Tennessee AmeriCorps Programs

For the 2023-24 program year,  Volunteer Tennessee is funding 18 Tennessee AmeriCorps programs which will enable more than 800 AmeriCorps. members to meet critical needs for over 41,000 people across Tennessee.  Most of these programs focus on children and youth through mentoring, tutoring, and in-class teaching. Information on additional National Services Programs can be found here.

 

East Tennessee

Appalachia CARES – Clinch-Powell RC&DC: Rutledge/various sites across TN

Appalachia CARES is a community-based service-learning program. AmeriCorps members provide direct service to communities through primary focus areas of energy efficiency, conservation, and housing services throughout the state. As a secondary focus, they also expand the organizational capacity of participating agencies by expanding services, increasing outreach, and recruiting and/or managing community volunteers.           

Contact: Trenna Brown                                  Email: appalachiacares@clinchpowell.net

Phone: 423-620-3456                                     Website: www.clinchpowell.net/content/appalachia-cares

Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness: Johnson City area

Appalachian Regional Coalition of Homelessness AmeriCorps members aim to reduce homelessness by providing a combination of housing and social services in the Appalachia region of east Tennessee.

Contact: Anne Cooper                                                Email: anne@appalachianhomeless.org

Phone: 423-218-4090                                     Website: www.appalachianhomeless.org

CAC AmeriCorps – Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee: Knoxville

As Tennessee’s only environmental corps, CAC AmeriCorps combines elements of traditional conservation practice with community action that informs their work and places it in the broader context of the region.

CAC AmeriCorps members serve to improve public lands, streams, and greenways; educate the public; meet immediate human needs through disaster response; and build the volunteer capacity of partner organizations.

Contact: Jason Scott                                       Email: jason.scott@knoxcac.org

Phone: 865-546-3500                                     Website: www.cacamericorps.org

TCACCommunity Cares – Tennessee’s Community Assistance Corp.: Morristown/various sites across TN

Community Cares is a multi-focus program that addresses important problems communities of poverty face, including helping seniors and people with disabilities live independently; preparing and distributing food for people in need; and providing youth engagement services to disadvantage youth under 18 years of age.

Contact: Rebecca Grubb                                 Email: rebecca@tcac1.org

Phone: 423-586-7636 ext. 310                       Website: www.tcac1.org

Project Inspire – Public Education Foundation: Chattanooga

Project Inspire is a teacher residency that attracts and prepares aspiring teachers through a year-long, real-world experience in the classroom.  Members will serve 5 days a week throughout the entire school year at select host sites, and members will also earn a graduate degree (M.A.T.) through the 14-month program at Lee University.

Contact: Mark Neal                                     Email: MNeal@pefchattanooga.org

Phone: 423-668-2425                                     Website: www.projectinspiretn.org

Emerald Youth FoundationT.E.A.M. – Emerald Youth Foundation: Knoxville

T.E.A.M. AmeriCorps members serve urban young people by leading structured afterschool and summer day camp activities (academic, enrichment, leadership, health activities, and mentoring) alongside the staff of a faith-based organization. The goal is to see young people become contributing leaders and live a full life.

Contact: Rachel Davis                                    Email: rdavis@emeraldyouth.org

Phone: 865-637-3227 ext. 112                       Website: www.emeraldyouth.org      

Middle Tennessee

Hands On Nashville II – Hands On Nashville

Hands On Nashville (HON) builds capacity for individuals and agencies to meet needs through volunteerism.  Its AmeriCorps program honors that work by engaging members in yearlong terms of service with HON and its community partners.  Member activities include stream restoration, environmental education, volunteer project management, disaster response planning, sustainability education, urban canopy care, and community outreach.

Contact: Megan Spencer                                 Email: mspencer@hon.org

Phone: 615-298-1108 ext. 409                       Website: www.hon.org

Relay New Teacher Pathway – Relay Graduate School of Education: Nashville and Memphis

AmeriCorps members participate in the innovative teacher preparation program, the Relay New Teacher Pathway, in Nashville and Memphis. AmeriCorps members will be prepared and certified to serve as teachers of record, and the 3,000 economically disadvantaged K-12 students they teach will demonstrate improved academic performance, better attitudes about school, and improved behavior and classroom engagement.

Contact: Kristal Wimberly                             Email: kwimberly@relay.edu

Phone: 917-753-6716                                     Website: www.relay.edu

South Cumberland Plateau AmeriCorps Program – University of the South: Sewanee

The South Cumberland Plateau AmeriCorps Program focuses on improving food security, financial stability and access to substance abuse prevention and treatment through asset-based community development in partnership with community-based organizations across the South Cumberland Plateau in rural southeast Tennessee.

Contact: Ashley Cheaves                                Email: aecheave@sewanee.edu

Phone: 423-240-9778                                     Website: www.sewanee.edu

Teach For America – Nashville-Chattanooga

Teach For America believes that all children deserve the opportunity to attain an excellent education. They recruit, train, and place outstanding teacher leaders into classrooms serving low-income children throughout Davidson and Hamilton County.  

Contact: David Baird                                      Email: david.baird@teachforamerica.org

Phone:423-618-8098                                      Website: https://www.teachforamerica.org/nashville-chattanooga

THRIVE – Martha O’Bryan Center: Nashville

Martha O’Bryan AmeriCorps members serve in one of five program areas: K-8 Youth Education, High School Education, Post-Secondary Success and Digital Inclusion, Adult Education, and Family Support. Members build relationships, tutor, teach, plan curriculum and enrichments, and perform community outreach and engagement.

Contact:  Josie Mueller                                    Email: jmueller@marthaobryan.org

Phone: 925-726-5249                                      Website: www.marthaobryan.org

West Tennessee

Bridge Builders Expansion – BRIDGES USA, Inc.: Memphis

BRIDGES' mission is to unite and inspire diverse youth to become confident and courageous leaders committed to community transformation.  Bridge Builders Expansion addresses key needs facing Memphis area youth in grades 6-12 through experiential learning and the facilitation of the Bridge Builders curriculum that targets low academic performance and graduation rates, low rates of cultural competency, and low rates of opportunity for meaningful civic engagement.

Contact: Tosca Nance-Jones                           Email: tnancejones@bridgesusa.org

Phone: 901-260-3790                                     Website: www.bridgesusa.org

City Year Memphis – City Year, Inc.: Memphis

City Year Memphis aims to increase graduation rates and change the lives of their students by bridging the gap in high-poverty communities between the support that students actually need and what their schools are designed and resourced to provide.  AmeriCorps members will provide whole school services to approximately 1,500 students and individualized services to 420 students in five Memphis public schools.

Contact: Hannah (Perrin) McFarland                         Email: EPerrin@cityyear.org

Phone: 310-266-3280                                      Website: www.cityyear.org

GenerationsPorter-LeathCorCoCorweijogbn  – Porter-Leath: Memphis

Generations AmeriCorps members will increase school readiness by providing educational enrichment activities for Porter-Leath Early Childhood students in the agency's Head Start centers in Memphis and Shelby County. The AmeriCorps members will also leverage over 120 additional volunteers that will be engaged in literacy initiatives throughout the same centers.

Contact: Judy Rautine                                     Email: jrautine@porterleath.org

Phone: 901-577-2500 ext. 1128                     Website: www.porterleath.org

Impact America - Tennessee: Memphis/various sites across TN

Impact America - Tennessee AmeriCorps members will implement substantive service-learning projects related to health and economic opportunity in 26 TN counties, primarily around Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.  AmeriCorps members will provide free vision screenings for 21,000 young children, with follow-up care for those failing the screening, and prepare tax returns for 2,000 low-income households.  AmeriCorps members will leverage 90 additional volunteers in conducting vision screenings at hundreds of childcare centers and assisting with free tax preparation at 4 IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites managed by Impact America.

Contact: Melanie Rhodes                               Email: mrhodes@impactamerica.com

Phone: 855-459-1923                                     Website: www.impactamerica.com

LiteracyCorps - Literacy Mid-South: Memphis

Literacy Mid-South supports learners of all backgrounds and ages in Memphis and the Mid-South. Members will serve Mid-Southerners through three opportunities: supporting K-5 students in after-school spaces, supporting K-5 students in summer programming spaces, and leading English-language classes with Literacy Mid-South's adult learning program.

Contact: Johnny Blount                                  Email: jblount@literacymidsouth.org

Phone: 901-236-3348                                     Website: www.literacymidsouth.org

Memphis Teacher Residency: Memphis

Memphis Teacher Residency (MTR) recruits outstanding leaders as co-teachers for Memphis' most academically-challenged public schools.  MTR’s mission is to positively impact student achievement in Memphis urban schools by recruiting, training and supporting outstanding teachers.  All AmeriCorps members are placed in Memphis' Title I schools that have an enrollment that is more than 50% Free or Reduced-Price Lunch assisted.

Contact: Suzanne Oates                                  Email:  suzanne@memphistr.org

Phone: 901-937-4683                                     Website: www.MemphisTR.org

Teach For America: Memphis

Teach For America believes that all children deserve the opportunity to attain an excellent education. They recruit, train, and place outstanding teacher leaders into classrooms serving low-income children throughout Memphis and Shelby County.  

Contact: Monique Newson                             Email: Monique.Newson@teachforamerica.org

Phone: 508-641-8233                                      Website: memphis.teachforamerica.org