South Cumberland Community Fund

Results: Since its inception in 2012, SCCF has awarded more than $940,000 in grants to 61 nonprofit organizations across the region, has invested $419,000 in sustainable community development initiatives, and brought more than $3 million in federal funding to the Mountain through the South Cumberland Plateau AmeriCorps Vista Project. Highlights of recent projects that have come about as a result of these initiatives include BetterFi, a project created by a former AmeriCorps VISTA member that was one of five programs honored at the 2019 AmeriCorps VISTA Awards ceremony held in Washington, D. C. in September. BetterFi, an answer to predatory lending, received the Most Innovative Project award. Additionally, in the area of community development through our work with the communities of the Plateau, for the first time, in July 2019, SCCF was able to convene early grade (K-3rd) teachers and staff from the 8 elementary schools on the Plateau for two days of teacher training, focused on the Language Arts portion of Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program testing. The networking, support, and skills learned from this effort were greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm by all participants, and another workshop has already taken place in October 2019, with more to follow in 2020. In the grant-giving realm one of the most far-reaching projects funded to-date is an SCCF grant awarded to fund a recovery and reentry program at Grundy County Jail. One of the elements of this program was the establishment of an extensive garden on jail grounds, including a garden and greenhouse. The garden provides the detention facility with fresh produce, allowing kitchen staff to prepare healthier meals, and provides inmates with valuable gardening skills, giving them the opportunity to develop responsibility and accountability while incarcerated. Two inmates have gone on to acquiring staff jobs with the University of the South's dining services.

Target demographics: Grundy County is recognized as the most economically challenged county in Tennessee, ranking 95th out of 95 counties. In January 2019, Governor Bill Lee named as his first executive order the establishment of an initiative to accelerate rural development in 15 of the neediest counties in Tennessee. These counties are also among the 10 percent most economically challenged counties nationwide. South Cumberland Community Fund's stated vision, created in 2011, supports the Governor's goal: that the Plateau be a place of hope and prosperity for all its residents and communities, inspired by the Fund’s philanthropic and regional leadership.

Direct beneficiaries per year: In 2019, SCCF has provided grants to a total of 22 nonprofit organizations totaling $123,335, and also invested $68,500 in community development in the eight towns of the Plateau with the potential of reaching approximately 16,260 residents. In addition, 13 AmeriCorps VISTA members have served this year at nonprofit sites located in Grundy County, Monteagle, and Sewanee.

Geographic areas served: All of Grundy County, and parts of Franklin and Marion counties, a somewhat isolated community located 1,000 feet above the valley floor on the South Cumberland Plateau in rural Tennessee.

Programs: SCCF sponsors a grants program every year that provides funds for sustainable, innovative projects to nonprofits across the South Cumberland Plateau. The organization also provides funds for community development programs in the eight elementary schools and for other nonprofit programs on the Plateau, such as early reading programs and teacher trainings. And, in a unique collaboration with the University of the South (Sewanee), SCCF co-sponsors a vibrant AmeriCorps VISTA program whose members provide support for sustainable projects for as many as 14 nonprofit organizations across the Plateau.