Families First Community Grant Partners

United Way of West Tennessee Project Return Through internal programming and collaboration with community partners, YWCA NETN and SWVA has identified a diverse set of resources that will further empower our organization to deliver services, utilizing a family-led approach that aligns with multiple TANF purposes. Utilizing the two generational approach, the YWCA can provide assistance to needy families so that children are cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives. It plans to accomplish these goals by increasing operational hours, developing a Family Navigator Program that will provide direct family services, development of a Family Hotline to increase access to assistance and support for families, community-building activities for parents and children, workforce development assistance for children and parents, family support groups, and the creation of the Family University Program of resources. Rooftop Foundation For 60 years, Girls Inc. of Chattanooga (Girls Inc.) has worked directly with over 28,000 girls and families who meet and/or exceed Tennessee’s low-income eligibility criteria, the State and City’s most vulnerable and under resourced communities. Girls and families from these communities have been active participants in our in-school, after-school and seasonal day camps offered across the City of Chattanooga (Hamilton County). Through a varied, holistic and comprehensive programming approach, the Girls Inc. experience addresses 2-gen outcomes of economic support, education, health and well-being and social capital. Mid-Cumberland Community Action Agency (MCCAA) will launch a 2 generational, whole family partnership approach case management program to help strengthen low-income families in Middle Tennessee. Mid-Cumberland Community Action Agency will focus its efforts to support TANF goal 1- Providing assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes and TANF Goal 2- Reducing the dependency of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage. The Family Empowerment Program will provide financial assistance grants for rent, mortgage, and debt reduction for low-income families. Families will have an opportunity to identify additional resources that would benefit their situation. Accessing community resources will happen through a coaching, mentoring, education, referrals, and/or soft hand offs. Wesley House Community Center Childhelp, Inc. dba Childhelp Tennessee Families Free, Inc Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, Roane, Union, Scott, Sevier Center for Family Development Bedford, Davidson, Dickson, Giles, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Moore, Overton, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Warren, Williamson All 95 Advanced Therapy Solutions dba Allied Behavioral Health Solutions Project Return provides reentry assistance and workforce development to people returning from incarceration. Its primary focus is employment, the leading indicator of reentry success. All of its work is oriented toward job readiness, acquisition, advancement, and retention. This grant will allow the addition of programming centered around formerly incarcerated parents. Carter, Greene, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, Washington Family Center, Inc. Memphis CHILD focuses on 6 program outcomes including assisting families with housing issues including addressing rental code violations, accessing housing and utility assistance, and improving home conditions; representing families in personal and family court matters, including conservatorships, custody, powers of attorney, etc.; assist families in increasing income through legal or administrative action areas including Social Security Income (SSI), child support, alimony, etc.; providing education on, and advocating for, families to acquire a 504 plan or individualized education plan (IEP) for their children; significantly improve the health and well-being of families assisted by medical-legal or social work services; and finally, increase the knowledge and self-advocacy skills of client families. Dismas, Inc A Step Ahead Chattanooga Under TANF purpose area of providing assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives, Legal Aid Society (LAS) will provide family-focused solutions with comprehensive, free legal services. LAS proposes providing direct legal services and educational legal clinics which will facilitate increased economic stability for families so that housing, income, and other economic factors are maintained. With the proposed free legal services and educational clinics, low-income families will have the increased ability to care for children in their own homes. The new program will provide parenting and resource counseling to aid in teaching young parents while also helping them with job preparation, form goals for work and marriage, and prevention curriculum to reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies while also encouraging the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. The program will aim to improve economic security and well-being for low-income families through education and mentoring by fostering a strategic use of funds to serve each of the 4 TANF purposes. Crockett, Fayette, Hardeman, Haywood, Lauderdale, Madison, Tipton Bledsoe, Bradley, Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea, Sequatchie Morristown-Hamblen Child Care Centers Inc.; & Early Intervention YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South Porter-Leath Sullivan Cannon, Cheatham, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson, Wilson Helping Hands of Middle & West Tennessee Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee The First Steps to Self-Sufficiency and Kindergarten Readiness Program supports all four TANF purposes. Using a true Two-Generation approach, UETHDA's Head Start, and Community Services Programs will fight poverty. This collaborative effort, which provides Head Start families with education, economic support, social capital and improves their health and well-being, will create a regional culture where organizations join together to support educational, economic and health outcomes for a collective impact. Signal Centers will launch a program called Work Ready! to support TANF eligible parents, who have a high school education or HiSET, to gain paid internships and postsecondary education or training that will result in permanent employment in the licensed child care industry. The program would recruit TANF eligible parents to participate in a nine-month paid internship in an early childhood classroom while concurrently enrolling in postsecondary academic coursework or training in Early Childhood Education. Blount, Knox Helping Hands of Tennessee will enhance access to apprenticeship programming, targeted at low-income, single-parent households in the West Tennessee community, providing access to employment opportunities to create an effective pathway for economic opportunity for young families. Services also include access to needed supports such as child care, transportation, food and clothing needs of their families. The Family-Centered Employment Project takes a 2-Gen approach to improving economic mobility for Head Start parents and their children in six East Tennessee counties. A Project Director and six Mobility Coaches will implement the evidence-based EMPATH Economic Mobility Mentoring model, a strategy that simultaneously addresses five pillars critical to long-term self-sufficiency. Head Start will collaborate with Mobility Coaches to ensure that child needs are addressed at the same time as parent needs are being met. Employment and education/training coaching will focus on three high-demand sectors in the target area -- Health Care, Information Technology, and Early Childhood Education. Wesley House Community Center will work with families of the historically under-resourced communities of Mechanicsville, Lonsdale, and Beaumont. Through a holistic approach of affordable, accessible, and quality childcare services, family engagement, a free community store, and mobile food pantry, together it will address the TANF purposes to: 1. Provide assistance to needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives; 2. End the dependence of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage. Knoxville Academy of Medicine Foundation Angelic Ministries Cocke, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Monroe, Sevier YWCA Knoxville and the Tennessee Valley's project supports TANF Purpose 2, ending dependence of parents in need by promoting job preparation and work. The project will hire a full-time Project Coordinator to recruit eligible participants, assess their needs, establish goals, provide tangible support to relieve short-term problems, and help remove barriers so participants can successfully seek, obtain, and maintain living-wage employment. The Tennessee Community Resource Network (TCRN) will empower low-income families to attain economic self-sufficiency by improving access to quality healthcare and reducing disparities in health care utilization and outcomes. The Tennessee Community Resource Network is the only nonprofit program in the community that can provide low-barrier, universal access to health navigation and social services anyone residing in this community who struggles with health barriers regardless of income or insured status. The YMCA mobile workforce and childcare center will be deployed to West Tennessee counties to provide assistance with applying for and support needed to secure employment. Two recreational vehicles will be outfitted and equipped with seating, desks, laptop computers, a printer and Wi-Fi access in the front and an area built in the back for child care. Hardeman, Haywood, Madison Family-focused programs include Dream Streets Moms, the North Nashville After School Program, and the Student Program; all of which focus on building strong families by connecting them to education, employment, wraparound services, a support network, and vital tools for success. The overarching goal of the three aforementioned programs is to provide supports necessary at each life stage for marginalized Black families to overcome the effects of generational trauma and attain specialty and/or advanced education, secure meaningful employment in high-demand careers, reduce debt and build wealth, and achieve self-sufficiency. Goodwill Industries—Knoxville, Inc.’s Good Prospects program will support the TANF purpose of Economic Support: Increasing Economic Status & Stability. Utilizing it's four primary workforce development centers, located in Knoxville (2), Morristown and Oak Ridge it will provide vocational training, comprehensive case management and employment supports to individuals throughout a fifteen county service delivery area. Good Prospects will utilize evidenced-based practices and innovative service delivery and design in alignment with it's mission of changing lives and strengthening families by helping people reach their full potential through community-relevant job training, work experiences and career services. A Step Ahead Chattanooga’s (ASAC) Plan Ahead Program operates specifically to inform families and service providers about reversible birth control as a viable tool in successful life planning. The Plan Ahead Program focuses on Tennessee counties that have the highest percentage (25-30%) of women aged 20-44, with incomes less than 138% of the federal poverty level, who need publicly funded contraceptive services. The Generations Stronger program supports families with children under age 18 who are affected by the complex impact of socioeconomic deficits with a focus on harm reduction for families impacted by involvement in the justice system. Families have access to specific support and interventions addressing; income, education, employment, housing, health, mental health and trauma treatment. Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Giles, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Lawrence, Lewis, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Perry, Robertson, Rutherford, Stewart, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson, Wilson Porter-Leath's promotes job preparation, additional education, work, and marriage by using NEXT Memphis's existing network of supported child care centers to comprehensively serve children and families in a two-generational setting so that the family advances towards independence. Jefferson Dismas House takes applications from men releasing from state prisons and county jails throughout Tennessee. Dismas House provides a reentry program that improves the economic status and stability of returning citizens, specifically the non-custodial parent (NCP), and through programming they increase their financial empowerment and begin the process of providing support to their family. Grant funds will help improve the skills and abilities of the NCP by adding parenting and co-parenting skills classes, an additional case manager, and additional lifestyle improvement classes. Anderson, Cocke, Davidson, Giles, Hamilton, Jefferson, Maury, Monroe, Scott, Sevier, Sullivan, Williamson Davidson, Knox, Montgomery, Rutherford Cheatham, Dickson, Franklin, Lawrence, Jefferson, Scott, Clay, Cocke, Putnam, Sevier, Tipton, Weakley Catholic Charities of Tennessee Boys and Girls Clubs in Tennessee Signal Centers, Inc Bledsoe, Bradley, Hamilton, Grundy, Marion, Meigs, McMinn, Rhea, Polk, Sequatchie As part of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s (TBI) Dangerous Drugs Task Force (TDDTF), the Tennessee Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (TADEC) addresses the needs of children that live or are exposed to substance use, abuse, and/or manufacturing by bringing together a variety of disciplines from all over the state to leverage resources to ensure children are provided the services needed to be safe, happy, and healthy and grow into citizens engaged in their families and communities. Ancillary to this goal, the TADEC also works to connect parents and caregivers to services to work toward or keep them on a path to healthy, productive lifestyles with peaceful homes and perspicacious parenting. Tennessee Serves Neighbors is expanding the existing capacity of case management at 3 hub locations and creating 1 new location. Basic needs assistance is Tennessee Serves Neighbors foundational element, but the most important part of the program is one-on-one case management providing a mentor and coach for families to specifically address the TANF program purpose to end the dependence of needy parents on government assistance by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage. Bedford, Coffee, Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Marshall, Maury, Moore, Perry, Wayne The Shelter to Stability Program aims to lift women out of poverty by helping them find living wage jobs, which will reduce their dependence on government benefits. The program also provides them with life skills classes focused on parenting, financial independence, mental health and more. Anderson, Campbell, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Roane, Scott The Launch Point initiative partners with local industry in Rutherford County to help families move to self-sufficiency by offering wraparound services to remove barriers to families obtaining and maintaining living wage employment. This model would use Success Coaches embedded within local industry and focus on individual assistance by providing assistance for childcare, housing, mental health services, medical services, transportation, and other basic needs. This program will work hand in hand with local employers to not only form a safety net in times of crisis, but also to offer financial empowerment resources and connections to post-secondary education to help families thrive. Through the "Connected Tennessee" Program, Boys and Girls Club Professionals will provide and connect youth and families to mental health support services, as well as supportive services that will build the social capital for families to support propelling them toward upward economic mobility. YWCA Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia dba YWCA NETN and SWVA Douglas-Cherokee Economic Authority, Inc. Eagle's Nest provides family centered workshops and services in individual and group settings (in-person and virtually) utilizing an evidence-based curriculum, recognized by SAMHSA along with Individual/Group/Family Therapy and Psychodrama (Social Family Case Studies - Simulations). In addition, parenting classes and substance abuse services are provided. Eagles Nest - Parenting Socially teaches parents of children and adolescents culturally competent parenting skills in an entertaining, efficient manner that strengthens the family unit by assisting families so that children can be cared for in their own homes or in the homes of relatives. Bradley, Hamilton All 95 counties Families Free is a community resource for system-involved individuals, and Families Free would like to add an additional layer of intervention by creating a space where it can foster initiative and provide support. This program will be an enhancement of the current treatment, parenting, and co-occurring services that the client is already receiving at Families Free. This new programming will focus on the 2-gen approach by looking directly at the children’s goals and parental attunement to the needs of the child while the parents are achieving their own goals of sobriety, employment, and housing. Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands YWCA Knoxville and the Tennessee Valley Bedford, Coffee, Marshall, Maury, Montgomery, Putnam, Roberston, Smith Knox Hamblen Cannon, Rutherford Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Madison, McNairy, Weakley Eagle's Nest of Gastonia Bedford, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Franklin, Giles, Grundy, Hickman, Jackson, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Macon, Marshall, Maury, Moore, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Putnam, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne, White, Wilson East Tennessee State University Goodwill Industries--Knoxville, Inc. Childhelp seeks to re-imagine and implement a relative care service program as a pilot for the State of Tennessee helping to reduce abuse, neglect, mental stressors and ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) resulting in better educational, emotional, mental and physical health. The Opening Doors Pilot Project builds upon an established partnership between Methodist Le Bonheur Community Outreach and Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) that has served Methodist Le Bonheur Community Outreach home visitation clients and families over the past four years. Opening Doors will pilot an expanded "flexible menu" of four free services that families can access when in need or when they are ready, including: housing navigation, career training and certification opportunities in the Community Health Worker (CHW) and/or the green housing/environmental services fields, job placement support; and The Family Foundations program, an evidence-based model for training new parents in the skills necessary for successful co-parenting of children. Knox United Way of the Mid-South In order to address the needs of children and families in West Tennessee and mitigate the impacts of chronic poverty and toxic stress, the United Way of West Tennessee engages eight Family Champions. The Family Champions will provide family coaching and trainings, referrals for resources (i.e. - social services for basic needs, physical and mental health care, etc.), and connections to employment and continuing education opportunities for members of the household. In addition to providing referrals for these resources and opportunities, the Family Champions will connect each adult who is served with the Financial Empowerment Center for at least one financial coaching session. This program provides 300 "Diapers for Diplomas" diaper scholarships each academic year for parenting students enrolled at any Middle TN Community College or TN College of Applied Technology. Provides tangible support (free diapers) to encourage postsecondary education enrollment, persistence and completion. YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee Fayette, Hardeman, Haywood, Lauderdale, Shelby, Tipton Hamilton Angelic Ministries' Families in Crisis Program provides donation services of vital resources such as groceries, hygiene products, clothing, and footwear to families in need. This grant helps to further expand this Program to incorporate novel key components such as life skills training, workforce training and development, case management, Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) referral services, financial literacy, and academic advising. The expansion, called the Family Renewal Initiative (FRI), offers targeted interventions such as providing food security, clothing & household good needs, job/life skills training, education training and academic advising, and other supportive services empower individuals and families, foster economic mobility, and enhance community resilience. Resilient Families is a long-term case management program that seeks to support and empower low income families in obtaining increased income, economic security, education, health and well-being, self-sufficiency and social capital through a Two-Generation, family-centered approach. Family Coaches assist families in identifying and removing barriers in order for them to meet their goals, connecting them to community resources, and providing opportunities for families to engage in programming that promotes and supports their family directed goals. Chattanooga Room at the Inn UWMS will expand and enhance Driving The Dream, an evidence-based, coordinated system of care through which low-income families are seamlessly connected to a comprehensive network of services which, when delivered in tandem, move families to greater economic security. By facilitating, coordinating and “driving” access to those family-determined services, DTD aligns with a key TANF objective; ending the dependence of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage. United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties Mid-Cumberland Community Action Agency Shelby This program provides eligible low-income families up to thirty (30) days emergency housing, rent or mortgage payment support to prevent homelessness. This support allows the family to remain together while their situation stabilizes and promotes the parent(s) ability to engage with the career services program, as well other programs at Operation Stand Down Tennessee or elsewhere in the community their case manager may identify during the intake process. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Youth Villages, Inc. West Nashville Dream Center (Dream Streets) The Center for family Development provides outreach, case management, and referral services to targeted Connecting Generations Program families in our 12-counties, focusing the first year on Wayne, Perry, Lawrence and Giles counties. Through the Families First Community Grant funding Connecting Generations Program would be able to increase it's caregiving families’ linkage to needed resources such as job readiness training, affordable and improved housing, childcare and other caregiver/parenting resources. Greene, Hawkins, Hancock, Sullivan, Unicoi, Washington Campbell, Claiborne, Fentress, Knox, Loudon, Meigs, Morgan, Roane, Scott, Union Youth Villages proposes two types of services, intensive in-home services and transition-age youth services, both of which directly relate to the first two goals of TANF. These programs will work with parents to set goals and build skills related to meeting their family's basic needs, including assessing employment, education, transportation, and other areas to help parents get on the path to long-term self-sufficiency. Davidson, Hamilton Hamilton Since 1898, YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee has helped families increase their economic security through safety, social support, education, and employment opportunities. The YWCA strengthens the whole family through the following five programs: The Weaver Domestic Violence Center. AMEND Together, The Family Learning Center, Dress for Success, and Girls Inc. Partnership for Families, Children, and Adults Upper East Tennessee Human Development Agency Girls Inc. of Chattanooga Davidson Methodist Le Bonheur Community Outreach (Opening Doors Pilot Project) The Family Center’s Families Together program will increase program delivery to serve 160+ families annually more intensively, with a strong focus on families with an incarcerated parent who anticipate re-entry into the family and community. It will implement intensive family coaching; a case-management approach to help parents/children navigate challenges prior to and upon reunification; assist adults with reentry back into homes, employment, and the general community; provide focused workshops and other opportunities/events to increase connections between clients (enhancing their ability to become advocates and ambassadors, create self-sufficiency, and build social capital); and a Peer Mentor program to build support, peer coaching, and provide leadership opportunities for parents. Jefferson County Connects will develop a 4 pathway approach to support Jefferson County's children and families. Pathways include t a) sustain a current school-based behavioral health liaison program b) develop an early childhood liaison position to support Head Start/ Early Head Start and licensed childcare providers c) establish the Jefferson County Connects Collective Impact Project and d) development and use of central referral for community resources to decrease use of mobile crisis and promote family cohesion and community engagement. Nashville Diaper Connection Operation Stand Down Tennessee Methodist Le Bonheur Community Outreach (Memphis CHILD) The Healthy Careers Initiative is a partnership between East Tennessee State University and various health care providers in the ten counties of southeast Tennessee. The goal of the grant is to increase the number of entry-level positions with partner health care companies using as a target population individuals who have low-incomes. The grant project will target Families First (TANF) clients, persons that receive Free and Reduced Lunch, SNAP beneficiaries and occupants of low-income housing.