Statements
Mission
Our mission is to build a community where everyone can thrive.
The Branch of Nashville helps culturally diverse, under-resourced families in Southeast Nashville work toward self-sufficiency through food support, English language education, and referrals. Through community partnerships, we overcome socioeconomic, religious, political, and cultural divisions to assist neighbors in need.
Whether we are teaching English as a second language, cooking meals to feed volunteers, or stocking our food pantry shelves, everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Our community gives people what they need to thrive spiritually, emotionally, and materially.
Background
Formerly called Southeast Nashville Recovery, we managed the flood repair of over 300 homes. We started in the Southeast Nashville area and, as other organizations ceased to exist, we rose to the top along with two others to finish the flood repair at the direction of Hands on Nashville. Eventually we branched into other areas of Nashville as need was indicated. Once this work was completed, we evaluated how we might use our current relationships, systems, and partners to further serve our community. Area surveys and research indicated a need for a good food pantry in the area. Southeast Nashville Recovery ceased to exist and birthed The Branch. We opened in April of 2013 and began providing food support to area families in need. Our goal has always been to meet the need in front of us and let it lead us to the other places that we should go. We have always emphasized the desire to find long-term solutions to needs. It did not take long to evaluate the needs of the population coming to us. With 80% of our guests being immigrants, we found a huge language barrier. Surveying our guests, we found their number 1 and 2 needs to be jobs and English. Many of our guests are underemployed and this is often due to the language issue. Therefore, The Branch offers English language learning classes in levels beginner to advanced, both in-person and online four days per week. Assisting individuals with the issues that brought them to us - a need for food and/or to learn English - is a good way to strengthen lives, family, and eventually community. Because we all need each other and no one is an island, it matters that we care and give of ourselves and time to get into the space of our neighbors with solutions.
Impact
Since our start as a Food Pantry in 2013, The Branch has provided food support for thousands of families, conducted English classes and assisted others to find work. We have worked from starting with a handful of partnerships to having more than 65 partners at present. We have built systems to help us assist 1200 families per month with food needs. The flexibility of English Language Learning in every level with classes during the day, in the evening, and online provides more options to the community. We have employed clients of our programs, giving them opportunity to earn money and decrease their needs for assistance. Our goals for the next year: Volunteer Strength-increase volunteer base to include volunteers from among those we serve; Financial Strength-forge new relationships of support, strengthen monthly support base, create social enterprise; Empowerment-alongside our clients and volunteers, create systems, thoughts, processes that move people to places of sustainability; to deepen relationships and support networks.
Needs
There are challenges in our current location as we fit a pantry and ESL classes into a gymnasium that also supports a youth program. We are open to creative solutions for our space needs.
Monthly, individual, and corporate funding will allow us to continue the important relief work we are doing in our food assistance program and long term solutions that are provided by teaching English to adult learners. These are both equally important yet addressing different needs. Fresh Solutions is our forward-thinking new approach to doing better. Fresh Solutions recognizes that it takes more than food, and that long term sustainability for individuals comes by digging deep and addressing root issues that may keep barriers in place.
This new approach goes alongside our current services and looks ahead to better opportunities and pathways. We need partners who will join us in this effort to create access to systems that help everyone thrive.
CEO Statement
The Branch has a Christian-based foundation and brings many partners together from different avenues and walks to serve community together. We serve our guests with deep compassion, and we try to help them as they assimilate into our American culture. Self-sufficiency is their goal and we try to help them with resources or language or guidance to build those bridges. The largest work we do is to the international population (though not limited to this). We serve every single person who walks through our door with joy and love. We believe every person is created in the image of God and deserves the respect that comes because of this. We do not discriminate based on religion or race or any other perceived barrier. We are here for our community with open arms. We consider it a great privilege to welcome the immigrant, refugee, or American-born individual who is having a hard time. These encounters give us opportunity to assist and affect the futures of many of our community's children.
Board Chair Statement
The Branch started at a grass-roots level with people who were in the community seeing needs and wanting to meet them. Bringing many great ideas, minds, and perspectives together is a beautiful work of art and presents great challenges in walking together. Working with volunteers is unique, wonderful, and challenging. While multiplying our own heart and efforts, volunteers are not paid staff and cannot be treated as such. They enjoy and deserve appreciation and recognition. It takes intention and concentration to do this. Managing volunteers well is a skill gained and honed over time. Finding what they enjoy and thrive at doing, can take them and our organization to another level of success. This is hard work and worth doing. Working with financial challenges can be exhausting at times. The need to provide services and meet needs must be tempered with our ability to actually meet them. At times, the bottom line is the determining factor and we have to 'let go' of our inability to help someone or solve a problem. Deciding how to allocate funds and which screaming baby gets the milk, can be difficult. In the past, a lack of funding inspired the creativity of a food drive program. Creative thinking is critical and valuable to managing these situations. The family who came by one day and needed food and we just happened to be in their path - then ended up serving in the pantry on a weekly basis, is why we do what we do. The people who come in and look hopeless and leave smiling are why we do what we do. The laughter we generate in the crowd of people who have valid reasons to feel like hope is elusive-that laughter is good medicine and makes our job worthwhile. The people we serve have genuinely difficult and complicated situations. It is a pleasure to help them try to find their way. When they come back to tell us they found a job or speak to us in the English they have learned or invite us to their home, we know we are succeeding. Eliminating despair and hopelessness and invisibility and putting real action in place that can change lives and families is what drives us. Putting action to our faith is our mantra. Because, faith without works is dead. Managing the needs of people in need, volunteers helping, and limited finances are our challenges. The man who was an interpreter for the US Army and is making a safer, new life for his family of 6, is why we do this. The hope he feels because we are helping him pursue job leads, learn better English, and figure out how to become self-sufficient is the reason we are here. When he invites us to his home and considers that we are now his family, that is just a bonus. That is how we strengthen and build community.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Food, Agriculture & Nutrition - Food Banks, Food Pantries |
| Secondary Category: | Education - Adult Education |
| Tertiary Category: | Religion- Related - Christianity |
Areas Served
The Branch mainly serves residents of Antioch and southern Davidson County with food assistance, but no one with need is turned away. The Branch works with refugee organizations to provide culturally appropriate food for refugees and immigrants with emergent food needs in Davidson and Rutherford counties. ELL has in person, hybrid, and video classes available to anyone, including students in other states and countries.
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Williamson |
