WHAT WE DO.
At TJC we work to educate Tennesseans about how public programs work, what problems and gaps we see in our health safety net, and how these issues impact everyone in our state. From connecting the dots between health outcomes and childhood hunger, to working hand in hand to pursue a healthier future, we are working for you. We are here to help you cut through red tape barriers that stop too many Tennesseans from getting the assistance they need.
WHAT WE DO.
At TJC we work to educate Tennesseans about how public programs work, what problems and gaps we see in our health safety net, and how these issues impact everyone in our state. From connecting the dots between health outcomes and childhood hunger, to working hand in hand to pursue a healthier future, we are working for you. We are here to help you cut through red tape barriers that stop too many Tennesseans from getting the assistance they need.
HEALTH JUSTICE
TJC works to ensure all Tennesseans have access to affordable healthcare. All of our work is inspired by the courage and generosity of the families and children we are privileged to serve. We pursue that vision by assisting over a thousand individual clients each year, enabling us to identify systemic barriers to care that broadly affect many other families. We advocate — in the courts, before government agencies, in the state legislature, and before Congress — for policy changes to address those barriers and to increase access to and affordability of healthcare in Tennessee.
HEALTH JUSTICE
TJC works to ensure all Tennesseans have access to affordable healthcare. All of our work is inspired by the courage and generosity of the families and children we are privileged to serve. We pursue that vision by assisting over a thousand individual clients each year, enabling us to identify systemic barriers to care that broadly affect many other families. We advocate — in the courts, before government agencies, in the state legislature, and before Congress — for policy changes to address those barriers and to increase access to and affordability of healthcare in Tennessee.
OUR ISSUES
OUR ISSUES
BUILDING OUR FUTURE
OUR 27-YEAR SEARCH FOR A HOME
TJC has found a permanent home, and we need your help to continue to build our future! We've moved in to our new building on 155 Lafayette Street, in South Nashville, after many years of moving from place to place. During its 27-year history, TJC has been forced by development or rising rents to repeatedly move its offices around downtown Nashville, including stays in a condemned building and the basement of a parking garage. TJC was dislocated again when Atlanta developers bought their most recent office on Seventh Avenue and started demolition in preparation for the building’s conversion into a luxury boutique hotel. Even a historic pandemic and recession could neither slow the developers’ plans nor dampen Nashville’s raging real estate boom.
With the help of experts, TJC’s Board and management undertook an exhaustive yearlong search for rental space or property available for purchase. They concluded that TJC’s long-term stability would be best served by the purchase of its own building. More careful planning and assessment went into determining the financial
feasibility of that option.
WHAT OWNING A BUILDING MEANS FOR TJC
The new location provides TJC with a stable and long-term home, ensuring permanency and fostering a "Power of Proximity" that offers valuable insights and inspiration. The visible presence created by this space will effectively promote TJC's mission to volunteers, donors, and the public. Additionally, the cost of this location is significantly lower than the projected leasing option, minimizing rental rate increase risk and resulting in more resources dedicated to direct program delivery. The flexibility of the space allows for accommodating headcount fluctuations, supporting growth, or subleasing for additional income. Furthermore, this move relieves management of administrative burdens associated with multiple relocations and changing occupancy costs. Being close to downtown, volunteer lawyers, and the legislature, and in proximity to universities like Vanderbilt, Belmont, Fisk, TSU, and Trevecca, which serve as sources of interns and volunteers, further enhances community visibility, particularly for clients eligible for TJC's services.
THE SHOULDERS WE STAND ON
On the walls of our new building stand breathtaking tributes to civil rights and social justice trailblazers who paved the way for progress. These tributes include murals created by artists Charles Key and Omari Booker and portray iconic figures such as Rev. James Lawson, the Nashville 16, and Lady Justice. The inspiring artworks serve as a constant reminder of the shoulders we stand on in our ongoing pursuit of equity and justice. They also serve as an ode to the transformative impact of those who came before us, fueling our dedication to creating a brighter future for all!
HAVE YOUR SUPPORT WRITTEN IN STONE!
With a gift of $2,500 or more, you can have your name or desired message engraved onto one of our patio bricks and make your mark on TJC forever.
THANK YOU TO OUR CAPITAL CAMPAIGN DONORS!
$250,000+
Hays Foundation
Frank & Amy Garrison
Bill & Robin King
Ken & Lynn Melkus
Matt Wiltshire & Crissy Wieck
OUR FOREVER HOME
OUR NEW HOME
We have moved to 155 Lafayette Street in South Nashville! The building, site of a long-abandoned liquor store, is located in Nashville’s Cameron-Trimble neighborhood. The neighborhood has a proud 150-year history of struggle for racial and economic justice, but is also burdened by some of the most concentrated poverty in the city. The location will enable TJC to draw on the “power of proximity” to those we serve. As Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, has said, “Proximity is a pathway through which we learn the kind of things we need to know to make healthier communities.” Working in proximity to people and communities at risk “is where we are informed, energized, and feel the empathy that drives us to change the world.”
A New Resource for the Neighborhood
The renovation of the building on Lafayette will enhance TJC’s advocacy while making a positive contribution to the neighborhood. The new building will also create a striking physical landmark that celebrates and promotes justice and signals that TJC will be here for the long haul. That message is important at a time when Tennessee ranks at or near the bottom of numerous measures of social equity and family well-being, and there is so much work to be done. The Pew Trust reports that income inequality is greater in Tennessee than in any other place in America.
The percentage of our young children who are growing up in extreme poverty ranks Tennessee among the worst in the nation. Our new home will be situated in a neighborhood that experienced the highest rate of poverty in the Nashville area in 2016—with families in the 37210 zip code confronting a rate of child poverty more than twice the national average. Millions of Tennesseans, in urban and rural communities alike, are living on the margins and see their children’s opportunities for a better life shrinking. Becoming a permanent member of this community will materially improve TJC’s ability to shape a better future for the people living there, and for our state as a whole.
THE JOURNEY FROM THEN TO NOW
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR CAPITAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE
Co-Chairs: Amy and Frank Garrison
Cabinet Members:
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Mike Abelow
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Ronette Adams-Taylor
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Jim Barry
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Margaret Behm
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Rebecca McKelvey Castañeda
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Shannon Coleman Egle
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David Esquivel
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Deborah Farringer
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Sarah Fisher Gardial
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Jeff Gibson
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Nate Gilmer
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Riney Green
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La’Kishia Harris
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Josh Hedrick
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Jennifer Lankford
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Alex MacKay
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Neil McBride
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Nancy Fraas MacLean
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Dana Migliaccio
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Dr. Bob Miller
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Jerry Taylor
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John Tishler