Statements
Mission
The mission of High Hopes is to equip children, youth, and their families with the skills necessary to achieve success through education, therapeutic services, and loving support.
Background
High Hopes Development Center was established in 1984 by five families whose children's needs were not being met in local preschools. These families each had a child with a special need and found themselves driving to several locations weekly to receive all the therapy services needed. These visionaries were determined to create a place where their children's needs could be met academically, therapeutically, and socially and where their children would be educated among typically developing peers. As a result, High Hopes was established to offer an inclusive preschool with an onsite outpatient pediatric therapy clinic to empower children to reach their full potential. In 2018, after receiving a gift from a generous donor, High Hopes was able to expand its campus and add a state approved kindergarten. In our school, 60% of the children are typically developing and 40% have a diagnosed special need. In our clinic, 100% of the children have diagnosed special needs and it is staffed with therapists who have an average of 16 years of specialized pediatric experience. They provide physical, occupational, speech, and feeding therapies to children from birth through young adult. High Hopes serves children with more than 50 different diagnoses including Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, chromosomal disorders, speech and language disorders, and numerous other developmental delays just to name a few.
Impact
High Hopes Development Center is a 38-year-old non-profit helping children with special needs. High Hopes is an inclusive preschool, kindergarten, and pediatric therapy center, all under one roof. In our school, 60% of the children are typically developing and 40% have a diagnosed special need. In our clinic, 100% of the children have diagnosed special needs and it is staffed with therapists who have an average of 19 years of specialized pediatric experience. They provide physical, occupational, speech, and feeding therapies to children from birth through 21 years. High Hopes prides itself on inclusion - the practice of educating and involving children with special needs alongside their typically developing peers. We offer children of all developmental levels, regardless of physical or mental ability, the most beneficial academic, social, and life skills necessary for life-long learning and future success. Last year High Hopes served more than 850 children from 22 different counties in Middle Tennessee.
Our history of success
July 1984 - January 2006 - High Hopes is established in 1984 with only five families. It is operated in the basement of a church. From that church, High Hopes moves to a larger church basement, then to a double-wide trailer, and finally to a warehouse in 2006.
January 2014 - As the population of Middle Tennessee grows, so does the need for the vital, life-changing services High Hopes provides. High Hopes completes construction on a 14,400 square foot custom-built, state-of-the-art facility in Franklin, TN, our new permanent home. The city renames the street where we are located to High Hopes Court.
March 2015 - High Hopes receives a donation to purchase an adjoining land lot for sale to expand our current campus.
April 2017 - The Board of Directors approves the $5.3 million expansion project and begins the silent phase of the capital campaign fundraising project.
September 2017 - High Hopes begins the public phase of the capital campaign funding project and breaks ground for the building expansion to add approximately 15,000 more square feet.
October 2018 - High Hopes completes its expansion, doubling the size of its facility. We are now able to offer four additional preschool classes, a kindergarten classroom, and 12 brand new private therapy rooms to patients. Our preschool waitlist of 150 children has been reduced by 60 and our clinic will be able to offer as many as 13,000 more individual therapy sessions each year.
September 2022 - High Hopes provided 185,756 instructional hours to 194 children and 31,109 therapy visits to 878 children and young adults.
Needs
Despite our 38-year history of improving the lives of children and their families, significant challenges remain. One difficulty is meeting the increased demands of children with disabilities while keeping our expenses manageable and continuing to provide the expert care for which we are known. High Hopes offers competitive preschool tuition rates and maintains insurance contracts with most major commercial plans and one TennCare plan. However, the increased costs for additional personnel in classrooms to serve children with special needs and insurance reimbursement rates that are much lower than the cost of providing services, often present challenges. These obstacles will be lessened with donations from our community. Additionally, many families at High Hopes have children with a lifelong diagnosis that requires them to incur much higher medical, emotional, equipment, home modification, and caregiver costs. Although very few of our families have incomes at or below the poverty level as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, due to these ongoing additional expenses, their expendable funds may be even less than that of someone that receives assistance based solely on income. There is little financial support available for such families as these.
CEO Statement
In 1984 a group of committed parents came together to create High Hopes Development Center to provide a space where their children with special needs could thrive while having their various physical, social, and therapeutic needs met under one roof. Today High Hopes is one of only a few organizations in Middle Tennessee that provides inclusive preschool and physical, occupational, speech, and feeding therapy in a single location. Last year we served over 850 families and provided over 25,000 therapy sessions in our beautiful, state-of-the-art facility in Franklin. As a nonprofit, one of High Hopes Development Center's most significant challenges continues to be educating the community about services and programs available for children with special needs and then funding those programs. Fundraising is critical to ensuring the families High Hopes serves can receive high-quality experiences at the most affordable price. Many of the families High Hopes serves are financially encumbered by the many demands that come with caring for a child with special needs, making fundraising efforts all the more important for us to reach the maximum number of affected families. Five years ago, a generous donor gifted High Hopes with 1.4 acres directly adjacent to the current facility. In 2017, with a waiting list of over 100 children for the preschool and the clinic operating at or above capacity on a daily basis, the Board voted to use that land to expand the facility. We moved into that space in October of 2018, effectively doubling the space in both the school and the clinic. Middle Tennessee is going through a period of unprecedented growth. With that growth comes opportunity. Nearly one in five individuals that move to Middle Tennessee have a disability. It is an inspiring time at High Hopes Development Center, and I am proud to serve as Executive Director.
Board Chair Statement
High Hopes has an unwavering commitment to the over eight-hundred-fifty children and their families we serve. And we know that number will only increase as Middle Tennessee continues to see rapid population growth. We provide them the therapies, educational opportunities, and ancillary services that help equip them to live life to their fullest potential. Contributions from the community and our many corporate partners enable High Hopes to provide services at price points that do not overly burden the families we serve, many of whom are already making often painful financial sacrifices to provide the needed care for their children. We are incredibly thankful for the continued financial support that allows us to provide our services at or below our costs and make up the difference with our fundraising efforts. In late 2018 High Hopes completed a physical expansion, adding over 15,000 square feet of new space to our facility in Franklin, Tennessee. That space allowed us to add four additional classrooms - bringing our total to twelve, including our first Kindergarten classroom. The expansion also doubled the space available for therapies and will allow us to continue to expand our reach to families in need of our services. This year the Board is hyper-focused on our capital campaign. We know that paying off our mortgage will allow us to redirect those funds toward our programs that directly support our patients and students. While focusing on fundraising efforts, we will continue to provide unparalleled inclusive educational opportunities for children from six weeks through kindergarten and to hire and retain the best physical, occupational, speech, and feeding therapists to ensure our therapy services are exceeding our already high standards. We will increase partnerships and strengthen relationships with other community-based organizations to ensure the High Hopes name is top-of-mind in our community. We are proud to work alongside like-minded nonprofits, for-profits, governmental agencies, and passionate individuals to create significant, life-changing impact for children and their families.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Health Care - Rehabilitative Care |
| Secondary Category: | Education - Preschools |
| Tertiary Category: | Education - Special Education |
Areas Served
All services are delivered at High Hopes Development Center's facility located in Williamson County but are available to children living in all counties of Middle Tennessee and the surrounding area.
| TN - Warren |
| TN - Bedford |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Giles |
| TN - Hickman |
| TN - Marshall |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Montgomery |
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Wayne |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Wilson |
| KY - Christian |
| TN - Humphreys |
