OCE-SCCF Community Development Collaborations

The organizations share a director of community development, Katie Goforth, who oversees the SCCF community development committee, the SCCF grants committee, and the OCE’s philanthropy internship program. Additionally, the OCE’s director Amy Patterson serves on the board of SCCF. These professional ties connect the two organizations in ways that increase capacity, collaboration and resource sharing. This year, SCCF’s community development committee (CD committee) leaned heavily into collaboration to meet several major milestones: organizing working groups to tackle challenges around transportation and affordable, safe housing; planning around health equity; supporting resiliency and leadership among youth; and launching communities of practice. The CD committee’s working groups were formed around SCCF’s strategic priority funding areas identified by the 2022 SCCF community conversations.

The transportation working group chaired by Canale Intern Martha Goldsmith, C’25 has been exploring flexible, efficient and affordable transportation solutions for clients of Grundy County’s free medical clinics and food bank. Their work was informed by an earlier Capstone research project completed by Ruthie Lunsford, C’24.

The housing working group researched funding resources for low-income housing, then assisted the Housing Hub in becoming a 501c3 to position the organization to establish itself as a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO)—a private  nonprofit, community-based organization with the capacity to develop affordable housing.

SCCF was awarded a $50,000 Healthy Built Environment planning grant from the Tennessee Department of Health. In collaboration with Grundy County municipal governments, the Civic Design Institute, the OCE’s South Cumberland Plateau AmeriCorps Program, and Sewanee professor Dr. Katy Morgan, SCCF engaged community stakeholders of the towns connected by the Mountain Goat Trail rails-to-trails project. Focus group convenings in Tracy City, Coalmont, Gruetli-Laager, Palmer and Monteagle provided a rich collection of ideas for creating health equity for all residents. These will be used to develop a plan that will more effectively connect the people of Grundy County to the abundant recreational resources in this area and provide a pathway to greater health equity.

Every year, the Campora Family Resource Center holds the BOING Youth Leadership Conference for Franklin County middle and high school students. Seeking a larger venue, Campora reached out to the OCE to host the conference at the University. Goforth proposed expanding the conference to include students from Grundy County, Monteagle, and St. Andrews, with funding support from SCCF. Students were excited to visit the Sewanee campus, interact with campus volunteers, and enjoy lunch beneath the flags at McClurg. They were
empowered to explore their personal leadership potential and learn from guest speakers including motivational speaker Dr. Tommie Mabry. Campora Director Vanzant said, “By providing our students with the tools and inspiration to become leaders, we are investing in the future of our communities.”

Investing in leadership to promote nonprofit organizational capacity is the purpose of SCCF’s community of practice (CoP). The goals of this CoP are to share knowledge with one another, support and encourage one another, and integrate new knowledge to create change and improve the capacity. Led by SCCF community development committee chair Julie Keel along with Dr. Morgan and Goforth, nonprofit leaders participated in planning sessions to identify topics for CoPs. In 2024, these leaders will be supported in establishing CoPs and educational opportunities for other organizations on the Plateau on topics of funding strategies, marketing, and organizational development. Said SCCF Executive Director Tom Sanders, “This program really goes hand in hand with our growing emphasis on collaboration as a tool for success. We are so grateful to Katie Goforth, Katy Morgan, Julie Keel and all the partners involved for launching this program, which is destined to provide great leadership on the Plateau.”