Statements

Mission

Our mission is to strengthen children's literacy through the exchange of knowledge and support among families and the East Nashville community to affirm the right to read for all

Background

From 2004 through 2010, St. Ann's Episcopal Church in East Nashville raised money for and coordinated volunteers and staff to operate a five week summer educational program for children. Several individuals, volunteers and former staff of the summer program decided to form ENHE as a nonprofit corporation, separate from St. Ann's. St. Ann's agreed with the transition of the program to an independent entity. ENHE was formed as a nonprofit corporation in 2010 and received recognition from the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization in 2011. The 2011 summer program was the first one operated by the ENHE corporation. ENHE utilizes the St. Ann's building to provide after-school tutoring during the school year and family workshops, which include a meal and free books; these workshops occur weekly in the summer and monthly during the school year. St. Ann's does not have control over the management of ENHE. ENHE is governed by an independent board of directors. ENHE has run summer programs at St. Ann's, Episcopal School of Nashville, MNPS Warner Arts Magnet and MNPS Ross Early Learning Center, with the most recent programs located at Episcopal School of Nashville/St. Ann's and Ross ELC.

Impact

In 2023, ENHE served 79 students at the Episcopal School of Nashville with the summer literacy program, 'My Family, My Community, My World.' Our reading instruction, arts activities, field trips, and performances aligned with this theme. Like in years past, ENHE was able to send at least one new book home with students each program day. Our students received at least 29 books each this year to build their home library. We also partnered with a number of local enhancement partners and professionals to complete several literacy-based projects, focused on our theme, 'My Family, My Community, My World.' Guest instructors led science experiments and art projects. Partners we had were the Nashville Zoo, Mr. Bond Science Guy, ReptiGurl, Nashville Children's Theatre, and Sing me a Story. We were also able to take students on filed trips outside the classroom. Students were able to visit the TN State Museum, The Global Education Center, The Nashville Public Library, and The National Museum of African American Music. Students were able to write about their experiences at each site, as well a made artwork and took photos throughout the summer to document their experiences. Participation in Parent Workshops went well, with an average of 40 people attending each week. During the school year, our families have attended monthly workshops focused on building literacy and the 40 Developmental Assets identified by the Search Institute for success in youth. In Fall 2022, we strengthened our tutoring program by partnering with East End Prep Charter School to start an afterschool program inside the school. This allows us to continue building literacy skills for students who have recently achieved grade level proficiency in reading and those still below grade level proficiency. In Fall 2023, we continued our partnership with EEP and are serving more students. We will continue to build our infrastructure for fundraising and management, continuing to diversify our support base while securing the resources necessary to ensure stable funding for organizational expenses and to fund future innovation. We will continue to increase our visibility in the community, expanding our audiences for annual activities and seeking new venues and opportunities to share our mission to serve children of need in East Nashville and surrounding communities.

Needs

Our most pressing needs are financial support, space, and volunteers. With an increase in these areas, we would like to consider expanding our services to more children. We are thrilled to announce that in 2021, we received a matching grant to launch 50K for 5th Grade, a rising 5th grade pilot program. Like the summer slide, during which many of our at-risk youth fall behind their peers, we observe a similar phenomenon when a child moves to middle from elementary school. It's called the fourth-grade slump because 4th grade is typically when reading instruction shifts to developing comprehension - reading to learn, not just learning to read. And, as with most challenges, research suggests it disproportionately impacts disadvantaged kids. 5th grade is a critical transition year as kids head into middle school. Research indicates that the gap between those with lower and higher reading ability widens through the middle school years. In 2022, ENHE piloted its program for rising 5th Graders and it had a successful start that continued into 2023. Moving into 2024, our goal is to receive additional funding so expand our program offerings to other school zones within Metro Nashville Public Schools.

CEO Statement

East Nashville Hope Exchange is a very unique literacy program. ENHE's model stands alone in that it provides an intensive summer instructional program and a wrap-around support program during the school year. During the summer, we provide individualized reading skills instruction by certified elementary teachers tuition-free, all day, Monday through Friday, for six weeks. We provide fun extension activities in arts/crafts/music, as well as weekly field trips. All that we do is centered on our theme, 'My Family, My Community, My World.' Students learn how to engage in their communities, while getting over 23 hours of individualized reading instruction each week. An important thing to understand is that ENHE is a learning community, not just a program. Families are an integral part of our program and participate through volunteering, attending Family Engagement Events, and committing to being a partner in their children's education. Families are expected to read with their children nightly and attend monthly workshops throughout the school year. Our School Year Program workshops provide families with strategies to help their children become better readers and be successful in school.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Education  - Education N.E.C.
Secondary Category:	Youth Development  - Youth Development NEC
Tertiary Category:	-

Areas Served

ENHE focuses on serving elementary school children in Rising Kindergarten through 5th grades in the Maplewood High School and Stratford High School clusters (located in East Nashville) of Nashville, Davidson County. In summer, 2023 we were able to serve students in other Metro Nashville Public Schools clusters from around the Nashville community and look to expand our program to serve more students outside of East Nashville.

TN - Davidson