Statements
Mission
Enable foster care children and older youth to live in Homes with Healing and Opportunities for successful 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 16000 have been beneficiaries of Fannie Harding's legacy.
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 creating a budget and improving daily healthy habits. Our young people have experienced trauma - from abuse, neglect, and criminal victimization. They have also internalized negative messages about the world, needing clinical, emotional, and mental health support services. We provide the resources needed for healing, with coaches who therapeutically challenge negative behaviors to focus on a positive light. Family bonds are strengthened by extracurricular activities, creating positive memories and a sense of normalcy. Other offerings include academic education, workforce development, financial education, life skills, and social skills development.
Our inclusive academic program is also offered to those with learning disabilities and alternate learning styles. Our high school diploma program also assists with accessing higher education in person and virtually. Our financial literacy program helps participants manage money and obtain banking system experience.
Monroe Harding's team includes many partners: Centerstone, Crossroads Campus, The Maddox Fund, Dollar General Literacy Foundation, Foster Forward, HCA Foundation, Junior League of Nashville, Metropolitan Action Commission, Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Nashville State Community College, Opportunity Now, Piedmont Natural Gas, The Predators Foundation, 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. Thousands of children and young adults benefit from Fannie Harding's legacy.
Fiscal Year Impacts (July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023)
Total Overall: 388+ children, teens, young adults, are served by families, supportive adult volunteers, and community partners, and Monroe Harding staff in furtherance of our cause and mission.
Foster Care: 75 children were provided 34 safe, loving homes and support in the Foster Care (FC) program
Foster families and birth families served these children with Monroe Harding staff and received training, engagement activities and financial assistance. Additionally, with the goal of reunification in mind, we supported 37 birth families
Young Adults: Over 318+ young adults participate in multiple programs. Young Adults choose to come to Monroe Harding for personal development, including
employment preparation and career readiness, financial literacy, monthly budgeting, life skills training, basic needs assistance and health education.
In partnership with other non-profit community organizations, vulnerable young adults, "Opportunity Youth", disengaged from education and/or employment pathways, voluntarily participate in re-engagement efforts for school and/or work.
Education services assist students in individualized education programs through high school completion, post-secondary education or progress toward these goals that enhance their ability to seek better employment.
In addition to pursuing employment opportunities, Young Adults interface with potential employers through recruited interviews, and paid/unpaid professional internships.
Eligible young adults live in safe, affordable apartments, with staff and volunteer support and engagement to pursue education and/or employment opportunities. Clinical emotional and mental health support is offered and referred to mental health partners for all children, Young Adults. and families.
In FY22-23, we increased steps to evaluate progress with each young adult to increase their awareness and choices for additional education, job, and career awareness. With this program, each student works to create, plan, and achieve their individual goals and career strategy. We have Homes for older youth including those who are victims of crime, as well as those enrolling in an education degree program.
Supportive Adult Volunteers and Community Partners: Over 84 supportive volunteers and 30+ community partners further our cause and mission.
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 and assist more of them so that all can engage in a pathway to successful adulthood. With this support, Monroe Harding can implement more of our programs and services. This allows more of them to experience education, training, and preparation opportunities to embark on a career path that leads to continual advancement and economic self-sufficiency.
Volunteers are critical in the upkeep of program physical space, 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 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
Monroe Harding's mission remains unwavering in our 130th year of operations, changing young people's lives. Our 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. Today, we provide comprehensive programs, support, and services through Homes, Healing, Opportunities, and Engagement to children, young adults, and families in foster care or who have aged out of state custody, as well as other vulnerable young adults who have disengaged from their education and/or employment paths or victimized by crime. Our programs and services are for children and young adults ranging from birth to 26. And, with nearly 9,400 youth in Tennessee's foster care system and over 9,300 vulnerable young adults or "Opportunity Youth" in the Greater Nashville area alone, our mission and cause remain an urgent 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 and financial education; and our career development work.
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 that 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 - Bedford |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Clay |
| TN - Coffee |
| TN - Cumberland |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Franklin |
| TN - Giles |
| TN - Humphreys |
| TN - Jackson |
| TN - Lawrence |
| TN - Macon |
| TN - Marshall |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Montgomery |
| TN - Moore |
| TN - Perry |
| TN - Pickett |
| TN - Putnam |
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Stewart |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Trousdale |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Wilson |
