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2020-21 annual report

Values guide how we grow and develop. As an organization, they indicate how we operate in the communities we serve and exist in the world around us.

For this year’s annual report, we want to focus on how important our values are by demonstrating how we live them in everything we do.

The COVID-19 pandemic upended our ability to meet with families in-person, but it never stopped our dedicated team from their passion: serving families. Our focus on meeting families where they are meant we kept an open mind and an open heart as we established new and creative ways to conduct home visits. We also grew our parent mentorship program and provided vital resources to expecting parents and growing families.

Despite all of the challenges that came our way, we never stopped serving children.

We know that none of what we accomplished this year, and plan to accomplish in the future, would be possible without generous, loyal supporters like yourself.

Thank you for your support and commitment to raising the next generation, together. We, at Nurture the Next, are beyond grateful for it.

Kristen Davis, LAPSW

President & CEO

This past year was filled with uncertainty, but we leaned into all the difficult decisions that came our way.

Changing overnight to virtual home visits and events was not without its challenges, but the dedication of our staff meant we never stopped meeting parents where they were.

We’re advocating for children and bridging the divide between Domestic Violence Shelters and the Department of Child Services (DCS).

Currently, shelters and DCS have different ways of keeping children safe and away from violence.

We want to be certain that efforts to protect children from unsafe environments don’t lead to unintended consequences that negatively impact children and their development.

By facilitating training and providing technical support between these two organizations, we will continue to advocate for children and ensure their safety is at the heart of the solution.

We’re grateful to the TN Office of Criminal Justice Programs for their grant funding of this project.

We know that parenting is impossibly hard at times, which is why it is so important to share our struggles and celebrate our successes.

We hosted Nesting with Nurture the Next events to share with new and expecting parents the tools, resources, and support we have to offer them.

We also celebrated ourselves. In June, Nurture the Next celebrated our first birthday. Well, sort of. Last year, we changed our name to focus on all the ways we help children grow into resilient and capable adults. To celebrate our young brand, we threw birthday parties at each of our three offices to celebrate our team and partners.

One of the best ways to nurture healthy childhoods is to support parents from the beginning of their parenting journey. Our Nurture® TN program is a text-based mentorship program that connects new moms who need support with experienced moms who have completed training. We piloted this program last year, and after proving the need for more easily accessible parenting support, we made Nurture® TN a permanent new program at Nurture the Next this year.

We know that the more families we reach, the more children in Tennessee will have an opportunity for a bright, prosperous future. That is why we always strive to grow and improve our services.

This year:

…expanded our services into five additional counties.

…added a new layer of support for families with our peer advocates, who themselves have received our home visiting services. With their unique perspectives, our peer advocates will serve as a vital resource for our team while also expanding the assistance we are able to provide families—including on matters unrelated to our direct services curriculum

…increased access to the 24/7 domestic violence helpline by adding chat and text features. More and more, people utilize chat and texting as their primary method of communication, so these new features provide a new level of comfort for those reaching out for help.

Thank you to all those who supported our value driven work in 2020-2021!

A special thanks to our incredible Board of Directors for their steadfast dedication and passionate assistance living out our mission. Their effort makes a huge impact not only on our team, but the hundreds of families we served this year.

We also recognize our Regional Action Boards for their targeted support within their local communities.