PROJECT CONNECT NASHVILLE
Annual Report
RELATIONSHIP • EDUCATION • RESOURCES
Project Connect Nashville exists to break the poverty cycle through relationship, resources, & education in partnership with the local church.
In The Rearview Mirror PROJECT CONNECT NASHVILLE 2020
N
one of us could have foreseen the challenges of 2020 in Middle Tennessee! It was unprecedented in the number and duration of events that changed the landscape of Nashville. But I believe that history will judge in glowing terms how we as a community came together to serve our brothers and sisters as we all faced unspeakable tragedy and loss from the tornado, the pandemic, the bombing and the everyday traumas of living in a broken world. You, our volunteers and financial donors, walked beside us as Project Connect Nashville worked to rebuild, heal, and bring hope as a testament to God’s love for all His children.
and partner organizations served over 65,000 hot meals from our North Nashville campus. At our Woodbine and Madison campuses, PCN worked with church and community disaster relief funding to help those with housing needs due to the disasters find a place to call home. During all this unexpected opportunity, our staff and volunteers continued the everyday work of connection management, workforce developent, addiction recovery, trauma healing, and all the educational aspects of overcoming poverty that are the core of Project Connect Nashville. To say it was a challenging year for all is an understatement, but the rewards were great.
provision through the church, individuals and community funding, we have added much needed resources in both our staffing and our programming. We thank you for helping us achieve all we have in 2020. We prayerfully ask you to help sustain this vital work through your financial gifts and your hours of volunteer service.
Our staff, volunteers and Board of Directors have been such a blessing as they stepped up to the challenge of Matthew 22:39, “to love our neighbors as ourselves.” After the tornado and during the pandemic, our staff, volunteers
We could not have possibly accomplished the work of 2020 had it not been for the ability to add additional staff. At the beginning of last year, PCN had six full time employees. Today, we have sixteen! Because of God’s
God bless you for being on this journey with us. We could not do it without you.
2020 is in the rearview mirror. 2021 is known only to God. We trust Him to provide for our future as he has provided for our past. Now, let’s take a look at this past year in the following pages. We think you will be astounded by all that God has done through PCN in this difficult year!
Blessings,
Alan Murdock Executive Director
Where We Work + NUMBER OF PEOPLE SERVED
MADISON
195
NORTH NASHVILLE
800
WOODBINE
75
DAVIDSON COUNTY | TENNESSEE
Relationship
Project Connect Nashville sees healthy relationships as being the key that begins to break the cycle of poverty. Not only did God create us to walk in relationship with Him, but He also wants us to know our own selves—our strengths and the areas of our lives that we need to be seeking growth in, and He wants us to have healthy relationships with people that will hold us accountable to that growth. Our staff and volunteers strive to walk humbly with those that we serve by being transparent and honest about our own lives and connect participants to the Gospel and ongoing community with the church.
39
132
270
ALLIES WALKING ALONGSIDE STUDENTS IN CLASS
COMMUNITY MEALS
INDIVIDUALS THAT MET ONE-ON-ONE WITH A CONNECTION MANAGER
Education
Education is at the heart of the services that Project Connect Nashville offers. We offer a core curriculum of four courses that empower each participant to climb the ladder out of a life of generational poverty. Those courses include: Work Life, Faith and Finances, The Story of God, and Trauma Healing. All PCN classes are built on providing a biblical understanding of how we honor God with our work, our finances and our lives, and how God’s love is present and restores dignity to all His children.
618
97%
88%
HOURS OF EDUCATION OFFERED
PEOPLE IN PCN THAT REMAINED IN OR IMPROVED HOUSING
WORK LIFE GRADUATES THAT MAINTAINED OR IMPROVED THEIR INCOME
Resources
We take a holistic approach to walking alongside individuals stuck in the cycle of poverty. While we do our best to connect our participants to educational and relationship resources, we also must touch their lives exactly where they are when they walk through our doors. For many, this means they are hungry, in need of clothing, housing, or a bus pass to get to their place of employment every day.
$6,855
$5,206
TRANSPORTATION
FOOD ASSISTANCE
$73,400
$26,742
$120,265
EMERGENCY HOUSING
OTHER EMERGENCY NEEDS
RENTAL ASSISTANCE
WHERE DOES YOUR STORY & GOD’S STORY...
Person Seeking Help Attends a class (primarily for the food) but catches a glimpse of hope
START
Comes from a hard place…
Comes across a person who talks about the education classes that PCN offers where food will be provided
Still lacks self-awareness and confidence but continues to show up
Realizes the staff and volunteers won’t give up on them and wants to be a support to family and friends
Children begin to receive less angry and hopeless responses
Through PCN’s key programming, starts to realize and unpack trauma
Work Life instructors and allies help them prepare for job interview
Interviews for a few jobs and gets the one that they really wanted
Attends class again, community starts to form
PCN celebrates victories and accomplishments along the journey
Sees the staff and volunteers consistently welcome, encourage and pray for them
Realizes self-worth and goes deeper with PCN’s programming (budgeting, trauma care, Bible study and more) Tries church again, realizing God is trustworthy even if people are flawed
...INTERSECT WITH THEIR STORY?
Person Seeking To Help Brings a meal to students taking classes
START
Discovers ways to plug in through personal passions
Connects with a trauma healing group on Sunday night
Learns how trauma impacts our personal stories
Continues to serve and invite friends and family to participate through serving and giving
Attends a Volunteer Equipping Session
Commits to walking with and encouraging a participant at PCN
Hears about PCN and inquires about getting involved
Realizes that knowing PCN participants and learning about their perspectives brings incredible value into their own life
Personal trauma resurfaces
Realizes the value of ministering to the whole person Awareness of how trauma impacts other areas of a person’s life
Connecting to the Local Church
Project Connect was built on the foundation of serving alongside the local church to address the effects of poverty and its impact on our clients and our community. We provide training directly to the church and offer opportunities for its members to connect with our clients as teachers, allies, and advocates. Without the involvement of the church and its members in the giving of their time, talents and treasure we could not provide the education, programs and services that we offer. We are committed to bringing the Lord’s love into our community and we thank the local church for partnering with us. As Jesus said in Luke 4 “‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” We rejoice in partnering with the church to bring the good news of Christ’s love for all.
35+
46
8
LOCAL CHURCHES CONNECTED THROUGH SERVING &/OR GIVING
INDIVIDUALS ATTENDED VOLUNTEER EQUIPPING SESSION
INDIVIDUALS CERTIFIED TO TEACH OUR CORE CLASSES
Tornado Relief & Covid
Relationship, Education and Resources. The three key components of all that PCN is built around were severely challenged in 2020. The year was different, and it was hard and PCN had to pivot several times to provide all that we typically offer to a hurting community. But out of the challenging times came new opportunities to serve, to engage new neighborhoods, and to offer new resources for the present moment. We are so thankful that God used us to help meet needs across Davidson County in a safe and life-giving way. Our relationships may have developed via Zoom, our classes may have been held online, and our volunteers may have been masked and gloved, but we answered the call of spreading God’s message of hope and resilience through it all! And that service continues as we are still on the ground rebuilding houses, serving meals and listening to the stories of our neighbors. Thank you for walking alongside us as we ministered in this most unusual year in Nashville.
65k
$92.2k
HOT MEALS SERVED TO THE NORTH NASHVILLE COMMUNITY
HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROVIDED TO COVID-IMPACTED FAMILIES
Looking Ahead
2020 WAS A HUGE YEAR OF GROWTH FOR US, AND WE ARE EXCITED TO SEE WHAT GOD HAS IN STORE FOR US IN THE YEAR TO COME!
Since 2013, we have existed to bring hope to hurting communities in Nashville. The growth that we have experienced this year in meeting so many new churches, volunteers, and partners brings us much hope that we will be able to serve many more families searching for hope in the coming years.
Sources & Allocations 3% 8%
12%
13%
16% 44%
37% 68%
SOURCES OF
ALLOCATION OF
INCOME Grants*
$ 549,000
EXPENSES Programming
$ 790,462
Individuals/Foundations $ 467,000
Operational Expenses
$ 180,311
Churches Monthly Contributors
$ 145,300
Fundraising/Marketing
$ 147,163
$ 100,000
Rent/Utilities
$ 38,097
TOTAL
$ 1,261,300
Increase of 64% from 2019
TOTAL
$ 1,156,033
Increase of 62% from 2019
* The Grant allocation includes a large grant from Brentwood Baptist Church for the Woodbine location. The grant is a 3-year initiative and we just completed the 1st year.
Board
2020 PCN BOARD ROSTER JOEL ANDERSON LAURA BARNES APRIL BLALOCK LEILANI BOULWARE GRANT ELLIS MARK HARMON (PRESIDENT) KERRY HAYMAKER JEREMY KELTON FERNANDO MUNOZ MARCUS ROWE ASHLEY SAIN BARB SMITH ANNIE VAUGHN HOWARD VARNEDOE KIMBERLY YOUNG
Ways to Get Connected
WE HAVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL TYPES OF
VOLUNTEERS THE ENCOURAGER THE FOODIE THE ORGANIZER THE EDUCATOR THE EXPERT THE ADMINISTRATOR THE PRAYER WARRIOR THE AMBASSADOR
STEP 1
STEP 2
SCAN THIS QR CODE & FILL OUT OUR ONLINE VOLUNTEER APPLICATION
ATTEND A VOLUNTEER EQUIPPING SESSION
PROJECTCONNECTNASHVILLE.GALAXYDIGITAL.COM QUESTIONS? EMAIL — VOLUNTEER@PROJECTCONNECTNASHVILLE.ORG
10 YEAR CHALLENGE : NASHVILLE
2010
2020
MINIMUM WAGE
MINIMUM WAGE
$7.25
$7.25
AVERAGE RENT
AVERAGE RENT
$876
$1,399
MADISON
WOODBINE
NORTH NASHVILLE
107 WOODRUFF STREET MADISON, TN 37115
29 WHITSETT ROAD NASHVILLE, TN 37210
1813 KNOWLES STREET NASHVILLE, TN 37208
ProjectConnectNashville.org