Statements

Mission

Providing survivors of interpersonal violence and their children safe, accessible and compassionate housing with individualized care that promotes healing, autonomy and hope.

Background

The Mary Parrish Center has provided a full array of no-cost, comprehensive services to over 10,000 survivors of interpersonal violence including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and/or human trafficking. Born out of a need identified by advocates in the community, we spent our first seven years assisting victims with the Order of Protection process and providing support for their next steps.

In 2009, after years of frustration attempting to help survivors find safe, affordable housing, we took on the challenge and developed a program dedicated to providing transitional housing. Our Transitional Housing Program offers safe, individual apartments as well as a wide range of flexible and optional support services including clinical therapy, emergency financial assistance, housing advocacy, enrichment activities and case management. Our survivor-focused program enhances our residents' autonomy by nurturing their capacity to live independently from their abusers, establish self-sufficiency and secure permanent housing. Since 2009, we have served more than 300 survivors and their children in our transitional housing program.

In 2019, The Mary Parrish Center was granted funding from The US Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop new programming: a Rapid Re-housing Program, a joint Transitional Housing/Rapid Re-housing Program and a coordinated entry Process specific to the confidential needs of survivors of interpersonal violence. These programs were implemented in the summer of 2019 and have been a great success increasing the number of survivors we've served exponentially.

Impact

Over the past two years we have completed two phases of our property renovation project. These phases included all exterior and common area renovation including a new roof, painting the exterior of our building, replacing the decking which covers the entire courtyard where residents access entry to their apartments, upgraded security measures, and full gut renovations of our ten apartment units.

Our board continues to work on internal restructuring, launching several new committees in 2019 including the development committee which has been invaluable in improving our current fund-raising efforts and launching our new fund-raising efforts. We have focused efforts on individual donor cultivation by holding our 5th anniversary luncheon fundraiser last year and continuing a series of events targeting the cultivation of major donors.

Additionally, in July and August 2019, with significant funding from HUD, we implemented new programming including a joint transitional housing/rapid re-housing program, a rapid re-housing program and, a coordinated entry process specific to the confidential needs of survivors of interpersonal violence.

Our top strategic initiatives for the upcoming year are highly concentrated on program sustainability and awareness. The Mary Parrish Center has been providing services to interpersonal violence survivors in our community for more than 20 years. Over the last year, The Mary Parrish Center has seen its most significant growth since its inception. Our goal in the next year is to strengthen the foundation of the organization physically and financially so we can continue to provide the housing and support services for at least another 20 years.

We plan to strengthen our programs and services for the long term by:

1) Renovating our offices. Survivors reside in apartments at our cluster style housing site where our offices are also located. This property was built in the 60s and purchased by The Mary Parrish Center in 2015. Two years ago, we completed an exterior renovation to the property completing much needed repairs and updates to making the property as stable and safe as possible. We focused on using materials and styles which would be self-sustaining over a longer term. This year we completed total renovations on our 10 apartment units. Now that these two initial phases are complete, we have secured funding to begin renovating our onsite office space. Our intent is the same. We will use materials and design with the purpose of longevity and comfort.

2) Developing our major gifts program, ensuring the financial stability of the organization. Much of our funding has been granted through governmental entities. While we hope to always sustain the funding provided by these grants, we also realize changes in political and economic climates can limit this type of funding. In an effort to insulate The Mary Parrish Center from these types of downturns, we have strategic fundraising efforts targeted at attracting private donors and organizations for support.

3) Increasing awareness regarding interpersonal violence and The Mary Parrish Center's role in the community to provide housing and support services which alleviate barriers helping survivors escape unsafe environments. While we do have marketing in place, we are currently developing a more focused plan utilizing social media, community events and strategic partnerships to help increase this initiative effectiveness.

Needs

1) Develop and implement a Communications Plan to increase visibility and awareness. 2) Create community partnerships to leverage resources needed to serve survivors of domestic and sexual violence. 3) Increase individual donor database. 4) Implement focused strategies to effectively reach and serve survivors from traditionally underserved populations.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Human Services  - Victims' Services
Secondary Category:	Housing, Shelter  - Temporary Housing
Tertiary Category:	Mental Health & Crisis Intervention  - Sexual Assault Services

Areas Served

The Mary Parrish Center serves survivors and their children in the greater Nashville-Davidson County Metro Area.

TN - Davidson