After a great deal of hard work and collaboration from TN DHS employees, other agencies, and a multitude of partners, I am thrilled to announce the official launch of the Tennessee Opportunity Pilot Initiative (TOPI). This is an ambitious and revolutionary approach to transforming Tennessee's safety net and removing barriers to self-sufficiency for all Tennesseans.
TOPI’s mission includes taking on the challenge of poverty, transforming Tennessee’s social safety net, and creating a path to prosperity for all Tennesseans, and we know this important goal cannot be accomplished alone. Alongside state leadership and the Families First Community Advisory Board, we’ve created even more impressive and powerful partnerships, which include nonprofit organizations and other sectors across the entire state. Together, we will carry out TOPI’s impactful and historical mission.
I want to extend my sincere gratitude for all who have assisted in making TOPI a reality. Please join us as we pioneer new territory and a program that can be successfully replicated from state-to-state to provide support, education, and guidance for all. And, most importantly, a path to prosperity.
Sincerely,
Commissioner Clarence H. Carter
Tennessee Department of Human Services
Tennessee Opportunity Pilot Initiative (TOPI) will help individuals, families, and the state of Tennessee by creating a new vision for the state’s social safety net, helping low-income families grow beyond their vulnerabilities and reduce their dependence on state services.
TOPI is unique and elevated because of our collaborations with varying sectors across the entire state of Tennessee – from businesses, churches, and other state agencies to universities and philanthropic organizations. Working together and investing in our local and state-wide communities is imperative to making positive shifts, transforming lives, and creating a path to prosperity for all.
Providing the economic engine to help propel individuals and families forward.
Offering support and hope for a brighter future.
Investing in long-term solutions, supporting community programs, and impacting lives.
Providing the educational key to personal and professional success for upward mobility.
Administering an array of services from training and expertise to food and temporary shelter.
Ensuring the effective, efficient functions of all programs across Tennessee.
Collaborating to combat poverty and remove barriers for families across the state.
The Growing Relational and Occupational Wealth for West Tennessee Households (GROWWTH) program, led by the University of Memphis is helping West Tennessee families build a path to economic stability. Backed by the Tennessee Opportunity Pilot Initiative Implementation Grant and by also partnering with CAEL’s Build Better Careers initiative, GROWWTH is providing local, holistic support tailored to low-income households.
Through GROWWTH Academy, participants receive career training, transportation and child care assistance, and wraparound wellness support. Most participants are mothers—many of them single parents—working to advance their careers and financial literacy. Free access to industry-aligned training, including courses from Build Better Careers partner BankWork$, opens new career pathways in banking and healthcare.
Last year, GROWWTH launched “Money Management in May,” a financial wellness series offering milestone incentives for completing lessons on budgeting, debt, and savings. A follow-up series, “12 Days of Wellness,” drew over 450 participants, with 326 receiving a stipend for completing sessions focused on financial and personal well-being.
By combining education, coaching, and employer engagement, GROWWTH and Build Better Careers are helping Tennessee families gain lasting financial strength and career momentum.
GROWWTH program’s partnership with MyCityRides provides affordable scooter transportation to GROWWTH participants. Through this collaboration, eligible participants can purchase a scooter at 20% of its cost, significantly enhancing their mobility and access to employment opportunities.
This partnership is part of GROWWTH's broader mission to eliminate barriers to economic advancement for low-income families in West Tennessee. By addressing transportation challenges, the program supports participants in achieving greater financial stability and career success.
Amanda is a single mom who was barely getting by, with little hopes for a change in circumstance…until Amanda enrolled in Our Chance TN, a TOPI Grantee organization, supported by The Martha O’Bryan Center. As the daughter of an addict and a previously jailed highschool dropout, Amanda saw little hope for a bright future. But, while incarcerated, someone told her she was smart and that she mattered. This was the first time Amanda had ever been told these things – she was given hope and confidence. With that hope and confidence, she found and joined Our Chance TN where she has been provided not only more confidence, but the opportunities, support and guidance she needed to concentrate on her goals and dreams. She is in college to become a Medical Coder and Biller, and looking forward to a very bright future. ~ Our Chance has changed my life.
Previous struggles to find support, training, and quality employment, while also being a mom of six, caused Temica to nearly give up. But, in her never-ending determination to support her family in the best ways possible, she sought assistance from the GROWWTH program, a TOPI partner supported by the University of Memphis. GROWWTH’s accelerated workforce readiness program and resources funded the necessary training Temica needed to work and receive her certification as a Pharmacy Technician and Phlebotomist. As a GROWWTH participant, Temica also received notifications about jobs listings, continuing education, and assistance for housing and utilities. These opportunities led her to a new job as a Pharmacy Tech, and her future is so much brighter now.
~ GROWWTH gave me a lot of confidence.
Two years ago, Ronnisha was working toward stability and a master’s degree with support from the East Tennessee Collaborative (ETC) and the TOPI Grant. Today, she’s a proud MBA graduate, finally seeing her hard work and dedication payoff.
Ronnisha, now Program Director at SEEED Knoxville, created a curriculum focused on mental health and growth. Her leadership has led to program expansion and new initiatives, allowing her to better serve her community.
Her mentorship is making waves, and beyond that with encouragement from her ETC mentor, Ronnisha is exploring a PhD and working toward homeownership. “So much has changed. I’m grateful for where I am and the support that got me here.”
“It’s been a long journey, and I’m really proud of myself,” she says. “The support I had made a huge difference.”
Previously homeless, in debt, and living away from their two children, these two are now thriving – caring for their kids, working, paying off their debt, and they even contribute to a 401k! In Knox County, 40 percent of families are unable to access basic needs on their income alone; this was Dylan and Savannah’s experience. But, through mentorship, career planning, and financial incentives, they’ve found the support they need to thrive. Now, when they talk about the future, their shoulders are no longer tense nor are their hearts filled with anxiety. Thanks, in part, to programs put in place by TOPI partners and their programs, Dylan and Savannah now understand how to plan for the future, for unforeseen circumstances, and they have the support and guidance they always needed. Now when thinking about the future, all they envision are possibilities.
East Tennessee Collaborative, supported by United Way of Greater Knoxville, another trusted TOPI partner
~ Don’t consider joining ETC, just go do it.