Statements
Mission
Monroe Harding's mission is changing young people's lives.
Monroe Harding's vision is to be a healing community where youth and families make meaningful change so hope, not past trauma, is the heartbeat of their future.
Monroe Harding's cause is to ensure that foster care youth and other vulnerable young people build a solid foundation of strengths that position them for success in adulthood.
Background
Since its establishment in 1893, Monroe Harding has adapted to meet the needs of children and young adults. We provide services to children and teens in foster care, young adults aging out of care, and vulnerable young adults. More than 16,000 people have been served by Monroe Harding.
Our team of social service professionals, volunteers, and community partners form a stable family, providing essential resources for Homes, Healing, and Opportunities that are vital to success. We find homes for foster care children whose birth parents are trying to improve their ability to care for them. Our supportive families create a sense of normalcy, with 24/7 assistance from Monroe Harding. "Home" for our children is a safe place with care, where they develop life skills, make educational progress, and participate in enriching experiences.
We step in to end a cycle of hopelessness and homelessness for young adults. In addition to emotional development, our residents need daily living skills to thrive as adults. Through informal one-on-one and small group instruction, we teach life skills like following a budget, shopping for food, caring for clothing, and improving hygiene habits. Our young people have experienced trauma - from abuse, neglect, and criminal victimization. They have also internalized negative messages about the world. They need emotional and behavioral health support services. We provide the resources needed for healing, with coaches who therapeutically challenge negative behaviors and with therapists who address past traumas. Healthy attachments are strengthened by extracurricular activities, creating positive memories and a sense of normalcy. Other offerings include academic education, workforce development, financial literacy, and social skills development.
Our inclusive academic program is also offered to those with learning disabilities and alternate learning styles. Our high school diploma, HiSET, college success, and professional certification programs help young adults earn academic credentials that unlock doors to rewarding careers. Our financial literacy program helps participants learn to manage money, obtain banking system experience, and acquire assets.
Monroe Harding's team includes many partners: United Way, Centerstone, Crossroads Campus, DCS, DHS, The Maddox Fund, Dollar General Literacy Foundation, Foster Forward, HCA Foundation, Junior League of Nashville, Publix Charities, Regions Bank, Ticket to Dream, and US Bank.
Impact
Monroe Harding is the only agency in Middle Tennessee providing a comprehensive continuum of services from birth to age 26. During FY 2023 Monroe Harding impacted the lives of Middle Tennesseans by:
-Serving a total of 394 unique individuals (children, adolescents, and young adults).
-Receiving support from 600+ community members.
-Engaging 310 young adults in personal development, education, financial management, and employment programs through Monroe Harding's resource center.
-Providing safe, affordable housing for 68 vulnerable young adults while they worked to achieve educational and vocational goals.
-Ensuring that 113 children, teens, and young adults received clinical emotional/behavioral health support.
-Supporting 34 certified foster families who provided safe loving homes for 75 children and teenagers.
-Celebrating the graduations of 17 young people from secondary and post-secondary educational programs.
-Providing 30,610 nights of safe sleep for children, teenagers, and young adults.
Needs
As we continue our care for children, teens, and young adults, we seek supportive non-governmental funding, community partners, volunteers, and additional resources. Together we can remove more of the barriers in young people's pathways to successful adulthood. With this support, Monroe Harding can implement more programs and services and improve existing ones. This allows more young people to experience education, training, and preparation opportunities needed to embark on career paths that lead to continual advancement and economic self-sufficiency.
Volunteers are critical in the upkeep of programs' physical spaces, as mentors offering job shadowing and internship opportunities to young adults. We need more foster parents to provide temporary homes to teens and sibling groups who are unable to live with their birth families for a variety of reasons. We welcome individuals with business acumen and a passion for our work to serve on our board, committees, and teams. For years, Monroe Harding relied primarily on government grants and churches for its funding needs. In addition to these vital partners, we also know that to serve more youth and achieve better outcomes, we need to raise significant dollars from other sources including individuals, corporations, and foundations.
CEO Statement
For over 130 years, Monroe Harding has been committed to changing young people's lives. Our mission is to ensure that foster care youth and other vulnerable young people establish a strong foundation of skills that will set them up for success in adulthood. Today, we offer comprehensive programs, support, and services to children in foster care and young adults in supportive housing or resource center programs. Our programs and services serve children and young adults from birth to 26 years old, young adults who have aged out of state custody, individuals who are disengaged from their education and employment paths, and those who have been victimized by crime. With nearly 9,400 youth in Tennessee's foster care system and over 9,300 vulnerable disengaged young adults or "Opportunity Youth" in the Greater Nashville area alone, our mission and cause remain a pressing community priority.
Board Chair Statement
The Board is very excited about the opportunities ahead of Monroe Harding. We are currently in the midst of a strategic planning process that will help guide the organization for the next several years. This has been a great opportunity for the staff and the Board to reflect on how we currently support youth and young adults in the Nashville community, and how we can even better support them in the future. We are focused on several areas in this strategic plan, including:
· Increasing our engagement with external stakeholders
· Developing strategic partnerships
· Expanding our current programs
· Attracting and retaining a talented workforce
· Cultivating additional funding
We have a great opportunity to utilize this plan to build on our core services of foster care; supportive housing; resource center support for critical services such as education support, basic needs assistance, financial education, asset acquisition, and career development.
We realize it is a significant honor, and responsibility, to support youth and young adults in our community; and we are tremendously blessed to have been able to do this for 130 years. While we are very proud of our history, and celebrate it, we are looking to the future. The need in our community is great and we will continue to be an active part of the solution.
We greatly appreciate all those who support our cause, whether by serving as foster families, volunteering their time, providing invaluable experiences such as job shadowing or internship opportunities through their employer, or by giving monetarily. They make it possible for us to provide homes, healing, and opportunities for vulnerable youth and young adults in our community.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Human Services - Children's and Youth Services |
| Secondary Category: | Human Services - Personal Social Services |
| Tertiary Category: | Human Services - Foster Care |
Areas Served
Although we have clients from across the state, the majority of the participants in our programs are from the Middle Tennessee region. This is defined as the counties from the northern border at Kentucky, to the southern border at Alabama and surrounding Nashville/Davidson County East to West.
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Montgomery |
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Trousdale |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Wilson |
