Building Entrepreneurs for Success in Tennessee
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615-424-0302
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PO Box 90834
Nashville, TN 37209
Organization Details

Programs

Budget
$24,000.00
Description
Preparing for Reentry - BEST lends peer support for BEST graduates (as well as family members, peers, and friends) to apply strategies for ongoing wellness and securing gainful employment and career readiness. A diverse pool of skilled instructors and guest speakers provide customized presentations based on requests for housing, family restoration, mental health services, career networks, and a host of sustainable wellness regimens as the recovery journey continues. Each person presents a "BEST Plan" to activate upon release. After BEST program completion, graduates can remain engaged in a peer support community!

Program Successes
BEST graduates eagerly endorse the BEST program for internal recruitment for each new year of the 6-month program.
Beneficiaries
Women and girls
People with psychosocial disabilities
Formerly incarcerated people & incarcerated people
Long-term Success
BEST graduates provide program testimony that their participation in BEST not only increased financial literacy skills, but also gave them access to resources for personal wellness/recovery goals.
As an outcome of each session, participants provide an "immediate use" statement to enable them to construct their own recovery and reentry journey.
BEST instructors provide program feedback to the BEST program director at the prison site.
BEST graduates eagerly endorse the BEST program for internal recruitment for each new year of the 6-month program.
Short-term Success
As an outcome of each session, participants provide an "immediate use" statement to enable them to construct their own recovery and reentry journey.
Program Success Monitored By
BEST instructors provide program feedback to the BEST program director at the prison site.
Program Areas Served
Middle Tennessee - Prison-based programming
Budget
$12,000.00
Description
The BEST Community. Upon release, each returning citizen can tap into the network of BEST partners as they return to the community ready to be a contributing member of society as an employee or business owner. BEST's Facebook and Instagram contains the most-up-to-date news and "resource swapping" within the BEST virtual community. We are blessed that members of the BEST volunteer pool partner with transitional/halfway houses to deliver client-centered programming. Please reach out to info@besttn.org to link arms with BEST to ensure a community of ongoing support!
Program Successes
BEST graduates eagerly endorse the BEST program for internal recruitment for each new year of the 6-month program.
Beneficiaries
Families
People with psychosocial disabilities
Formerly incarcerated people & incarcerated people
Long-term Success
BEST graduates provide program testimony that their participation in BEST not only increased financial literacy skills, but also gave them access to resources for personal wellness/recovery goals.

Short-term Success
As an outcome of each session, participants provide an "immediate use" statement to enable them to construct their own recovery and reentry journey.

Program Success Monitored By
BEST instructors provide program feedback to the BEST program director at the prison site.

Program Areas Served
Middle Tennessee - Reenty
Budget
$24,000.00
Description
PHASE 1 - Understanding Self and Others
The first 8-week focus is a deep dive into understanding the self with regard to identity, values, belief systems, and the impact of trauma and substance dependency. Students actively participate in identity and strengths-based self assessments. As participants shape their personal profiles and set recovery goals, instructors and guest speakers provide strengths-based resources that will become part of their exit strategy for transitioning successfully back into the larger community. The "10 BEST Values" provide a framework for a thematic-approach for all learning experiences that span 24 weeks of the total program. The first 14 weeks integrate 90-minute sessions (each) of Houses of Healing, Nonviolent Communication, and Alternatives to Violence Project that certified instructors implement in full cooperation with BEST program requirements.
Program Successes
BEST graduates eagerly endorse the BEST program for internal recruitment for each new year of the 6-month program.
Beneficiaries
Women and girls
People with psychosocial disabilities
Formerly incarcerated people & incarcerated people
Long-term Success
BEST graduates provide program testimony that their participation in BEST not only increased financial literacy skills, but also gave them access to resources for personal wellness/recovery goals.

Short-term Success
As an outcome of each session, participants provide an "immediate use" statement to enable them to construct their own recovery and reentry journey.

Program Success Monitored By
BEST instructors provide program feedback to the BEST program director at the prison site.

Program Areas Served
Middle Tennessee - Prison-Based Programming
Budget
$13,000.00
Description
Personal Entrepreneurship
The second 8-week focus gradually builds upon Phase 1 and connects the diverse facets of self as it connects to personal entrepreneurship and career success. A diverse pool of skilled instructors and guest speakers provide weekly financial literacy lessons and weekly Build Your Business coaching, while teaching effective communication and career option exploration. Consumers in the BEST Cohort participate in team (peer entrepreneur) meetings as they envision and draft a business plan as one of many options for their financial stability and success. Houses of Healing, Nonviolent Communications, and Alternatives to Violence programming affords ongoing support as career and lifestyle goals become more defined.

Program Successes
BEST graduates eagerly endorse the BEST program for internal recruitment for each new year of the 6-month program.
Category
Education  - Adult Education 
Beneficiaries
Women and girls
People with psychosocial disabilities
Formerly incarcerated people & incarcerated people
Long-term Success
BEST graduates provide program testimony that their participation in BEST not only increased financial literacy skills, but also gave them access to resources for personal wellness/recovery goals.
Short-term Success
As an outcome of each session, participants provide an "immediate use" statement to enable them to construct their own recovery and reentry journey.

Program Success Monitored By
BEST instructors provide program feedback to the BEST program director at the prison site.

Program Areas Served
Middle Tennessee - Prison-based Programming

CEO/Executive Director/Board Comments

BEST has graduated 108 participants from our 6-month prison-based program, and 91 of those graduates are returned citizens. By monitoring data records of offenders from the Tennessee Department of Corrections, BEST graduates have a 14% recidivism rate in comparison to the state average of 47% recidivism. BEST acknowledges the need to provide a continuum of support that flows from "inside to outside" in a more intentionally structured way.

BEST programming is unique because it is client-centered in its design. We match curriculum content to the needs and goals of all program participants. We also work in collaboration with transitional housing agencies in the greater Nashville area.

Please consider joining our volunteer team or observing this program in action by contacting us at info@besttn.org.

Dr. Gretchen Wolfe, Executive Director of BEST