Freed Inner Beauty

Written by Zac Cooper

Nashville’s April Volunteer of the Month is Tiffany Love Harden, a visionary leader and inspiring presence in our community.  One of Tiffany’s favorite quotes underscores her belief in the power of positive intentions: “Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are seeds. You can plant flowers, or you can plant weeds.”

Tiffany was raised in a family environment that included drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and other difficulties. Instead of letting this environment control her life, Tiffany focused on her track and field pursuits. This resulted in a full scholarship to study Social Work at East Tennessee State University. Tiffany’s path eventually led her to becoming the first African American Miss Tennessee in 2008.

After a mentally abusive relationship with a cocaine addict, Tiffany recognized her own mental trappings and understood how she positive thinking could save her life. She went on to create Beauty Behind Bars, which is described as “a life changing movement helping women become responsible role models in their home and communities while being leaders for the next generation.” Tiffany’s life is a “testimony of delivering [herself] through God” and she strives to deliver others into their best selves as well.

Nashville’s Volunteer of the Month is a program of Doing Good, a 501(c)3, nonprofit organization which educates and inspires people by celebrating the real stories of real people who volunteer. For additional information about Tiffany, Doing Good, or other volunteers, visit the website www.DoingGood.tv or @DoingGoodTV on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or YouTube.

 

 

Engagement Within the Community

Written by: Zac Cooper

Nashville’s March Volunteer of the Month is Erik Lindsey, a man with many passions and engagements around Nashville. Erik started his first business at 18 and is now the founder of Sound Planning Partners, a financial services firm based in Nashville.

Although there are many people who define themselves by their work, it would certainly be dishonest to introduce Erik as a wealth advisor. Erik has a variety of interests in fitness, nutrition, children, and travel, as well as an outrageous number of volunteering engagements around Nashville, including VICC Ambassadors, NeedLink, Friends of Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, NENA, Nashville Classical Charter School, as well as various other one-off volunteer events. For Erik, the “purpose of life is a life of purpose,” and there is no doubt that he embodies this driven lifestyle.

His two main outputs into the greater community are VICC Ambassadors and NeedLink. VICC Ambassadors is a group of young professionals that fundraises for innovative cancer research. Erik serves as a membership committee chair, focusing on building membership and educating new prospective members on the role of the organization. Erik works within multiple roles within NeedLink, an organization that provides emergency financial assistance to those in need. He is the Secretary of the executive committee, chair of the fundraising committee, and engages with the NeedLink community grant distribution process.

“I volunteer because I want to change the world around me by improving the lives of others. It also feels great to spend some of my time impacting the lives of my neighbors.” Erik is now campaigning for the 2018 Man of the Year through The Leukemia & Lymphoma society and you can contribute to his efforts to fight blood cancer.

Nashville’s Volunteer of the Month is a program of Doing Good, a 501(c)3, nonprofit organization which educates and inspires people by celebrating the real stories of real people who volunteer. For additional information about Erik, Doing Good, or other volunteers, visit the website www.DoingGood.tv or @DoingGoodTV on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or YouTube.

Better Teeth for a Better World

Written by: Zac Cooper

When was the last time you flossed? Was it yesterday? Last month? Whenever it was, you probably understand why it is important. Flossing techniques are drilled into many of our heads, and we take it for granted as common knowledge. For individuals without such a background, gum infections and abscesses may be the standard way of life. Dr. Andy Flipse is one such individual who works towards equalizing this knowledge and access to dental care.

Initially trained to work in the music industry, Dr. Flipse went back to school in his mid-forties to become a dentist. He was the oldest student in his class at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry. Dr. Flipse notes that his guitar experience and having strong finger dexterity gave him a leg up on dentist students without musical backgrounds. His musical training supported the physicality of surgical procedures, and it also added to the psychological dimension of dentistry.

“You develop your heart in music,” Dr. Flipse explains. “You develop compassion, you have an open heart,” which all contributes to a more loving relationship with his patients.

Dr. Flipse volunteers at the Interfaith Dental Clinic, a Murfreesboro nonprofit that provides affordable dental care to the working poor. The clinic’s volunteers and full time workers have used its state-of-the-art gear to contribute over $5 million in care to over 2,500 patients. Dr. Flipse is honored for his outstanding volunteer work, contributing over 80 hours to the Interfaith Dental Clinic. However, he wants to be clear that he is not alone: “I am just one of many dentists who are passionate and selfless about volunteering their time.”

Nashville’s Volunteer of the Month is a program of Doing Good, a 501(c)3, nonprofit organization which educates and inspires people by celebrating the real stories of real people who volunteer. For additional information about Dr. Flipse, Doing Good, or other volunteers, visit the website www.DoingGood.tv or @DoingGoodTV on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or YouTube.

 

 

 

 

Positivity in the Community

Written by Zac Cooper

When people hear the word “non-profit,” it is more than likely that one of the first comments will be about the low salaries involved in community work. January’s Volunteer of the Month, Keena Alexander, is an example of a selfless individual who not only powers this community-building, but also understands its dire financials.

Keena grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and took pride in her community and city from a young age. She started working with Habitat for Humanity in high school and went on to earn a Master’s in Accountancy from the University of Mississippi. She currently works as a Senior Tax Analyst at Asurion.

As her main volunteering activity, Keena supports the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville, an organization which supports community development in the fields of education, financial stability, and health. To give you a sense of its magnitude within Nashville, United Way provided $7.5 million in community program investments in 2016.

Keena volunteers with the Allocations Board, so her job is to interview different Nashville nonprofits to find which ones would be the best fit for United Way’s funding. Her holistic understanding of organizational budgets, from an accounting mindset, has given her even more motivation to volunteer. After seeing the high expenses and low salaries in many of the nonprofits functioning in Nashville, Keena notes that we can all give back more; it’s just a matter of our priorities.

The legendary boxer Muhammed Ali inspired Keena when he said, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” She says in paying this service, she has “learned how to cultivate a heart of gratitude.”

Nashville’s Volunteer of the Month is a program of Doing Good, a 501(c)3, nonprofit organization which educates and inspires people by celebrating the real stories of real people who volunteer. For additional information about Keena, Doing Good, or other volunteers, visit the website www.DoingGood.tv or @DoingGoodTV on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or YouTube.

 

 

 

Haircuts for a Confident Community

Written by Zac Cooper

Uncle Classic Barbershop has been chosen as the December Volunteer of the Month due to their Giveback programming, which occurs around once a month. Working off the clock, barbers will volunteer at local nonprofits such as Park Center Nashville, which empowers people who have mental illness and substance use disorders and Centerstone Nashville, which delivers community-based behavioral health care. These barbers deliver high quality haircuts and conversation to individuals in need.

Amy Tangsley, the founder of Uncle Classic Barbers, imbues her company culture with a healthy sense of community focus. Uncle Classic fits in the space between an old-school salon for women and a widespread chain that is indifferent to the local culture. Although Uncle Classic may look like a chain on the surface, it is rooted locally and engaged in the Nashville community.

“If you’re not intentional about your company culture,” she says, “it will create itself.” Amy has directed the culture to be more community and people oriented, as opposed to just taking in and churning out customers. She notes that there is a major difference in how she frames her work. She could say, “I own a barbershop and we cut hair.” This is true, but it ignores the fundamental aspect of why she works every day. Instead, she owns a barbershop and they take care of people. This mindset of taking care of others trickles through in each of Uncle Classic’s locations in Brentwood, Belle Meade, Cool Springs, Hillsboro Village, and Nolensville.

 

Service for a Larger Purpose

Written by: Zac Cooper

November’s Nashville Volunteer of the Month is Jacky Gomez, a community leader who deals with Hispanic and immigrant issues. She works as a receptionist at the Hispanic Foundation, a Program Coordinator with YMCA Latino Achievers, and a volunteer with the Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition.

An overarching theme in Jacky’s engagements is her will to support others to become their best selves. Her work at the YMCA, especially, is focused on the volunteer experience and how individuals can serve with their own sense of purpose.

In each of these endeavors, Jacky understands the opportunity she has to better her community. Jacky emigrated from Mexico at age two, and through her life, has engaged with the world through a bicultural lens. Despite growing up in a single parent household and dealing with financial struggles, Jacky was able to earn a scholarship to attend Lipscomb University, one of the first universities to offer scholarships to undocumented individuals.

As an immigrant herself, she has a unique perspective and grounding to drive her community work. She notes the importance of being “conscious and aware of the need of the community” and that she has been fortunate to work in places that do just that.

Walk Into Your Kingdom

By: Annie Low

Carleigh Frazier, this month’s Nashville Volunteer of the Month, is a senior Biology major at Fisk University. She recently had the pleasure of running for Miss Fisk University and her platform was based on Deuteronomy 1:5-8. This verse reminds her that in the midst of struggle and grief, “that my purpose is promised to me and that all I need to do is persevere.”

Carleigh used her campaign as a way to help others grow closer to God. When she didn’t win the title, she remained happy for the woman who won. She was able to do this by remembering that her plan is not God’s plan.

She is able to incorporate this idea into her work with Project Transformation and the  Nashville Rescue Mission. Carleigh works with children who don’t have the best opportunities and can be frustrated. She reminds them, “You are important, you are royalty. Your plan is already laid out for you, and it is good.”

Compassionate Heart

Written by: Annie Low

Monica Cooley is this month’s honored volunteer because she posses the qualities it takes to be an excellent volunteer. John Wesley once said, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” Not only does Monica love and believe in this quote, she also strives to live by it everyday. Monica is kind, trustworthy, and an upstanding citizen in her community, which are all characteristics Monica believes a good volunteer should have.

Monica grew up with parents who valued loving and serving others and she has carried that into her adult life as well. Not only does she like serving, but she also enjoys being able to see the change she has made and to know she was part of making someone else’s life better.

Whether it is serving at the Global Education Center as a dance instructor or on the Board for the Global Education Center or even as a tour guide and host family for the Sri Ganesha Temple, Monica serves others without thinking of how it benefits her.

Engineering Enthusiasm

Nashville’s Volunteer of the Month Chuck Sclemm
Written by: Kingsley East

“I volunteer to help inspire students to pursue science and technology interests which will improve their lives and our culture, and to educate the public about space science and space exploration and the excitement of new possibilities.” This month’s honored volunteer is Chuck Schlemm, an engineer, astronomer, and space enthusiast. Chuck has been an engineer for forty years, astronomer for twenty years, and a volunteer for decades. Chuck volunteers with various space organizations like the Middle Tennessee Space Society, Vanderbilt University’s Dyer Observatory, and the Adventure Science Center. Through each of these groups, Chuck hopes to reach a young generation of students who can shape the world and be a part of new discoveries and technologies.

Chuck hopes that as the space program grows, it will offer more people hope for the future and a positive way to find new energy sources. His volunteer work centers on making space exhibits and talking to kids about their potential and passion for learning and exploration. He said that connecting with kids who are clearly passionate about a specific area of math or science makes volunteering worth it. Chuck encourages others to use their passions to reach children and help shape their futures, as he said, “In general, anyone who wants to share their passions or career fields ought to share that with kids to get them enthused and show them how to use what they’re learning in school.”

Advocating for his community

Keith McLean
Written by: Cole Gray

Keith McLean of Franklin is Doing Good’s Nashville Volunteer of the Month for his work in advocating for the North Nashville community around Jefferson Street.

McLean, a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, is involved with Jefferson Street United Merchants’ Partnership, Elam Mental Health Center at Meharry Medical College and The SONS Organization (Solving Our Negative Stereotypes), all of which focus on different aspects of advocacy around North Nashville, but ultimately relate to community development.

Where does his passion come from? McLean cites his mother as one of his biggest influences. A longtime social worker, she created a school-partnered backpack program for underprivileged children that enabled them to eat on weekends. But after college, he found himself in the for-profit worlds of the music, healthcare and finance industries.

Attending the Temple Church in North Nashville, however, caused McLean to adopt the North Nashville community, particularly Jefferson Street, a hub of minority-owned businesses and predominantly black residents.

“I was looking for something to be involved in in Nashville that spoke to people that looked like myself,” McLean said. “Me, myself, I am black. I wanted to speak to something that spoke to the black community.”

The many facets of McLean’s volunteer work are making him a pillar of his adopted North Nashville community.