Statements
Mission
To provide home modifications for families who have children or young adults with disabilities.
Background
Our Founder, Sunny Rosanbalm, started Tucker's House in 2009 because she believes that every child with a disability-and their family-needs a safe, functional home to live, grow, and thrive in. That is why our mission is to create safer, more accessible homes and environments for children with disabilities.
The catalyst for this mission began with the birth of her grandson, Tucker. In 2006, Tucker bounded into this world like any other healthy baby boy. However, on day two of his life, he suddenly started having seizures, which ultimately left him without the ability to talk or walk. It also left his young parents facing unfamiliar emotional, medical, and financial challenges. By the time Tucker was three, his parents had to find the means to retrofit their home to make it safe and functional for Tucker, his therapy sessions, and their whole family. Sunny talked with countless therapists, local agencies, and other families facing similar challenges. She found zero financial resources designed to help these families make their homes safe and functional.
In 2009, Tucker's House started rewriting that story. We linked arms with local builders, therapists, donors, and families with children with disabilities in Middle Tennessee. Over the last 15 years, we have impacted nearly 1,500 individuals by completing accessible home modifications for families who have children with disabilities with unique needs. It has been these families and children all along the way who have informed our process and taught us what this community needs.
Impact
Tucker's House makes a $700,000+ impact in our community each year.
These figures are based on 2023 annual numbers:
Clients served: 51
Projects Completed: 43
Home Assessments & Designs: 23
Accessible Bathrooms: 4
Ramp & Safety Equipment Installs: 7
Critical Home Repairs: 9
Needs
The social model of disability says disability is caused by how society is organized rather than by a person's impairment or difference. Tucker's House looks at removing barriers that otherwise restrict life choices for people with disabilities so they can be independent and equal in society. Moreover, people with disabilities prefer to live in their homes and stay in their community because they are the most humane and cost-effective method of living, according to studies conducted by the Administration for Community Living (ACL). Our work strengthens these opportunities by providing lifetime solutions that keep families together rather than removing individuals with disabilities from their homes/communities and placing them in an institutionalized environment. We are the only non-profit agency in Middle Tennessee that offers this kind of therapeutic, critical care to a historically underserved population.
CEO Statement
Tucker's House addresses an endless need in our community: the homes of special needs children that require modification in order to be accessible, safe, and physical therapy friendly. Families of children with special needs quite often face a lifetime of challenges. Regular costs such as doctor's care, medication, therapy, equipment needs, special education, child care, special training and many other services leave little money left for home modification. Even though the retrofit would make a huge difference in their lives, it is a necessity that they cannot afford. An inadequate home is unsafe for a child with special needs and for any caregiver. Quite often parents have back, shoulder, knee and other joint problems from lifting and carrying their child simply because their home is not accessible. Caregivers will on average lift and transfer their child with disabilities over 5000 times a year. In addition, a child with special needs may not be able to carry out his or her daily routine or therapy in a home that is not adequately modified. Conditions such as having solid surfaces, wider doorways and hallways may be necessary to accommodate a wheelchair or gait trainer and other adaptive equipment. An inadequate bathroom becomes a safety issue as well as another loss of a therapy opportunity for the child to perform activities of daily living. Our vision is for all families of children with disabilities to have access to resources in order to help meet their immediate, intermediate, and long term needs. We want to make these homes a place that is not only accessible and safe, but a place where special needs children can carry out their necessary daily therapy in order to reach their full potential.
Board Chair Statement
Tucker's House continues to receive great support from the Middle Tennessee communities we serve. Additionally, we are blessed to have people on our Board who have clinical, construction, investment, and business expertise, as well as important connections within the community. We are excited about our future and the stage is set for continued growth! Our unique operational processes offer hope, value, and love to families of children with severe physical disabilities. From the application process, through design, construction, and follow-up; our goal is to provide a safe, comfortable retrofit that will help ensure therapy plans can work easily and effectively. Additionally, some board members have a beloved child within their immediate family who is dealing with a physical disability. This dynamic creates a passion for our mission that transcends the tactical, day-to-day operational aspects of our work and helps to remind us why we serve. As blessed as we are, we realize our greatest challenge is creating a steady flow of funds in order to meet the many demands that are placed before us. The needs are unlimited, and the financial resources are finite. We will aggressively work to grow our financial resources through active fundraising, web-based marketing, and leveraging personal connections. We have the passion, drive, perseverance, and creativity to foster a well-resourced environment. As a steward of Tucker's House, I am immensely humbled by the challenges our families face each day in providing the most basic of care to their children. This is a key motivating factor behind providing a service that can truly help make a house a safe and therapy-friendly home. It is an honor to serve with such a talented group of individuals who genuinely want to make a difference in the lives of these amazing families.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Human Services - Children's and Youth Services |
| Secondary Category: | Health Care - Health Support |
| Tertiary Category: | - |
Areas Served
Middle Tennessee
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Bedford |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Hickman |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Marshall |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Wilson |
