The Community Foundation

The Ark Community Resource and Assistance Center Agency Endowment Fundwment Fund Established 2015

Hunter Armistead Fund to Inspire Joy and Laughter Established 1999

The Hunter Armistead Fund to Inspire Joy and Laughter Established 1999

Ashland City Ministerial Alliance Designated Fund Established 1999

The Ashland City Ministerial Alliance of Churches in Cheatham County supervises the ministry of the Bethesda Center. Established in 1999 by John E. Mayfield, this Fund serves the needy in Cheatham County by providing a thrift store, a food bank and financial assistance. The Bethesda Center encourages others to donate to this Fund to ensure that their essential services can continue for future generations.

Campus for Human Development Agency Fund Established 1998

Through the power of spirituality and the practice of love, the Campus for Human Development provides hospitality with a respect that offers hope in a community of non-violence. Their mission is to provide programs that emphasize human development and recovery to those who call the streets of Nashville home.

CASA of Nashville Endowment Fund Established 2000

CASA, Inc., established in Nashville in 1984, provides trained community volunteers to advocate for abused, neglected or abandoned children, with no place to call home, who find themselves lost in never-ending court battles. Court Appointed Special Advocates provide a voice in court for these vulnerable children and help them find safe, permanent homes. This Fund helps ensure the agency's ability to continue providing volunteers until child abuse no longer exists.

The Center of Hope Endowment Fund Established 2014

Centerstone Military Services Designated Fund Established 2009

Sometimes the scars of war are visible. Sometimes they are not. Sometimes the war ends on the battlefield, but sometimes it continues even after our military comes home. This Fund was created to help address the emotional and psychological aftermath of war for the combat warriors and for the people who support them at home and in the field. The Fund will sponsor research, curriculum design and innovative delivery mechanisms to provide aid for those affected, in ways that work best for them. After all these men and women have done for our country, the least we can do is stand beside them as they battle Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other consequences of combat stress.

Clarksville Montgomery County Ajax Turner Senior Citizen Center, Inc. Endowment Fund Established 2004

The senior center, created in 1963, has grown from just a location for recreation to one of Middle Tennessee's largest and most complete centers. Thousands of annual participants enjoy daily breakfasts and lunches, a wide range of education classes including a large computer lab, physical activities, homebound services, an onsite adult day care center, and weekend live-band dances. This Fund will help ensure the continuation of the center for future generations.

Tommy Cooper Fund for Veterans and Military Personnel Established 2014

Council on Aging of Greater Nashville Endowment Fund Established 2013

Council on Aging of Greater Nashville addresses the unmet needs of older adults and caregivers through information, advocacy, and education and by being a catalyst for comprehensive solutions. This Agency Endowment Fund ensures there are permanent resources for this important work serving our community’s eldest members.

Crisis Intervention Center Agency Endowment Fund Established 1999

Since 1968 Crisis Intervention Center worked to prevent suicide, to empower individuals to face life challenges and to meet basic and emergency needs. The Crisis Intervention Center (now part of Family & Children's Service) provides skilled, compassionate crisis intervention and outreach that includes support groups for those whose loved ones have died by suicide; direct advocacy; and information and referral for thousands of social and other community services through the 2-1-1 Information and Referral Service.

Sister Patrick Curren For St. Anthony's Mission in San Fransisco, Ca. Established 2007

Sister Patrick Curren dedicated her life to working tirelessly for the poor. Working through the St. Anthony's Foundation, she helped the men, women, children, the hungry and homeless who came to St. Anthony's to be fed, sheltered, clothed and healed in a community of hope. From a dining room and free medical clinic, to social services and justice education, St. Anthony's programs not only feed and clothe people, but also work to change the deeper structural causes of poverty. Now, each year, in Sister Patrick's name, St. Anthony's will receive a contribution toward its good work.

Domestic Violence Program Inc. Endowment Fund Established 2007

Rutherford County is committed to ending violence and discrimination in the lives of victims suffering the pain, fear and shame of domestic abuse. The Domestic Violence Program is a key part of those efforts providing programs such as emergency shelter, legal advocacy, children's and elders' services, counseling services, and rape and sexual assault programs. This Fund is designed to make sure that as long as these challenges exist, funds will be available.

Martha Jean Dorris Helping Hand Fund Established 2006

Martha Jean Dorris' motivations were pure; she simply wanted to help, to reach out to those in need of a hand. And so she created this Fund to endow support for nonprofits which help individuals of all ages and from all backgrounds who are living in impoverished conditions and who demonstrate a desire to strive for a better, more meaningful life.

Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee Agency Endowment Fund Established 2004

The mission of the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee is to enhance the lives of individuals with Down syndrome by providing support, information and education to them and their families. This Fund creates a permanent endowment to ensure programs and services.

Easter Seals Society of Tennessee Endowment Fund Established 1997

Creating solutions that change the lives of children and adults with disabilities or other special needs and their families, Easter Seals provides a network of services throughout Tennessee, including health and fitness; camping and recreation; job training and employment; and physical, occupational and speech therapy. Easter Seals' programs provide opportunities for children and adults with disabilities to engage as fully as possible in family and community life, education, work and recreation.

The Jane and Richard Eskind and Family Endowment Fund for the benefit of Family & Children’s Service Established 2013

The Jane and Richard Eskind and Family Endowment Fund for the benefit of Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee Established 2013

The Jane and Richard Eskind and Family Endowment Fund for the benefit of Planned Parenthood of Middle & East Tennessee Established 2013

The Jane and Richard Eskind and Family Endowment Fund for the benefit of Anti-Defamation League Foundation Established 2013

The Jane and Richard Eskind and Family Endowment Fund for the benefit of ACLU Established 2013

The Jane and Richard Eskind and Family Endowment Fund for the benefit of CommunityNashville Established 2014

Family and Children's Service Endowment Fund Established 1996

The mission of Family & Children's Service is to give real help for real hurt right now. For more than 65 years, they have provided trauma counseling for children and adolescents who are witnesses or victims of violence, Crisis Center counseling, clinical assessments, consultation and training for foster and adoptive parents to help special needs children find loving homes, and free and sliding scale counseling for at-risk youth, welfare to work families and those who could not otherwise afford mental health care.

Friends of Tennessee School for the Blind, Inc. Established 2011

The mission of Friends of Tennessee School for the Blind is to enhance and enrich the educational, vocational, special skills, and social development of students enrolled in the Tennessee School for the Blind. This Endowment ensures there will always be funds available for continued support for the school, which has served children with visual impairment since 1844.

Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity Established 2004

The Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity was created in 1985 with a mission to provide families in need with the life-changing opportunity of buying a decent, affordable home. The Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity created this Endowment Fund as a way to continue its mission to build single family homes in partnership with low-income families.

High Pressure Laminate (HPL) Settlement Fund Established 2007

Created through court settlement of a class action lawsuit, this Fund serves to channel money intended as restitution for people of Tennessee who have used High Pressure Laminate products. As such, it will support grants to nonprofits for which the use of High Pressure Laminate products are vital to their ability to fulfill their charitable mission, such as domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, nonprofit day care centers, those preparing meals on wheels, and more.

The Hilltoppers Agency Endowment Fund Established 1999

Hilltoppers, Inc. is a community provider of day and residential services and support for adults with mental retardation in Crossville and Cumberland County, Tennessee.

The Hope Fund Established 2000

Carlene Hunt, an avid and talented photographer, sees beauty in the mothers and children at Renewal House and the SISTER program at Meharry as the women work to overcome addiction. Carlene volunteers to take family pictures so they can see just how good recovery looks on them. Those images have helped strengthen the vision and value of family for many women. As an extension of her work with these programs, Carlene created The Hope Fund to help benefit a variety of programs that promote recovery from addiction - especially those efforts that address the stigma of addiction, a major barrier to women receiving the proper treatment.

Cora Mathews Horn Fund for Families Established 2008

Cora Horn, widowed at age 25 with two children, benefited greatly from the generosity of Nashvillians during the 1930s and strongly believed in returning that generosity to others in need. As a result of Cora's enormous personal resourcefulness and the well-timed help of others, she was able to see her children and grandchildren succeed far beyond her means. So that other families might experience the same compassion and helping hands, Cora's grandchildren established this Fund to endow The Angel Fund of The Community Foundation and its work to do what others did for Cora, give people a hand during critical times of need to help them overcome life's hurdles.

Junior Achievement Agency Fund Established 1995

Junior Achievement provides students in Middle Tennessee with programs to help them understand the relationship between what they learn in school and their successful participation in our economy, with an emphasis placed on at-risk children.

Legal Aid Society Agency Endowment Fund Established 1998

For 40 years, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands has provided free legal representation and education so that low-income citizens in our community can obtain necessities like health care, housing, income, protection from family violence, and access to basic goods and services. The benefits of Legal Aid Society's work reach beyond individual clients. By ensuring equal justice for low-income people, the whole community is strengthened.

Legion Fund Established 2014

The Legion Fund of The Foundation makes gifts to dedicated nonprofits which enable them to help members of Fort Campbell’s 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and their families, when in need. These nonprofits are given money that they can invest in critical intervention points in the lives of the Green Berets they serve. A perfect example of those the nonprofits might help might be immediate aid for the woman whose Special Forces husband has been deployed on a secret mission behind enemy lines in the Middle East, and who lacks money to replace a broken water heater. Another example might be the family of a Fifth Group soldier killed in combat whose parents cannot afford the airfare and hotel bills to attend their son's funeral; the Fund covers the costs. This Fund also helps nonprofits provide immediate financial assistance, as well as recreational therapy, to 5th Group Green Berets who are injured in the line of duty, to their families, and to the families of their fallen brothers. The Fund also supports nonprofits providing merit-based educational scholarships for the offspring of these elite special forces soldiers.

Loaves and Fishes of Clarksville, TN Agency Endowment Fund Established 2006

Hot meals for Clarksville's homeless, six days a week is the mission of Loaves and Fishes of Clarksville. To ensure they can always live up to this commitment, Loaves and Fishes established this Agency Endowment Fund to provide it a steady stream of income over time.

Magdalene, Inc. Agency Endowment Established 2005

Magdalene is a residential housing and recovery program for Nashville women with a criminal history of prostitution and drug abuse. Through this endowment, Magdalene seeks to provide lasting support for its mission to improve social functioning and physical, emotional and spiritual health. By providing safe housing, Magdalene helps women recover from addiction, reunite with families and earn legal employment at a living wage.

Martha O'Bryan Foundation Established 1997

For more than a century, the Martha O'Bryan Center has been dedicated to helping individuals and families living in poverty. Today, through childcare, youth education, adult basic education, job skills training, an emergency food bank, meals on wheels, and other programs, the Center empowers people to become self-sufficient and independent.

William Thomas McHugh Fund to benefit the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and The Cumberlands Established 2008

Bill McHugh was a "lawyer's lawyer" who practiced his noble profession with skill and integrity for more than 55 years. To honor her late husband's legacy of dedication to the legal profession, Lou McHugh used proceeds from the sale of the McHugh's family property in Robertson County, Tennessee, to establish this Fund supporting a series of free "walk-in" pro bono clinics, named for Mr. McHugh, within the Legal Aid Society to provide free legal services to low-income individuals and families.

McWherter Fund for Basic Human Needs Established 2004

Governor Ned Ray McWherter could have easily continued down the path of civic leader and businessman, multiplying his personal and financial success manyfold. But instead, he decided to give back to his community and to people in need by dedicating his career to public service. This Fund was created upon Governor McWherter's acceptance of the 2004 Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award and supports nonprofit organizations serving our neighbors in need. Food, shelter, clothing and a wide range of other basic needs are provided as a result of his kindness.

Mid-Cumberland Community Action Agency Endowment Established 1999

The Mid-Cumberland Community Action Agency was chartered in 1971 to respond to the pressing problems faced by low-income people, while seeking new and effective ways to combat the causes and the effects of poverty. Through the years, numerous initiatives have been added, such as Head Start, Nutrition Self-Help, Senior Companionship, and others.

100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee Endowment Fund Established 1997

100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, established in 1991, charged itself with the mission "to nurture and enhance the growth, development and opportunities for young black males of Middle Tennessee." The organization is comprised of local business leaders who invest both time and resources in activities that benefit inner-city youth. This Endowment serves to perpetuate the long-term commitment of the organization to the youth of Middle Tennessee by helping fund its annual programs and by making scholarships available.

Park Center Endowment Fund Established 2004

Park Center serves individuals with mental illness through integrative services that focus on needs, choices and strength. Park Center provides employment training and placement, housing including safe havens, homeless outreach services, case management, co-occurring disorders program, and support services to adults and mentally ill youth transitioning out of foster care. This Endowment Fund provides a permanent source of funding for Park Center's programs and services.

Pastoral Counseling Centers Established 1997

With six centers in Middle Tennessee, the Pastoral Counseling Centers of Tennessee, Inc. has been providing clinical psychotherapy and counseling for individuals, couples and families; life enrichment education for organizations; training for clergy and pastoral caregivers; and staff consultation, assessment and crisis intervention since 1985. The Pastoral Counseling Centers of Tennessee Endowment Fund was created to ensure the growth of the centers and the future care of those with mental health care needs.

Preston Taylor Boys & Girls Club/YMCA Center Permanent Endowment Fund Established 1995

Rather than build and operate separate facilities, Boys & Girls Clubs, the YMCA, MDHA and the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools created a national model of true partnership and located the Preston Taylor Boys & Girls Clubs/YMCA in the newly remodeled McKissack Middle School. The Center serves the Preston Taylor Homes area with programs for youth in grades 1-12. Programming includes education, sports, fine arts, leadership development, and wellness.

The Charles Cooper Memorial Endowment Fund for Progress Inc. Established 2007

Progress, Inc. was founded by two families as they sought independent living arrangements for their young adult sons with developmental disabilities. In 1971, as Billy Goodman and Tommy Powelson were reaching adulthood, they expressed their desire to live independently in the community and to have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams and reach their goals just like anyone else. The Goodmans and the Powelsons realized these desires couldn't be accomplished in a state institution, so they bought a house for Billy and Tommy to share, hired support staff and created what ultimately became the largest residential support provider in Middle Tennessee.

Richmond Designated Fund Established 2007

Using one planned gift to benefit several favorite charities is a dream for many of us. That dream came true for John Richmond when the IRA charitable rollover of 2007 gave him a unique opportunity to establish a Fund at The Community Foundation with a tax-free transfer of funds from an individual retirement account.

W. R. Rochelle Agency Endowment Fund Established 2007

The Rochelle Center serves persons with developmental disabilities and their families, creating opportunities to build new skills, enhance independence and increase acceptance as valued members of our community. Rochelle Center has established this Endowment to continue their work to support personal outcomes for adults with developmental disabilities.

Room in the Inn Agency Fund Established 1998

Through the power of spirituality and the practice of love, this program provides hospitality with a respect that offers hope in a community of non-violence. Their mission is to provide programs that emphasize human development and recovery to those who call the streets of Nashville home.

FiftyForward/Senior Citizens, Inc. Endowment Fund Established 1999

FiftyForward (formerly Senior Citizens, Inc.) is Middle Tennessee's leading agency providing comprehensive services focused on helping older adults remain active, independent and living at home as long as possible. Through a network of senior activity centers and community-based programs, FiftyForward serves more than 20,000 older adults, their families, and children each year.

Sexual Assault Center Endowment Fund Established 1998

Since 1978, the Sexual Assault Center has been the only agency in Middle Tennessee specializing in the support and treatment of survivors of sexual assault. Annually, the Center provides individual and group counseling to 700 or more adults and children, and prevention education curriculum for 80,000 school students. To support its philosophy of always being there when needed, and never turning anyone away for lack of ability to pay, the Center established this endowment.

The Shepherd's Center Fund for Senior Adults Established 2000

As a nonprofit interfaith organization run by senior adults for senior adults, The Shepherd's Center worked for 10 years to improve the quality of life of those ages 55 and over in the West End area of Nashville. When it closed in 1999, its absence left a void for the many senior adults in the area. With limited funds remaining, the leadership opted to create The Shepherd's Center Field-of-Interest Fund, which gives grants to nonprofits serving senior adults in Middle Tennessee. As a result, the mission of The Shepherd's Center and its proud history will continue in perpetuity.

Special Olympics Tennessee Agency Fund Established 1992

Special Olympics Tennessee provides year-round sports training and competition activities for children and adults with mental disabilities. Programs are community-based, serving more than 12,000 athletes statewide and involving 9,000 volunteers. Special Olympics' goal is to develop individual skills, physical fitness, self-esteem, and positive attitudes toward teamwork and sportsmanship. The Fund was established to ensure the organization can meet the needs and desires of an evergrowing and expanding program.

St. Joseph Worker Foundation, Inc. for Children and Families of Haiti Agency Endowment Fund Established 2008

In a country where extreme poverty and chaotic government have become a way of life, the St. Joseph Worker Foundation was established to benefit the people of Haiti by providing for the education, health and welfare needs of children and families. Jane and Dick Wildeman, who established this Fund, have seen the good work being done and have made a dear friend in Fr. Tijwa, who Jane affectionately calls "Haiti's goodwill ambassador." It is Fr. Tijwa's parish work that makes the Haiti Student Sponsor Program (an initiative of the St. Joseph Worker Foundation, Inc. for Children and Families of Haiti Agency Endowment Fund) possible.

Elise Steiner Fund to Benefit the Nashville Area Chapter of the Amerircan Red Coss and Fifty Forward Established 2012

Although this Fund was officially established in 2012, it really dates back to 1994 when Elise Steiner established a Donor-Advised Fund with The Community Foundation and asked that we use what remained in the Fund after her death to endow her support of two of her favorite organizations, Red Cross and Senior Citizens (since renamed, FiftyForward). Elise passed away after a long illness and, thereafter, we fulfilled her wishes and honored her intentions by moving the balance in her Fund to this new endowment. Each year Elise’s favorite charities will receive a contribution in her name, and her legacy of caring will live on in perpetuity.

Stewart Family Fund Established 2000

The Stewart family was composed of four unique individuals who shared only a few years together as a nuclear family. Despite the 13-year age difference between the two sons and Loura and William Stewart's divorce after 28 years of marriage, Phillip and Billy were raised with a strong sense of family roots and an interest in family history. To celebrate the importance of family ties, Phillip Stewart created this Fund to honor the memory of his mother, father and brother. The Fund will permanently endow support for non-traditional families, including grandparents who raise grandchildren, children facing the divorce of their parents, single parents, and families who do not fit traditional stereotypes.

Jean G. Stumpf Fund for the Aging Established 1999

More and more of the citizens of Middle Tennessee are living longer and consequently require more services. The Jean G. Stumpf Fund for the Aging has been created to help with the unique needs of this segment of our society. The Fund provides a charitable vehicle to enhance the lifestyles of active seniors and to support those for whom remaining independent and in good health is a challenge.

Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare Endowment Fund Established 1999

Since its founding in 1913, the Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare (TCSW) has provided advocacy and service to thousands of Tennesseans, especially low income and vulnerable citizens. TCSW acts on behalf of 160 nonprofit agencies and 1,500 individual citizens to insure the availability, coordination, quality and effectiveness in human services, from adoption to aging.

Tennessee Lions Charities, Inc. Endowment Established 2010

Tennessee Lions Charities, Inc. is committed to enhancing the vision of young children and, in turn, their lives. This Endowment was created to ensure Tennessee Lions Charities' ability to continue humanitarian projects and improving quality of life for children throughout Tennessee.

United Way of Metropolitan Nashville Endowment Established 2001

United Way of Metropolitan Nashville invests in proven agency programs that show measurable and lasting results. The organization develops strategies to tackle the problems, investing dollars in programs to create a community where individuals, families and neighborhoods thrive. Donor gifts improve lives and also impact the community long-term by creating happy, healthy, informed people.

Patricia C. & Thomas F. Frist, Jr. Fund for United Way of America Established 1996

Patricia C. & Thomas F. Frist, Jr. Fund for United Way of America Established 1995

United Way for Williamson County Agency Fund Established 1998

An autonomous, nonprofit organization, United Way of Williamson County touches the senior citizen living alone, the single mother struggling to make ends meet, or the child with disabilities whose parents need a helping hand. It helps the helpers who are there to offer that "hand up," ensuring that our communities remain safe and healthy. This endowment is critical to the organization's ability to continue to serve in the future.

United Way of Rutherford County Agency Endowment Established 1999

The United Way of Rutherford County Endowment Fund offers venture grants to nonprofits and one-time grants for human and health care agencies in Rutherford and Cannon Counties. The Fund is intended to cover administrative costs of the United Way, so that all money given by donors will go to help those in need.

Carolyn Smith Wendrich Fund for Victims Established 1996

Before her death, Carolyn Wendrich established a Fund at The Community Foundation to benefit programs serving victims of crime. She worried over stories about neighbors - whom she likened to playful, trusting otters - as she watched them make themselves vulnerable and saw them get preyed upon all too often. It was her hope that over time, this Fund would grow both in size and in its ability to show victimized members of our community that we care.

Worker Access to Justice Fund Established 2008

Unlawful employment practices are common, but often go unchecked because many workers lack access to affordable legal assistance. This fund was designed to help workers challenge exploitative and unfair labor practices, especially in cases where retaining a private attorney is not economically feasible. Challenging these types of workplace violations helps workers maintain their dignity as equals in our community, regardless of their income.