2019 Report to the Community
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
GIVING ALWAYS MATTERS There’s something so special about our community — we have one big, collective heart, fueled by the desire to help those in need, and helping others when they need a hand-up now and in the future. As we are inspired by the love around us, let’s also keep in mind the need that exists — all around us. We are grateful you have chosen to make our community’s charitable giving stronger through your support of causes critical to our present and our future, while we help fill gaps and create innovative philanthropic solutions.
Table of Contents Letter from the President Joy, Laughter – and Music – are the Best Medicine for Area Seniors
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Destigmatizing Mental Health with Judah & the Lion
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When We Listen, We Can Learn So Much
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Expanding Minds Through Arts Education
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Leaving a Legacy, One Scholarship at a Time
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CFMT Initiative Highlights
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Affiliate Funds
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ChildcareTennessee’s Statewide Impact
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The Tomorrow Fund Turns 20
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Who We Are
28-29
2019 At A Glance
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Corporate Care Funds/Working with Advisors Power of Endowment CFMT Bee Team
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CFMT Board of Directors + Trustees
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Message from the Chair
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Who’d a thunk it … While this Annual Report to you should be fully laser-locked on the work and accomplishments of 2019 — a year during which we were often reminded that Giving Always Matters — I simply cannot ignore the tumultuous series of events that have taken place in the months of 2020. In this space, we’ve dealt with disasters that have weighed on everyone’s mind, and continue to do so. In fact, we got hit by a one-two-three punch from the storms, the sickness and the sadness. We have learned to shelter in place, to stay safe, to stay
Letter from the President
strong, to stay sane. But even in the midst of this physical and mental pain, we are reminded once again that giving, indeed, always matters. Even in the worst of times, somehow in this community the good comes out, and the generosity of our neighbors helps lighten the burden of many. Whether it’s a dollar or some coins you found in the couch, no matter if you have great wealth or a great heart, we thank you for being part of connecting generosity with need and acknowledging that Giving Always Matters. — Ellen Lehman President, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
Joy, Laughter — and Music — are the Best Medicine for Area Seniors Thanks to The Hunter Armistead Fund 2 • CFMT.org
Clare and Hunter Armistead
An insurance executive by trade, Hunter Armistead used to jump on stage, unannounced, to sing with an orchestra. Or dance alone at charity soirees, gliding to and fro across a ballroom floor. His wit was quick, the fun-o-meter usually turned to high. In his honor, the Hunter Armistead Fund to Inspire Joy and Laughter has been administered by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee since not long after Armistead’s death at age 75 in 1999. “He was funny in a number of ways: I most enjoyed his absurdity and his grand gestures,” recalls his son, Hunter Armistead Jr., a Nashville photographer (and frequent escort for his socialite/ philanthropist mother, Clare Armistead) who for years fronted the popular rock band Mel and the Party Hats. The fun-loving apple didn’t fall far from this tree.
“He had a lot of vaudeville in him,” Hunter Jr. continues, “and he was super-quick and off the cuff — he had a Samurai grasp of the English language and used to come up with sayings that he would coin and forever be repeating, but I always enjoyed them.” The elder Armistead would no doubt be pleased at the results through the years of the Joy and Laughter Fund, which supports programs and projects that allow members of the community to remember their own zest for living amid the struggles of life. A recent benefactor is Nashville-based Music for Seniors. The nonprofit, which also has a Knoxville branch, connects area musicians with older adults through live and interactive programs designed to engage, entertain and educate seniors — promoting health and well-being, reducing isolation and enriching the lives of all participants.
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“Over time, we realized that many barriers keep older adults from attending public concerts the rest of us take for granted,” Sarah continues. “Limited ability to drive, concerts scheduled at night with overly long performances, large crowds and loud volumes ... these are just some of the challenges.” So a free daytime concert series was born, offering hour-long monthly public concerts March through December at varying accessible venues across Middle and East Tennessee and featuring celebrated local artists.
Audience members applaud at a Music For Seniors Free Daytime Concert Series Event at Looby Center Theater in North Nashville.
Free daytime concerts are offered monthly, and local musicians lead sessions at nursing homes and community centers across Middle Tennessee. Sarah Martin McConnell, founder and executive director of Music for Seniors, is a former singer-songwriter who started the organization after her aging mother was displaced by Hurricane Katrina and moved to Nashville in 2007. She first started playing music for her mother and other seniors with dementia and since has measured the organization’s continued success by sights and sounds of unadulterated glee. “Anecdotes from the field overwhelmingly attest to the joy and fun that everyone experiences when they participate in our live music programs: seniors and musicians alike,” Sarah says. “Just look at the photos to see the spontaneous exuberance — dancing and laughing as songs and stories are shared and memories made as peoples’ lives are connected through the music.” From the organization’s formal annual surveys of care partners, data shows that participants’ mood levels, verbalization and positivity all increase significantly during the music programs, continuing for as long as two hours or more after it is over.
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Music for Seniors was invited to present at the National Center for Creative Aging’s Global Conference and Leadership Exchange in Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2016. The organization gained new understanding about the value of active engagement in musicmaking activities for older adult participants. So, in 2017, the organization designed and rolled out its Live Performance Learning Labs, offering a 4-to-6-week series of hands-on instruction in ukulele, harmonica and percussion. From there, Music for Seniors turned to another generation for help. The result is its Music Connecting Generations program, an intergenerational initiative that encourages children and youth to participate in programming as performers, audience members and students. “Now the younger generation is sharing their time, talents, joy and exuberance side by side with our senior program participants,” Sarah says. Of course, nothing could happen without talented singers and musicians. “Music for Seniors is grateful to every one of them for sharing their unique personality, gifts and talent with our area’s seniors,” Sarah says. The list includes independent artists such as Americana-folk singer-songwriters Donna Frost, Ashleigh Caudill and Kyshona Armstrong; honky-tonk singer John England and fiddler Craig Duncan; and local jazz stalwarts Rafael Vasquez, Geary Moore and Richard Griffin. The most successful performers possess the patience, skills and compassion that enables them to connect with individuals in
compromised health settings, as well as with individuals in independent and healthy aging groups, she explains. “We are fortunate, again, that Nashville’s musician community has lots of these special individuals who possess outstanding musical and social skills,” Sarah says. Music for Seniors has a national expansion plans in the works. Seeded by funding provided by a WeWork Creator Achievement Award to Sarah in 2018 and with help from the Tennessee Arts Commission, the organization’s first chapter, Music for Seniors Knoxville, began operating in August 2018. Sarah hopes to continue forward — implementing the successful Music for Seniors model of connecting area musicians with seniors in their own neighborhoods — in communities across the country. “Hope,” she says, “springs eternal!” Speaking of hope, it’s uplifting that the legacy of an insurance executive named Hunter Armistead continues to inspire joy and laughter. “Honestly, I think if he had been born of different expectations, he would’ve been the next Bob Hope,” Hunter Armistead Jr. says of his father. “And a very charming one at that.”
Lillian Jay (foreground) and Georgeana Burns play the drums as participants in one of Music for Seniors’ Percussion Learning Labs.
Using a cane doesn’t stop a lively dancer at March 2020 Music for Seniors concert at Plaza Mariachi featuring Ketch Secor, frontman for Old Crow Medicine Show.
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Destigmatizing Mental Health with Judah & the Lion Frequently partnering with Musicians On Call, Judah & the Lion celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary of bringing live and recorded music to the bedside of patients. (L-R): Nate Zuercher, Judah Akers and Brian Macdonald
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Judah & the Lion want you to know it’s OK to not be OK. The band of native Nashvillians, whose original members met several years ago while attending Belmont University, use their music as a rallying cry to destigmatize mental illness. Their newest LP “Pep Talks” is the alternative-folk band’s most earnest record to date — a 17-song deep dive into isolation, alcoholism, and the process of handling a crumbling family. Leading up to the record’s release, fans were able to hear “Pep Talks” in full on Judah & the Lion’s Storytellers Tour. Traveling through the South and Midwest, the band held intimate listening parties, regaling in the record’s origin stories and connecting with their supporters. In addition, a dollar from each ticket sold was donated to a local charitable organization in every city the band made a tour stop. “Giving back has always been a big part of their story,” says the band’s manager, Ben Hutto. “The guys have always been very charitable with their time — often partnering with organizations like Musicians On Call, where they’d sing at different children’s hospitals, or volunteering at local food banks.” Judah & the Lion has also partnered with Propeller, an arm of The Make Yourself Foundation started by the band Incubus in 2003. Propeller aims to drive community action by rewarding members points for good deeds — such as registering to vote and community service — that can be redeemed for VIP concert tickets, swag, and trips. “Through Propeller we were able to fly a fan who is on the autism spectrum, along with his mother, down to Atlanta before a show,” Ben says. “[The fan] would get really overwhelmed by concerts, so we gave them all-access passes to attend sound check and were able to simulate an experience just for him.” In 2019, Judah & the Lion founded The High Five Squad and established the High Five Squad Fund at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The mission of the charitable arm is simple: encourage the expression of goodness to everyone through the process of random acts of kindness.
Judah & the Lion members, Nate Zuercher (top) and Brian Macdonald (bottom right) volunteer at the New York Common Pantry which is dedicated to reducing hunger throughout NYC while promoting self-sufficiency.
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Judah & the Lion perform for a patient in a New Orleans hospital as part of Musicians On Call.
“The idea for The High Five Squad came from the guys encouraging their fans to give high fives as a simple act of giving back,” Ben says. “All of the band’s charitable deeds are because of and for their fans.” Judah & the Lion’s fan base is composed mostly of teenagers and college-aged twentysomethings — the angst- and anxiety-filled formative years we all remember. The band’s VIP experience includes a question-and-answer session to help ease fans’ growing pains. “Fans will bring up their hardships … and they can be very vulnerable,” Ben says. “It’s a really cool thing to see. Their fans are so passionate, and the guys really care about their well-being.”
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As for their latest work, “Pep Talks” is an album that warrants careful listening from start to finish. It’s a story of finding success in the midst of emotional trauma. While the stories are personal, the themes are familiar to those who struggle - to those who hurt, to those who desperately need to hear it’s OK to not be OK. “Judah & the Lion have spent their last touring cycle encouraging their fans to be a part of destigmatizing mental health,” their manager says. “They want their listeners to know if they’re down in the dumps, they should talk to someone. “You have to fight for yourself and love yourself well,” he says. “You have to know that you are worth fighting for.”
Judah & the Lion (center) pose with other volunteers at the New York Common Pantry in New York, NY.
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When We Listen, We Learn So Much
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Edgehill Early Learning Center is a welcome and valuable addition to the Edgehill neighborhood and thrives because of dedicated women such as (top, from left) Tranetha Newbern, Shelia Osteen, Judy Lewis, Monique Turner, (bottom, from left) Nancy Crutcher, Kara Oliver.
The very first Edna S. Thomas Lecture Series welcomed Gloria DeGaetano, a veteran educator, author and speaker who originated parent coaching as a profession when she founded the Bellingham, Washington-based Parent Coaching Institute, a global certification program. “Gloria DeGaetano’s teachings were the impetus to the Edna S. Thomas Lecture Series,” Judy says. “Her teachings aligned parenting with the needs of the developing brain.” Throughout the next 13 years, Judy and family welcomed speakers focused on a range of topics, including cultivating happiness, encouraging a mindfulness practice for children, and listening. For example, the late Elaine Mazlish, co-author with Adele Faber of the best-selling book, “How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk,” was one of Judy’s favorite lecturers in the series. Two young Edgehill Early Learning Center students enjoy a healthy snack during the school day.
There are lessons that are timeless, and others that change with the passing of time. Learning how — and when — to listen may be the most important lesson of all. In the summer of the new millennium, July 2000, Judy and Thomas Lewis came to The Community Foundation with a vision of creating a legacy for Judy’s extraordinary mother, Edna Thomas. Edna Thomas grew up in Hillsboro Village and was raised with her two siblings by a single mother. She was trained as a social worker, was an active community volunteer, and was a faithful member of Belmont United Methodist Church until she passed away far too young due to breast cancer at age 60. Her daughter was inspired to establish the Edna S. Thomas Fund to endow an annual lecture series focusing on raising healthy children and giving parents the tools to succeed.
Mazlish’s lecture centered on helping children deal with their feelings by listening, acknowledging, engaging cooperation — both parent and child — and, finally, encouraging autonomy by giving choices and showing respect. By 2012, an estimated 3.9 million mommy blogs could be found online. Judy began to think about ways the Edna S. Thomas Fund could provide a different type of support for children and their parents. At that time, she had been volunteering with the after-school, oneon-one tutoring program, Brighter Days, led by Nancy Crutcher, a lifelong resident of the Edgehill neighborhood in Midtown Nashville. It was there that Judy discovered the direction she wanted to take to continue honoring the legacy of her mother. “Edgehill is just several blocks away from some of the very best education offerings in the city,” she explains, “and it’s a child care desert.” A child care desert is defined as any census tract with more than 50 children under age 5 that contains either no child care providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed child care slots.
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A historical commemorative plaque stands in front of Edgehill United Methodist Church — also home of the Edgehill Early Learning Center — honoring the late Rev. Bill Barnes. Rev. Barnes founded Edgehill UMC in 1966, one of Nashville’s first intentionally integrated churches.
After listening to her neighbors, Nancy — known as “Ms. Nancy” to one and all in the neighborhood — reached out to her friend and said, “Judy, the need is overwhelming.” Nancy connected with the families of 150 children through her self-appointed canvassing effort, and in 2015 the Moms of Edgehill group was born.
In Davidson County alone, there are 67 child care desert tracts, with nearly 25,000 children under age 5 and only 2,676 child care slots available, according to a 2017 Center for American Progress report. The Brighter Days tutoring program is based at Edgehill United Methodist Church, where Nancy Crutcher is a longtime member and Director of Neighborhood Ministries. She and so many others were mentored by the late Rev. Bill Barnes. A pastor, Civil Rights leader, teacher, and often called “the conscience of Nashville,” Rev. Barnes founded Edgehill UMC in 1966, one of Nashville’s first intentionally integrated churches. He died in 2017 at age 86. Edna Thomas was the reverend’s classmate and friend. Because of this tie and a shared passion to give children a leg-up on life, the friendship of Nancy Crutcher and Judy Lewis continued to grow. They dreamt of ways to provide a safe, educational space for children from birth to age 4 — the time most critical in brain development. Since she was 14 years old, Nancy Crutcher had taken to heart Rev. Barnes’ teachings about going into the neighborhood to learn about the needs of the community. “Some people think sitting down and talking to people is the old way,” Nancy says. “I think it’s the best way. Rev. Barnes used to tell us to buckle up our shoes and go out there, sit on porches, and listen.”
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By the winter of 2016, the Edna S. Thomas Fund helped make possible for the group to gather monthly for lunch and fellowship at a sacred space where mothers and grandmothers could bring their young ones for activities that encouraged developmental growth. While working on the group’s programming, Nancy quickly realized the simple act of listening would once again help provide the right direction. By listening, she discovered these women needed time for self-care: meditation, mindfulness activities, and journaling. “If Momma’s not happy, nobody’s happy,” Nancy says. “These strong, beautiful women needed us not only to listen, but bring something to them to enjoy parenting and enjoy themselves.” One year later, the mothers agreed they wanted their children to be prepared to go to kindergarten and transition easily into a traditional school setting. Thus the Edgehill Early Learning Center, located at 1502 Edgehill Ave., was established in 2018, providing a stepping stone for the future of neighborhood children. “On our very first day, we had one child show up,” remembers Melissa Flatt, the Center’s curriculum coordinator. “But the whole idea was that we were going to be a consistent presence in the community.” The next week, Ms. Nancy jumped into the church van and drove around to pick up the children for school. The program now serves from eight to 14 children each program day.
(Photo left) Melissa Flatt, Edgehill Early Learning Center’s curriculum coordinator, engages students in a hands-on project to help build their dexterity skills. (Photo right) Ms. Sheila plays with her students which is key to a child’s learning, development, confidence and well-being.
“We have a vastly mixed age group working in two classrooms,” Melissa Flatt says. “When we say birth to age 4, it is birth to age 4. That is a huge developmental group to try to meet the needs of all the individuals.” In creating a curriculum, Melissa and director Brandy Turner King borrowed elements from Montessori, Reggio Emelia, and traditional styles of teaching to meet the needs of their children. They wanted for them to learn to be comfortable in the classroom and trust it was a safe space, build routines — hang up coats, wash hands, sit at story time — and stick to a schedule. The children engage in social and interactive activities, writing and coloring, intermittent periods of self-discovery, and play. There also is an emphasis on sensory learning. “In the fall, they wash and cut a pumpkin, feel the seeds and learn what the seeds do, taste different things made with pumpkin,” Melissa says. “They learn what floats and what sinks,” Judy says. “They make their hypotheses, and you can see the brain connections are going.“ None of this would be possible without the help of Ms. Sheila (Osteen), a grandmother from the Moms of Edgehill group and an assistant teacher. Or Nikki, “a beautiful presence to be around,” who cooks hot lunches each program day.
The Edna S. Thomas Fund supplies the groceries, and Nikki prepares delicious meals. There’s also Ms. Stacy and Ms. Monique; these women make this possible. In 2019, the Edgehill Early Learning Center expanded from a one day a week program to two days a week. Judy Lewis and her family helped establish the Friends of Edgehill Learning Center Fund at The Community Foundation to provide support to Edgehill UMC and others working to facilitate the operation of the part-time early education program. “For me, it’s all out of the same passion and thinking,” Judy says. “The lectures were focused on the idea that all parents deserve support, and every child deserves to be in a stimulating and responsive environment.” Moving forward, the goal for Edgehill Early Learning Center is to build and fund a full five-day, early childhood education program. “It’s a big dream. But sometimes big dreams happen out of itty-bitty dreams,” Nancy Crutcher says. “At the end of the day, it’s all about the kids and creating an opportunity. “Think about it,” she continues. “From 14th Avenue South to 8th Avenue South, there was no day care center — no way of allowing our kids to get just a baby step ahead. “It’s just so important.”
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Expanding Minds Through Art Education with Fisk’s Gallery Leadership Program A • CFMT.org
Fisk Gallery Leadership fellows learn about art conservation through participation both in a weeklong, in-person, intensive virtual class on art conservation and/or engagement with an art conservator at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
When famed American photographer Alfred Stieglitz died in 1946, his wife, the renowned artist Georgia O’Keeffe, embarked on a journey to disperse her late husband’s fantastic art collection among various public institutions. O’Keeffe chose the Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and a historically Black university in Nashville, Tennessee, better known for its Jubilee Singers than its art department. In 1949, Fisk University would inherit 101 works from one of the most eminent collections of 20th century art. Smaller than many high schools, Fisk sits on a 40-acre campus and enrolls fewer than 800 students each year. The Alfred Stieglitz Collection is housed in the Van Vechten Gallery, named after writer and photographer Carl Van Vechten.
Although no one knows exactly why O’Keeffe chose Fisk for the donation, the connection between the artist and the university can be traced to what was known as the Harlem Renaissance — named after the well-known district in New York City and encompassing the growth of Black culture in America, particularly in the creative arts between 1918-1937. Van Vechten, a great patron of the Harlem Renaissance, was friends with figures such as well-known painter Aaron Douglas, founder and chairman of Fisk’s art department, and Charles Spurgeon Johnson, the first African-American president of the college, which was founded in 1866. It was through these friendships that O’Keeffe and Stieglitz became supporters of the movement and the university itself. Encouraged by Van Vechten, O’Keeffe gave the gift “in recognition of the school’s mission to educate Black students at a time when Southern universities remained segregated.”
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Jamaal Sheets serves as current director, curator, and head of the Van Vechten Gallery Leadership Program. “When I first went to Fisk, I was a business major,” Jamaal recalls. “When I’d take a test, I’d draw along the side of the paper. One day, my teacher told me to stop doodling and said there are art classes for that. So I took one. I switched my major three times before becoming an art major.” The Gallery Leadership Program began in 2015 when Jamaal took over as the gallery’s only curator and desperately needed help.
Charles S. Johnson (left), lifelong civil rights advocate and the first Black president of Fisk University, sits next to famed artist Georgia O’Keeffe, who donated 101 works from her late husband’s art collection to Fisk in 1949.
It’s no secret the Alfred Stieglitz Collection is no longer a permanent fixture within the Van Vechten Gallery. Faced with continuing financial struggles, in 2012 Fisk saw an opportunity to keep the school afloat by consummating a deal to sell a one-half, undivided interest in the collection for a reported $30 million in partnership with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.
“I was working to get the gallery back open after being closed for renovations,” he explains. “I was stressed out because there were no exhibitions planned, and the Stieglitz Collection was gone [to Arkansas]. It was literally like drinking gasoline from a fire hose.” One of Jamaal’s Fisk colleagues recommended then-student Alex McWilliams, a computer science major, to assist him with the gallery reopening. What Jamaal quickly realized is while most of the college’s students hailed from big metropolitan cities such as Philadelphia and Washington D.C., the majority had never set foot inside of a gallery.
There was a hitch: Historically, under the agreement O’Keeffe made with the university, the collection was never to be sold or separated. After a seven-year, high-profile legal battle, the collection now rotates every two years between Nashville and Bentonville. It returned to the Van Vechten Gallery for another two-year run in April 2020. The Pearl Creswell Fund for the Alfred Stieglitz Collection at Fisk University was established at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee in 2010. Named after the first curator of the Carl Van Vechten Gallery, the Fund is designated to benefit the display and annual upkeep of the collection. In 2012, the Fund for the Care of the Alfred Stieglitz Collection at Fisk University also was created at The Foundation for similar purposes.
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Fisk Gallery Leadership fellows participating in a weeklong, in-person intensive virtual class on museum curation through hands-on engagement with their campus curator at the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas.
“We wanted to integrate the gallery into all academic disciplines, so I began working with a ton of faculty,” Jamaal says. “But to make a long story short, students caught the art bug. “It just changed their world, their minds. And we really needed the help.” Challenges remain. Many of the program’s participants work multiple jobs on top of their demanding class schedules. And many coveted internships don’t pay, while expecting students to relocate for weeks at a time. A recent study by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) reported only 16% of art curators are people of color, and just 10% of art conservators are Black. “As a board and an organization, how can we rely on our mission but also drive change?” Jamaal asks. “We have to meet our students where they are. If you have a student that’s never been to a museum or has never been inspired by a work of art, that’s where we start.” The importance of The Gallery Leadership Program is multifaceted. It is a certificate program developed in collaboration with the HBCU Alliance of Museums and Art Galleries, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Supported by the Diversifying Art Museum Leadership Initiative funded by the Ford Foundation and Walton Family Foundation, it helps instill passion and engagement but also shows students careers in the art realm are viable and attainable for people of color. “We’re not just trying to build artists or museum professionals,” Jamaal says. “We want to build board members, advocates and collectors. “This is not a short-range plan — it’s a long-range plan,” he continues. “And we will continue to set out to change the field so that our students can overcome life’s obstacles and succeed.” Students from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) receive a hands-on introduction to art conservation during the 2019 Yale-HBCU Student and Mentor Institute in Technical Art History, a program that exposes scholars from HBCUs to careers in the cultural heritage sector with a focus on preservation and conservation (top and center photo). Fisk Museum Leadership Program students completing their museum education intensive at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico (bottom photo).
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Leaving a Legacy, One Scholarship at a Time
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In her Will dated Oct. 9, 1937, she outlined that after all of her direct descendants were gone, any residual assets were to be used to create a Knox Hume Scholarship Fund. The Fund would assist high school seniors attending Hume-Fogg in their pursuit of a four-year college degree. While financial need and athletic accomplishments can be considered in awarding of the Knox Hume Scholarship, Sarah stipulated that academic performance would be the deciding factor. After the passing of her last descendant and nearly 60 years after her own death in 1949, trustees of her estate approached The Community Foundation to assist with executing her final wishes. The Knox Hume Scholarship Fund was established in 2007. The first scholarships were awarded in 2008. Since then the Fund has awarded an impressive 234 scholarships in the amount of $263,525 to help graduates of Hume-Fogg Magnet High School make their college dreams possible.
Students have been attending classes surrounded by Hume-Fogg’s distinctive Gothic Revival architecture since 1912 (left photo). A historical marker tells the story of Nashville’s first public school, Hume School, established in 1855 (above photo).
Downtown’s Hume-Fogg Magnet High School — first founded in 1855 as Hume High School, Nashville’s first public school, and now perennially ranked as one of the country’s very best — has much more going for it than its distinctive architecture and more than a century of top-quality faculty, staff and students. Behind the scenes, it was the careful legacy planning of Sarah Foard Hume Lewis that helped solidify the continuing impact the Hume family had on education in Nashville through the Knox Hume Scholarship Fund at The Community Foundation.
One of those students is Sarah Matthews, a 2019 scholarship recipient, who attends Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. At Centre, she is continuing to focus on community building and environmental studies, much as she did at Hume-Fogg as president of Livable Schools, an environmental initiative. “Receiving this scholarship was really meaningful, because it is linked to Hume-Fogg,” Sarah says. “Hume-Fogg helped make me who I am today, and I like that I still have a tie back to Hume-Fogg and can maintain my connection to the school and Nashville.” Financial aid for college was a consideration for Sarah from the beginning of planning her higher education. She found out about the Knox Hume Scholarship from Hume-Fogg guidance counselors.
This is how she did it:
“I’ve been really grateful to have the financial burden lifted,” she says. “I took tuition costs of schools into account from the beginning of my college search.
Sarah’s first husband was John Knox Hume, nephew of Alfred Hume, one of the school’s namesakes and known as the Father of the Nashville Public School system. Later, as she planned her estate, it was clear she knew how important the Hume family legacy would be.
“Being able to learn at Centre and not have to worry about where I’m going to get money for school has meant a lot,” she continues. “I feel I can better focus on my education since I don’t have to worry about where money to cover costs is coming from.” CFMT.org • 21
Jared Hall, a junior studying music business at Middle Tennessee State University, echoes Sarah’s sentiments about financial relief from receiving the scholarship. “Receiving the Knox Hume Scholarship meant that the opportunity to make a life for myself was going to be much more accessible,” Jared says. “Being able to pay for college with the scholarship allowed me to focus more on the academic side of higher learning instead of worrying about the economic side.
METRO NASHVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIPS AT CFMT
“I am so privileged to receive this scholarship,” he says, “and am truly grateful for it.” In the spirit of bettering others through education, Jared is already looking toward the future. “I want to take my knowledge and give back to my community by teaching younger Black kids about the importance of independent artistry and owning what you create,” he says. “There are a lot of people from my community who want to become musicians and artists,” he continues, “and need the knowledge to keep themselves afloat.”
James Edward “Bill” Richards Scholarship, East High School Steve Thompson Scholarship, Hillsboro High School Wilson Waters Forrester Memorial Scholarship, Hume-Fogg Magnet High School Knox Hume Scholarship Fund, Hume-Fogg Magnet High School
To ensure that the Hume’s legacy continues to impact the lives of Nashville’s students — no matter what — Sarah directed in her Will that if ever Hume-Fogg ceased to exist, that the Knox Hume Scholarship would become open to all high school seniors attending a Metro Nashville public school.
Paula Herring Scholarship, John Overton High School
In 2019, 69 Metro students were awarded $153,700 to pursue their college education through 27 scholarships administered by The Community Foundation.
Choose Your Future Scholarship, any MNPS High School
A special feature of The Foundation’s scholarship program is that students complete just one application, which makes each student eligible for many of the more than 100 scholarship funds offered. Creating a lasting legacy through a Scholarship Fund is one way to touch lives for generations. Through the Knox Hume Scholarship Fund, Sarah Foard Hume Lewis was able to do just that.
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Rachel Cate Allison Scholarship Fund, any MNPS High School
Edna Martin Scholarship, any MNPS High School Laurie P. Poole Scholarship for the Visual Arts Fund, preference given to Nashville School of the Arts students
Nashville native Trehon Cockrell-Coleman, who recently earned a master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management at Arizona State University, received his undergraduate degree at Tennessee State University with the help of the Teddy Wilburn Scholarship Fund at The Community Foundation. He has mentored youth in his hometown annually with The Beginners Leadership Achievement Awards.
Highlights From Our Initiatives The Community Foundation is dedicated to the welfare and development of Middle Tennessee. As a catalyst and convener, we create and support innovative solutions to address community needs.
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Just before The Community Foundation of Robertson County co-founder Ralph Illges turned age 59, he decided the foundation needed to make some very big changes … or call it quits. “I looked at our board and knew we needed new blood,” recalls Illges, an attorney, “and I wanted to step down as board chair in hopes of recruiting someone younger. … We were either going to shut it down or affiliate, because we could not keep doing it this way.” The next step was to contact Scott O’Neal, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s Regional and Affiliate Initiatives Liaison, to discuss the benefits and process of affiliating with CFMT.
The Community Foundation of Robertson County Existing affiliates and the years they began include: The Cheatham County Community Foundation (1998) The Community Foundation of Dickson County (1999) The Goodlettsville Area Community Foundation (1999) The Tullahoma Community Foundation (1999) The Cumberland Plateau Community Foundation (1999) The Community Foundation of Christian, Todd and Trigg Counties (2003) The Community Foundation of Clarksville/Montgomery County (2007)
Affiliate Funds are overseen by a committee of local leaders charged with educating their neighbors about establishing a “charitable savings account” and making decisions about grant distributions to local nonprofits based on community needs. Affiliates benefit from the administrative support, guidance and philanthropic expertise provided by CFMT. Quickly realizing that Robertson County was the only independent community foundation in the area, Ralph and the Robertson affiliate’s other co-founder, Margot Fosnes, were surprised they didn’t transition sooner. The Community Foundation of Robertson County always has been and remains dedicated to providing both the vehicle and vision for residents to leverage their accumulated assets and charitable hearts to make the county a better place to live. By becoming an affiliate of CFMT, its dedication to their county can have an even greater impact.
The Community Foundation of Wilson County (2014) The Community Foundation of Rutherford County (2017) The Community Foundation of Robertson County (2019) The Community Foundation of Williamson County (2019)
Affiliate Funds are designated to benefit a particular geographic area, be it a county, a community, or a region.
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The work of The Community Foundation’s initiative ChildcareTennessee in supporting child care programs in Middle Tennessee was taken to new heights in 2019. The initiative, which provides administrative and operational services, now serves more than 161,000 children in 2,300 programs across the state, a monumental rise from having served 275 child care agencies in 2018. It also has added grant administration to its services. The expansion has been spearheaded by a grant from the Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS), with the shared goal of improving the quality, accessibility and sustainability of services and care offered to children and families of Tennessee.
ChildcareTennessee
A piece of this partnership is the administration of the state’s Support and Enhancement Grant. This grant allows state-licensed child care agencies to apply for up to $4,000 ($5,000 in economically distressed counties) to improve agency’s equipment and programs, including supplies and consultants and coaches. ChildcareTennessee.com, a website for child care program directors, with more than 2,000 resources and formerly required a paid membership to access, was made free and available to all TDHS-licensed child care agencies in Tennessee. With these expanded resources came a larger team. The ChildcareTennessee team grew from two members to nine in 2019. The new positions include a shared services coordinator to negotiate discounts with local vendors, helping child care centers stretch their money farther and do more to improve their programs. Three regional coordinators travel the state, training child care directors on how to utilize ChildcareTennessee.com, as well as assist with Support and Enhancement Grant applications. A dedicated grant coordinator, an administrator for ChildcareTennessee.com and a marketing coordinator round out the team. Through this expansion, ChildcareTennessee will continue to do what it does best – serve those who serve the children of Tennessee.
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For more than 20 years, The Tomorrow Fund has harnessed the energy, enthusiasm and resources of young Nashville residents into community-building philanthropy. The initiative was launched in 1998 and established at The Community Foundation in 1999 by two friends, Casey West and Jay Williams, who wanted to make a positive impact in their community. The Tomorrow Fund was founded on three tenets: social participation, active community service, and financial contribution to our community. To fulfill their charter, members began thinking up creative ways to fundraise. Over the years, the Fund has hosted Mardi-Gras parties, art shows and food truck competitions. Their latest fundraising event is an American-themed party, Red, White & Brew.
The Tomorrow Fund
Because of that creativity and dedication, The Tomorrow Fund has granted more than $88,000 to organizations that provide services to children, predominantly focused in Middle Tennessee. For more than a decade, the Fund has given the joy of the holiday season to more than 800 children through their Giving Tree project. Each year members reach out to their own networks for donations, amounting to $80,000 donated to low-income families and their children since the project’s inception. Members also have donated thousands of service hours volunteering for organizations such as The Salvation Army, Second Harvest Food Bank, Warner Parks, Ronald McDonald House, Renewal House, The American Red Cross, and many others. The Tomorrow Fund continues to thrive through innovative use of social media, event planning and networking, amplifying the impact local young professionals are able to make. Here’s to 20 more years of growing young philanthropists and making a difference in Middle Tennessee.
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Originally built for Tennessee’s 1897 Centennial Exposition, Nashville’s famed replica of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, has been joined in Centennial Park by a women’s suffrage monument (foreground). Dedicated in 2016, the sculpture was created by renowned Nashville sculptor Alan LeQuire and commissioned by the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument organization to commemorate the importance of Tennessee’s pivotal role in women gaining the right to vote in 1920.
WHO WE ARE We help people from every corner of the community make an impact through their giving.
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MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND SOUTHERN KENTUCKY COUNTIES SERVED
GIVING
GRANTMAKING
Our vision is to help people feel good about giving. We enable people to give according to their passion and their goals through our remarkable flexibility to serve nearly any charitable purpose.
The Community Foundation improves our community through strategic grantmaking to nonprofits. Carrying out the wishes of donors and providing expertise in local philanthropy, The Community Foundation works to identify opportunities and help address emerging and evolving critical needs.
It is simple to establish a fund within The Community Foundation, whether you want to create an endowment for a favorite nonprofit or craft an entrepreneurial solution to address a pressing need. A fund is created with a minimum contribution of $5,000 ($10,000 for scholarships). There is no cost to set up a fund, and they are established by individuals, families, companies, civic groups, and nonprofit organizations. Contributions of any size are welcome to existing funds, at any time, from any source. Donors may elect to create a fund with contributions of cash, publicly-traded or closely-held securities, real estate, personal property, or by the use of planned giving vehicles such as charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, life insurance policies, and bequests.
AMOUNT OF GRANT DOLLARS DISTRIBUTED SINCE 1991:
The Community Foundation puts resources to work where they are needed most through a competitive grant process. Our discretionary grant program supports local nonprofits that apply for this source of annual funding. We receive hundreds of applications seeking funding to enhance the programs serving Middle Tennessee. In 2019, we funded 365 nonprofit organizations through our discretionary grantmaking totaling more than $2.39 million. We respect the work and mission of our nonprofit partners and are particularly interested in collaboration and innovative ideas that provide long-term solutions for community needs.
$994,298,784 CFMT.org CFMT.org • 29• B
2019 AT A GLANCE
As we watch our community evolve, we see growing needs. We are well-positioned to understand issues and identify opportunities to help our community through our unique lens and the ability to scan the 40 counties of Middle Tennessee and the three counties in Southern Kentucky that we serve. NUMBER OF ESTABLISHED FUNDS
1,512 NEW FUNDS
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NUMBER OF GIFTS MADE TO THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION:
39,611 TOTAL GIFTS MADE BY DONORS TO THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION:
$41,530,204 NONPROFIT-GRANT RECIPIENTS:
3,938
GRANTED TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS:
$62,589,723 SCHOLARSHIPS OFFERED
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GRANTMAKING BREAKDOWN BY FUNDS IN 2019: $1.78 MILLION
DESIGNATED FUNDS + AGENCY ENDOWMENT FUNDS
Generous people from across the community and the country are donors to The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
The Community Foundation offers flexible fund options to help donors based on their charitable priorities and goals.
$3.6 MILLION
SCHOLARSHIP + EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE FUNDS
$10.8 MILLION
$45.8 MILLION DONOR-ADVISED FUNDS
UNRESTRICTED IMPACT FUNDS + FIELD-OF-INTEREST FUNDS + AFFILIATE FUNDS
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These figures represent numbers which have not yet been audited and are subject to change pending an audit for the year ended December 31, 2019.
CORPORATE CARE FUNDS To allow compassionate employers to support their valued workforce, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has created Corporate Care Funds — a taxdeductible, charitable solution that can provide emergency assistance to employees when they need it most.
Snapshot of CFMT’s Employee Assistance program in 2019: · 962 Applications received · $1,457,327 Grants distributed · $1,886,207 Donations received
Corporate Care Funds give companies an opportunity to focus on the organization’s most value asset — the employees. The administrative burden is handled by The Community Foundation by taking care of the entire application process, from accepting, reviewing and verifying applications. Once applications are approved, financial assistance for employees is provided through payments to vendors.
Types of requests for help: · Natural Disaster 16% · Death of a Household Member 10% · Serious Illness or Injury 60% · Other Catastrophic Events 15%
Along with getting help to those in crisis, Corporate Care Funds let employees know they are valued and that their employer cares about their well-being.
Total requests for help received 2010-2019 - 6,094 Total funds distributed 2010-2019 - $10,040,413
WORKING WITH ADVISORS For many prospective donors who are exploring charitable giving options, their first introduction to The Community Foundation is through their professional advisor. This may be a trusted friend, lawyer, accountant, investment representative, or wealth management professional. The charitable giving goals of the prospective donors are always central to the conversation and any actions taken. It’s the resources and tools that differ based on whether the donor sought advice from a lawyer to assist
with estate planning, an accountant to determine tax strategies related to the sale of a company, or a wealth management professional to help put together a plan for retirement. The Community Foundation has experience working with advisors of all types and has the goal of working alongside these professionals as partners in supporting the charitable goals of an individual or family.
If you are an individual or a professional advisor helping a client interested in structuring a way to support charitable opportunities or community needs, let us be your partner.
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photo courtesy of Cheekwood Estate and Gardens
POWER OF ENDOWMENT
Thanks to the financial power of investment income, many of the funds at The Community Foundation have more in their coffers than when they were first established.
Special Olympics Tennessee Endowment Fund Established 1992 Special Olympics Tennessee provides year-round sports training and athletic competition activities for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Programs are community-based, serving 14,500 athletes statewide and involving 15,000 volunteers. Special Olympics’ goal is to develop individual skills, physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship. The Fund was established to ensure the organization can meet the needs and desires of an ever growing and expanding program.
Grants Made:
$52,084.16 $74,870.00
Balance at 12/31/19:
$116,552.39
Gifts In:
Siddy Foote Fund for Scholarships at Cheekwood Established 1993 Siddy Foote was blessed with a wide circle of friends who created this Fund to provide financial aid so that underprivileged children wishing to develop their interest and talent in art might take advantage of Cheekwood’s unique opportunities for children.
Gifts In: Grants Made: Balance at 12/31/19:
$225,035.00 $161,170.44 $274,973.51
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The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Staff Jeff Hoffman, Program Manager, Delek Fund for Hope Row Four:
Row One:
Melissa Anderson, Staff Accountant Kathryn Bennett, GivingMatters.com Manager Daphne Billingsley, ChildcareTennessee Regional Coordinator West Debbie Bone, Donor Services and Grants Associate Thomas Buford, Program Director, Delek Fund for Hope Dominique Burns, ChildcareTennessee Program Coordinator Julia Clark, ChildcareTennessee Regional Coordinator East Row Two:
Anne Clem, ChildcareTennessee Childcare Services Associate
Pat Cole, Senior Coordinator, Scholarships Cynthia Copeland, Accounting Manager Audra Cox, Development Associate, Donor Services Melisa Currey, Chief Financial Officer Paige Dempsey, Online Assistant Sharon Derman, Senior Administrative Associate, Finance Row Three:
Shirley Dunn, Staff Accountant Pat Embry, Director, Media and Community Relations Amy Fair, Vice President, Donor Services Whit Gardner, ChildcareTennessee and Communications Marketing Coordinator Porter Haile, Technology Systems Administrator Mandy Hart, ChildcareTennessee Regional Coordinator Middle and Southeast Belinda Dinwiddie Havron, Director, Donor Engagement
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Erin Holcomb, NowPlayingNashville.com® Manager Benja Hutchens, Director of Employee Care Programs Jana L. Laiolo, Staff Accountant Pat Lawson, ChildcareTennessee Shared Services Coordinator Ellen Lehman, President Laundrea Lewis, Senior Manager, Grants Row Five:
Paola Lezcano, ChildcareTennessee Program Services Coordinator Deborah McClellan, Receptionist Michael McDaniel, Senior Nonprofit and Endowment Liaison Jenni Moscardelli, Women’s Fund Coordinator Scott O’Neal, Regional and Affiliate Initiatives Liaison Tina Randolph, Content Associate, NowPlayingNashville.com® Rondal Richardson, Entertainment and Donor Services Liasion Row Six:
Nicole Rose, Donor Services Coordinator, Project Manager Emily Rutzky, Creative Services Manager Sarah Sanderlin, ChildcareTennessee Associate Chris Stowe, Associate, Employee Care Funds Hayley Sulfridge, Content Associate, NowPlayingNashville.com® Gina Tek, ChildcareTennessee Senior Manager Patricia Thompson, ChildcareTennessee Grant Coordinator Row Seven:
Kelly Walberg, Communications Manager Shemika Walker, Associate, Employee Care Programs Keifer Winn, Financial Assistant Kristen Worsham, Events & Community Engagement Manager, Delek Fund for Hope Morgan Yingling, Communications Associate
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The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee 2019-2020 Board OFFICERS
Susan W. Simons, Chairman Jana J. Davis, Secretary Decosta E. Jenkins, Treasurer/Chair Elect Ellen E. Lehman, President
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Will Alexander
Max Goldberg
Judy Liff Barker
Carol O. Hudler
Hugh Atkinson
Jose D. Gonzalez
Jack O. Bovender, Jr.
Catherine Jackson
Lyle Beasley
Ray Guzman
Charles W. Cook, Jr.
William C. Koch, Jr.
Jamie Cheek
Christine Karbowiak
Ronald L. Corbin
Kevin P. Lavender
Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr.
Robert S. Lipman
Richard J. Eskind
Ralph W. Mosley
Beth DeBauche
Will Morrow
Farzin Ferdowsi
Donna D. Nicely
Shari Dennis
Larry Papel
John D. Ferguson
Ben R. Rechter
Mark Emkes
Wayne Smith
Stephen F. Flatt
Deborah Taylor Tate
Sara Finley
Paul Stumb
Thomas F. Frist, Jr.
Charles A. Trost
Ben G. Freeland
Steve Underwood
Alberto R. Gonzales
Deborah F. Turner
Julie Frist
Stephaine H. Walker
Joel C. Gordon
Jack B. Turner
Herb Fritch
Jay Williams
Kerry Graham
Betsy Walkup
Eddie George
Alan Young
Carl T. Haley
Jerry B. Williams
Jim Gingrich
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Aubrey B. Harwell, Jr.
including supplies, and consultants and coaches. As you know, the lack of childcare is a major issue in our state. • Our initiative The Big Payback’s sixth annual, 24-hour online giving event raised more than $4.1 million from 28,485 total gifts, benefitting 964 nonprofits across Middle Tennessee. • CFMT awarded scholarships to 320 individual students totaling $715,850 in funding to students pursuing secondary educational goals at accredited schools throughout the United States.
Message from the Chair It has been my honor to serve as the chair of The Community Foundation’s Board of Directors these past two years. Never has our mission to enrich the quality of life in the Greater Nashville area been more apparent in so many aspects of the organization. I have enjoyed working with our Board of Directors and Trustees and have been impressed with the expertise and dedication of the staff. CFMT is truly an extraordinary organization. As the year 2020 began, CFMT announced it has surpassed $1 BILLION in giving since it began 30 years ago! That’s an incredible and admirable number, by any means. I am privileged and proud to have served the organization through the years on its Board, committees, and now as a trustee. Our Board members, who serve as Ambassadors for Philanthropy, had the opportunity to remind friends of many highlights from the year 2019, including: • CFMT partnered with the Tennessee Department of Human Services to provide shared services and administer support and enhancement grants through our ChildcareTennessee.com initiative for childcare agencies licensed by the state. Childcare providers could apply for up to $4,000 ($5,000 grants in economically distressed counties) to enhance equipment, programs
• We awarded nearly $2.4 million in discretionary grants to 365 local nonprofits in 28 counties throughout Middle Tennessee. The top three awards categories were Arts and Humanities, Human Services-Children, and Education. Throughout my tenure as Board Chair, I’ve made it my personal mission, through our longstanding Building Committee aided by Bert Mathews, to find a new home for The Community Foundation. Our present building in Green Hills, a gift years ago from the late Dan and Margaret Maddox’s Foundation, has been showing its age and no longer meets our growing needs as we strive to serve the community. We welcome the day that The Community Foundation moves into a new home, one that raises the visibility of the organization and better meets the needs of the staff and the community. We are hoping that the traumas of these times will abate, the dreaded virus will be defeated, the weather will stay calm, and that a serious focus on social justice will improve the lives of those who have been impacted way too long.
Take care, stay well and stay safe, Susan Simons Susan W. Simons is an artist and philanthropist and has been an active volunteer for numerous Nashville-area nonprofits for many years. A Nashville native, she has served on The Community Foundation’s Board of Directors since 2005 and later its Board of Trustees. She took over as Chair of the board in August 2018. A graduate of Wellesley College with a degree in economics, she served under Governor Lamar Alexander as Commissioner of the State of Tennessee’s Department of General Services from 1983-86.
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The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee 3833 Cleghorn Avenue • Nashville, TN 37215 • 615-321-4939 • 888-540-5200
CFMT.org