The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, a charitable organization dedicated to enriching the quality of life in 40 Middle Tennessee counties and beyond, announces $2,397,870 in grants to 365 local nonprofit organizations as part of the 2019 annual grant-making process.

The grants will benefit nonprofits in 28 area counties: Bedford, Cannon, Cheatham, Coffee, Cumberland, Davidson, DeKalb, Dickson, Franklin, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Maury, Montgomery, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Rutherford, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Warren, White, Williamson and Wilson counties.

The top three awards categories were: Arts and Humanities (18 percent), Human Services-Children (15 percent of the grants), and Education (14 percent).

"The Community Foundation is honored to connect generosity with need through these annual grants and through other avenues throughout the year, but we couldn’t have the impact we do without the many nonprofits offering solutions to our community’s needs and vital services to our neighbors," said Ellen Lehman, president of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. "Thanks to the generous support of our donors, and the work of dedicated and talented nonprofits, we are able to fund solutions which address Middle Tennessee’s emerging needs and opportunities."

Grant recipients in Davidson County include:

Actors Bridge Ensemble Theater of Nashville Inc: To create a professional training program for emerging theater directors of color to be employed by all local theater companies.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee: To provide one-to-one mentoring relationships to 300 or more children of prisoners through the Amachi program.

Cheekwood: Destination Cheekwood provides enriching, multi-generational outing with all expenses covered  for low-income Tennessee students and their family members.

Conexion Americas: To provide microentreneurship training to 220 Latino immigrant adults.

End Slavery Tennessee: To provide intensive and full-spectrum aftercare services for 96 human trafficking survivors who live in our safe house.

Frist Art Museum: To provide opportunities for Middle Tennessee youth to engage in community, learn leadership skills, and develop creativity through teen programs.

Jewish Family Service of Nashville and Middle TN, Inc.:  Operating support for conducting adoption home studies, assisting with child placement and conducting post-placement supervision visits for the GLBTQ community.

Nashville Ballet: To provide arts education and learning experiences for 20,000 children and adults in diverse communities across Middle Tennessee.

Nashville CARES: This proposal requests $4,750 to purchase 500 kits to provide HIV testing to 500 non-gay women, men and youth

Nashville in Harmony: To provide LGBTQ+ youth from across Middle Tennessee opportunities to discover their voice, build community, and self-advocate through musical performance.

Nashville Launch Pad, Inc.: We provide street-free sleep in the winter months for young adults, 18-24 in an LGBTQ-affirming atmosphere.

Nashville Repertory Theatre: To offer professional theater arts education and mentorship for area youth ages 7-23 via the NEW Nashville Rep Youth Conservatory.

Neighborhood Health: To increase access to retinal eye screening for 200 patients with diabetes.

OZ Arts Nashville: To provide artistic community engagement programming for diverse underserved participants to explore individual and collective burdens and to foster empathy.

Sexual Assault Center: To provide specialized therapy, advocacy, and support to 30 low-income girls and women who have been sexually assaulted.

Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition: To ensure that Middle Tennessee's immigrant and refugee residents are accurately counted in the 2020 Census.

Tennessee Performing Arts Center: To bring professional artist residencies to Pre-K classrooms: 30-minute sessions offered 2x/week for 6-7 weeks, in the spring semester.

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