Our Heroic Clients
TJC’s work is inspired by the individual clients we serve. Though we engage in systemic reform efforts, we also work extensively with families to get them the services they need. From children who need speech therapy or nursing services to adults who are being told they no longer qualify for TennCare and the life-saving services they need, TJC is committed to helping our clients fight for the services they need. For the past few years, we have been honoring “Mothers of the Year” who go the extra mile for their children in. Here are just a few of the stories of the wonderful people we’ve served over the past 15 years.
Read our Client’s Stories
Marvin
At the age of 7, Marvin was the victim of an accidental shooting that left him a quadriplegic. Medical professionals encouraged his mother to place him in an institution. She refused. As Marvin grew, she could no longer lift him and give him the basic care he needed. His health was in danger. Marvin’s doctors prescribed home health services. TennCare and its MCOs denied these home health services for Marvin even though Marvin’s doctors said they were medically necessary for him.
Continue reading Marvin’s story…
Artist, Wife, and Mother with Lou Gehrig’s Disease Faced Foreclosure
Erin Brady Worsham is an artist whose colorfuland thought-provoking works have been exhibited internationally. She was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 1994. Erin and her husband Curry have lived in their East Nashville home for 21 years, and their son Daniel, 15, has lived there his whole life. On May 12, Bank of America foreclosed on their mortgage and took title to the home. On September 7, we raised enough money to pay off the Worshams’ mortgage.
More client stories
TJC is committed to helping our clients fight for the services they need. Continue reading our client’s stories below, or browse all of our their stories by clicking here.
- Rosalina
- James
- Jonathan
- Carolyn and Lloyd
- Sammy
- Shelby
- Vincent
- Austin
- Connor
- Chance
- Sandy
- Mark P.
- Jada
TJC Mothers of the Year
Working with families in times of crisis, TJC has witnessed the extraordinary love of mothers. We have seen women struggling to care for families that include critically ill children and do so with grace and humor. We heard women whose children have died bravely testify so that other mothers will be spared such grief. We have stood with parents who persistently advocate for not only their own children, but all children in need of health care. We have a deep respect for each of these women and the difference they are making in the world.
Every Mother’s Day we honor the Tennessee Justice Center Mothers of the Year. We choose as many as six women per year who, in the midst of their own family’s medical crisis, speak out to help other families. Our staff recruits volunteer photographers, and then provides our honorees with framed “Mother of the Year” certificates and framed family photos.
“The responses from the women TJC honors have been overwhelming. When I called my client, a single mother who was working full-time while finishing high school, and told her she had been selected, she cried for 20 minutes,” says Kate Crosby, a former paralegal at TJC. “For many of our clients, this is first time in their lives that anyone told them that they are leaders, examples, heroes.”
