn. Since 1986 the nonprofit has provided shelter for nearly 1,500 homeless individuals each winter through the combined effort of what are now nearly 200 Nashville-area congregations and more than 7,000 volunteers. The concept has become a model for programs in more than 30 other cities, from Calgary, Canada, to Charlotte, North Carolina. “I actually enjoyed myself!” Strobel said in accepting the award. Speakers during the luncheon program included attorney and CFMT board member Aubrey Harwell, Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, Sony Music Nashville Chairman
and CEO Randy Goodman, and Country Music Hall of Famers Emmylou Harris and Don Schlitz. Harris and Schlitz each performed songs inspired by Strobel as well as the challenges of homelessness and the dignity of the homeless. Thistle Farms founder Becca Stevens and former Nashville and Tennessee first lady Andrea Conte were among those offering video tributes. “I promise you … every one of you … you can make a difference,” Strobel said in his acceptance speech. “You can have the power of one.”
In December 2017, this anonymous donor passed away, and the University community learned the real name of its mysterious benefactor — Evelyn Jane McCampbell. “When I think about what she did anonymously, when I look at the magnitude of what she’s done for Austin Peay, I want everyone to know about her generosity and selflessness,” Laurie Vinson, McCampbell’s friend and financial adviser, said.
The real "Ms. Jane" Evelyn Jane McCampbell was born June 4, 1931, in Jackson, Tennessee, and after an impressive high school career — she was on the National Honor Society — she enrolled at Lipscomb University. A few years later, she headed to Memphis to study at the University of Tennessee Nursing School. That’s where she met Dr. Frank G. McCampbell Jr., her husband and partner for 40 years.
A LEGACY OF GIVING: MEET JANE DOE THE MYSTERY WOMAN
Frank, an obstetrician, set up a small practice in Clarksville, with his wife as chief nurse and, after she earned a business administration degree from Union University, manager of the medical office. Together, the couple helped deliver hundreds of children in Clarksville-Montgomery County, but the McCampbells never had any children of their own. Instead, they invested in the community.
The name “Jane Doe” sounds a bit impersonal, so for years, one of Austin Peay State University’s anonymous donors was known simply as “Ms. Jane.” This alias was often whispered in the University’s Advancement Office, as if the staff worried they were revealing too much of her identity, and it wasn’t unusual for students to cry when mentioning her name.
“She offered advice, compassion and support to many community women during those years,” the Signature HealthCARE Hall of Fame entry on Ms. Jane states. “Evelyn became a longtime member of the University of Tennessee Extension’s Home Demonstration Club to help rural women learn to store food and other effective ways to provide for their families suffering from poverty.”
“I met Ms. Jane a while later, and she is amazing,” Sarrah Goudreau (’14), a former APSU nursing student, said. “I was a nontraditional student with two kids. I have no family here. It was rough. For somebody to say, ‘Here you go.’ I can’t even explain it.”
When Frank passed away, leaving his wife with a large estate, she developed an estate plan to continue helping young people in the area. That’s when Evelyn McCampbell became Austin Peay’s Ms. Jane. She initially established a nursing scholarship and a special education scholarship, but she wanted to do more.
Goudreau wept in the Advancement Office that day, five years ago, when she received a scholarship, endowed by Ms. Jane, that provides single parents with $3,000 to earn a degree.
This story was first published in the Austin Peay magazine "The Legacy Issue"
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Staff Spotlight
SHARON DERMAN Sharon Derman is Senior Administrative Associate in Finance. Sharon provides support in areas integral to The Foundation’s operation. Previously, she served as an administrative assistant for Mobil Oil Corporation in New York City and Occidental Petroleum Corporation in Los Angeles.
FORMER TITANS PLAYER HONORS HIS ROOTS THROUGH COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Your title is Senior Administrative Associate, but that doesn’t do justice to your many job responsibilities. Describe what your day-to-day work is like. Well, I start work at 5:30 a.m. each day. My job responsibilities are wide-ranging and include printing daily bank balances, sorting mail, coding checks, depositing checks and cash, writing thank-you letters and other correspondence to donors, and uploading payroll donations and composing year-end tax letters for Corporate Care funds. And I assist Melisa Currey, who’s our Chief Financial Officer. You’ve had quite an interesting career working in the oil business in both New York City and Los Angeles. Tell us what brought you to Nashville. In 2006, the real estate market was slowing down, and my sister Bonnie and I decided to move. A friend, who was born in Tennessee, said it is cheaper to live here. He suggested Murfreesboro. So, we decided to come to Murfreesboro and look at houses. We then sold our house in California, but we had a problem: how to get all my animals to Tennessee. We ended up renting an RV for our four dogs, three cats, and two birds. That journey I will never forget: all the animals and two adults in an RV traveling over 2,000 miles. You actually worked for Armand Hammer, the famed businessman and philanthropist, in L.A. How was that experience? I worked for Dr. Hammer’s special assistant, Florence Ajamian. Dr. Hammer was a very fascinating individual. During my four years working on the Executive Floor, I met many famous people. Every year, Dr. Hammer had a big Birthday Bash for himself. He also hosted an event for Prince Andrew and [his then-wife] Fergie, who I met in the office before the event. One of my interesting experiences was when I went to his house to fix his fax machine. Just as I was going to leave to go home, Dr. Hammer asked if I would take him to the office. I called security at the Occidental Building and told them Dr. Hammer was on his way. The security guards came down to the garage and were surprised to see that I was the one who drove him. I was so nervous I drove only 15 miles an hour down the road. He was strict but fair. He reminded me of my grandfather.
Chris and Linda Hope's closest friends and family join the efforts of the iCHOPE Fund for the Hope 4 Christmas event, partnering with five elementary schools (Independence, Northside, Leslie, Mt. Holley, and Belleview) that are all located in his hometown of Rock Hill, SC to provide warm clothes and gifts for 60 kids from low-income families during the holiday season.
More often than not, athletes are iconic figures we admire from afar. They grace the covers of magazines, appear larger than life on cereal boxes and, thanks to satellite television, are broadcasted straight into our living rooms daily. We are a society devoted to role models whose personalities are constructed mostly from our imagination and the bits and pieces tossed to us through interviews and news articles. It is a rare occurrence to encounter our heroes in person — as former Tennessee Titans player, Chris Hope, puts it, it’s like encountering Sasquatch. Maybe you’ve heard of Rock Hill, South Carolina; or as the locals like to call it, Football City, USA. The nickname was proudly bestowed upon the textile town of a little over 70,000 because it produces one NFL player per 8,512 people. Rock Hill is able to claim 21 NFL players of its own, including Chris Hope, who helped lead the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory in 2006. Despite his success, Chris remained connected to his roots. Making sure he was not just a pillar for the communities he played in, but for the one that raised him as well. “I think the bigger impact in my opinion is going back to your hometown where people have watched your entire career,” said Chris, “where the kids coming behind you go through the same struggles, the same temptations, hang out in the same spots, go to the same schools and are taught by the same teachers.” In 2012, Chris and his wife, Linda Hope, opened the iCHOPE Charitable Fund at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The Fund’s name pays homage to Chris’ hometown nickname, C-Hope.
Sharon with Dr. Hammer
This August marks the 50th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock music festival. You were one of more than 400,000 people on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y. Tell us how you got there and what you remember about it. In 1969 my mom had just passed away, and my friends told me that the Beatles were going to be at Woodstock. [Ed. note: Just a rumor, alas.] So I decided to go but did not tell my father. My father thought I went up to the Catskills with my friend and her parents. I told my friends that when the [movie] cameras panned the area, to cover me so no one would know I was there.
Established to provide support for individuals and families from diverse backgrounds, the Hopes' vision for the iCHOPE Fund is to showcase “everyone has a story” and inspire others to share their stories of adversity to achievement. There’s no specific need the Fund addresses. “It’s whatever is on our hearts to give back to,” says Chris.
Where can you be that had such great performers in one venue? Melanie, Joan Baez, Santana, Janis Joplin, and The Who were some of my favorite performers. It was raining, lots of mud, and no chance to take a shower. Wild teenagers. Very exciting weekend! You’re such an animal lover. Tell us about your dog. A friend knew I always wanted an Irish Wolfhound, so he found a breeder in Ohio and gave me the money. When we got Rocky home, I took some pictures of him and showed everyone at CFMT. Everyone wanted to meet Rocky, so I brought him to the office when I was on vacation. He was a big hit.
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Chris and Linda Hope with their children, Crislyn (bottom center) and CJ (top right) at the Hope 4 Christmas event. The outing for the children included an autograph and photo session with Chris Hope, a trip to Chick-fil-A, and a Walmart shopping spree.
When the Fund initially began, the Hopes allowed people to submit letters explaining issues they were facing. One of their first calls to action was raising money to purchase a wheelchair-accessible vehicle for a well-known school teacher who was unfortunately paralyzed in a car accident. Shortly thereafter, one of Chris’ cousins was being evicted from her home, so he and a few friends helped renovate some parts of the women’s shelter, where she was temporarily staying while she got back on her feet. Wanting to take a bigger step with his philanthropic endeavors, in 2017 Chris began partnering with Wal-Mart and Chick-fil-A to provide 60-70 less fortunate Rock Hill elementary students with a free lunch and a $200 Wal-Mart shopping spree just in time for Christmas. “Unfortunately, a lot of students only meal comes from being at school. It just so happens on the days we’ve done this event it was a half day,” said Chris. “So being that it was a half day, they would have been going home to no food. That’s where the Chick-fil-A experience came in.” As of 2018, Chris can now add published author to his resume of accomplishments. His book P.R.O.S. (Parents Relying on Their Seeds) is a personal journey in learning to set healthy boundaries not only within ourselves, but with the ones we hold closest. “The book is so much deeper than me being a football player, so much deeper than my experiences in the National Football League,” said Chris. “It’s about creating healthy boundaries which many of us don’t know how to do. And when you think about it, our healthiest boundaries need to be between those we love the most. Those are the boundaries we sometimes just let form on their own and they end up being detrimental to relationships in the end.” Eventually, Chris would like to put his focus into creating what he calls “The Day of Hope,” a large-scale event which he plans to recruit past and present NFL players to assist. “But for the most part,” he said, “it’s more about our city and our community. Community builds community from within.”
The Francis S. Guess Bridge to Equality Fund Luncheon
For decades Francis Guess worked tirelessly to ensure equity for all.
Save the Date to honor Gail and David Williams Thursday, May 23, 2019 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Hosted by The Music City Center to benefit The Francis S. Guess Bridge to Equality Fund For more information and to purchase seats or a table, please visit CFMT.org
IN MEMORY
Francis S. Guess served this community with vigor, commitment, and pride for decades. He found his own bridge to equality and then created the same opportunities for others throughout the country and here at home.
We all stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us and built bridges over which we have passed. Now it is our shoulders on which others will stand and bridges of our creation over which they will pass.
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Board Spotlight
JAY WILLIAMS Jay Williams is co-head of the Nashville office of William Morris Endeavor (WME), formerly known as William Morris Agency. It’s the longestrunning talent agency, founded in 1898. WME clients include Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Chris Stapleton and a host of other artists. Jay started in the WME mailroom and worked his way up to become a partner in 2012. He is a graduate of Sewanee (University of the South) and attended high school at McCallie in Chattanooga.
William Morris Endeavor, based in Beverly Hills, California, is the most powerful talent agency in the world. So what does a talent agent do, exactly? It sure sounds glamorous. A talent agent is really a catch-all term that tends to sound more glamorous than the actual job. At WME, talent agents are usually specific to a certain area of the entertainment industry like film, television (scripted and non-scripted), theater, literary, sponsorship, lectures, branded-lifestyle, podcasts, sports, digital and music, just to name a few. We consistently try and challenge our clients to think and pursue their creative ideas and business outside of their core focus. You were born in Nashville but moved away in the second grade. How did your love of music come about, and how did you end up in the music industry? I grew up outside of Chattanooga in Cleveland, Tennessee. My parents listened to a really wide variety of music at home, so I was exposed to different genres like folk, pop, country, bluegrass and jazz from an early age. When I arrived at college, I pursued a role in programming on campus through the concert board and as the social chairman in my fraternity. Along with my friend, Miles Kirkland, I hosted a short-lived radio program on WUTS (all 14 watts!!) for a couple of semesters. I heard about an opening in the William Morris mailroom in 1997 and promptly quit a marketing job and moved to Nashville to begin my career. You’re a founder of The Tomorrow Fund at The Community Foundation, which is celebrating its 20th birthday in 2019. How did The Tomorrow Fund and your involvement come about? My friend Casey West approached me in 1998 and said he wanted to do something to encourage people our age to get involved and give something back to our community. We both felt there was a gap to be filled, where we could make charitable giving and community service fun for young people. We felt that a good way to start was by raising money by throwing fun parties, but also adding a service component. We discovered The Community Foundation and realized it was the perfect framework for The Tomorrow Fund. Once we had an outline, we leaned on about a dozen or so friends to help by making small donations to start the fund and help shape the mission. Gradually, the word spread (which was the most challenging part, since all of this was pre-social media), and the events and projects became bigger and better. I’m thrilled to see that The Tomorrow Fund is still alive and thriving. A case could be made that the entertainment community doesn't always receive the credit it deserves for its philanthropic work. Nashville’s music industry in particular has helped lead the charge for a number of causes and relief efforts. As an agent, how do you foster philanthropy in your clients? It’s something we try and encourage our artists to think about from the moment we start working with them. As artists develop and grow in their career, the donation requests and appearance asks become more and more frequent. It’s much easier to navigate if an artist has one or two areas of focus or ideally a foundation that can help define their philanthropic mission. You’re crazy busy running WME. What drives you to continue to give of yourself after all these years? I’m a firm believer that if you love what you do, it shouldn’t feel like work and that busy is a relative term — personally, I function a lot better at work when I’m not idle. It helps to have an amazing group of colleagues in our office that keep everything moving forward. As I’ve grown professionally, I’ve been really lucky to have been included in some causes and outreach that I believe in. Like everything else, the more you think about giving and charitable outreach, the more you find yourself doing. We are all lucky to live in a community like Nashville that has a strong history of people helping each other. What does Jay Williams like to do in his spare time? I spend as much time as I can traveling with my wife, Katherine, and our two children. I love to explore new fly fishing locations, scuba dive, go skiing, and play golf and tennis when I can find the time.
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A GOOD FOUNDATION THE NEWSLETTER OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee 3833 Cleghorn Avenue | Nashville, Tennessee 37215
Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Nashville, TN Permit No. 2065
615-321-4939 | 888-540-5200 | cfmt.org
OFFICERS Susan W. Simons, Chairman Jana J. Davis, Secretary Decosta E. Jenkins, Treasurer Ellen E. Lehman, President BOARD OF DIRECTORS Will Alexander Lyle Beasley Jamie Cheek Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. Beth DeBauche Shari Dennis Mark Emkes Rod Essig Ben G. Freeland Julie Frist Herb Fritch Max Goldberg Jose D. Gonzalez Ray Guzman Mark Gwyn Robert S. Lipman Will Morrow Larry Papel Wayne Smith Paul Stumb Steve Underwood Stephaine H. Walker Jay Williams Alan Young
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Judy Liff Barker Jack O. Bovender, Jr. Charles W. Cook, Jr. Ronald L. Corbin Richard J. Eskind Farzin Ferdowsi John D. Ferguson Stephen F. Flatt Thomas F. Frist, Jr. Alberto R. Gonzales Joel C. Gordon Kerry Graham James S. Gulmi Carl T. Haley Aubrey B. Harwell, Jr. Carol O. Hudler Catherine Jackson William C. Koch, Jr. Kevin P. Lavender Ralph W. Mosley Donna D. Nicely Ben R. Rechter Deborah Taylor Tate Charles A. Trost Deborah F. Turner Jack B. Turner Betsy Walkup David Williams, II Jerry B. Williams
STORYCORPS ‘ONE SMALL STEP’ INITIATIVE INSPIRES CONVERSATION AND NEW FRIENDSHIPS This past fall, we worked with StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, and millions listen to broadcasts at storycorps.org and on NPR’s Morning Edition. Since 2003, tens of thousands of everyday people have shared life stories with family and friends through StoryCorps. Each conversation is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. In this moment of national divide and discord, StoryCorps is currently testing a new kind of interview: one that puts people on opposing sides into a StoryCorps recording booth— strangers, as well as family members and friends. This initiative is called One Small Step. The StoryCorps team asked us to help facilitate recordings of meaningful and heartfelt conversations between friends of The Community Foundation. These may have been friends of ours, but each pairing were strangers to each other. Participants didn’t come to argue, but simply to get know one another as human beings and to take one small step toward each other. And that they did. It was a common sight to see our participants exchange phone numbers and email addresses in order to continue their conversations after the microphones were turned off. One pairing, Toby Compton and Zulfat Suara, sat down to chat during our One Small Step recordings, and following the experience Toby shared a photo of the two with his statement, “This is my new friend Zulfat Suara – and I do mean friend. We had a wide ranging and meaningful conversation. More folks should try that. Let’s stop hurling extreme positions around and get to know each other a bit; we would all be better for it. Here’s to civility and understanding your neighbors.”
Visit The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee online at www.CFMT.org.