Blue Monarch
Blue Monarch is a ten-year-old organization that provides a residential program for women and their children who seek to rebuild lives that have been damaged by abuse, addiction, incarceration, and other such challenges. The organization purchased the land and facilities that support its operation with a $980,000 loan, and it has steadily paid down the debt. This grant of $10,000 is in support of a final push to clear the remaining balance of $101,000 and enable Blue Monarch to undertake new plans to expand its services.
Grundy County Youth Leadership
Grundy County Youth Leadership, founded in 2005, provides monthly programs for selected high school sophomores and juniors to develop and train them for leadership roles in the county. The project introduces the class to a variety of experiences, including local and state government, economic opportunities, and the natural assets of the South Cumberland Park. This grant of $3050 provides seed money to reactivate the program with broader community support. The grant will be paid to the Grundy County Board of Education.
Grundy County Health Council
Grundy County Health Council seeks to improve the health of local residents and decrease health disparities in the community. A current focus of the Council is prevention and reversing obesity and diabetes through educational programs and physical activities. This grant of $3685 provides equipment to support the monitoring of weight, blood pressure, and blood glucose in the Reversing Diabetes program. The grant will be paid to the Grundy County Board of Education, which serves as fiscal sponsor of the Health Council.
Grundy County Historical Society
Grundy County Historical Society received a $10,000 grant from the Community Fund in 2012 to restore a Farquhar Locomotive Boiler that once powered a saw mill in Beersheba Springs. This supplemental grant of $6464 will enable the Historical Society to complete an outdoor exhibit area in which to display the Boiler.
Mountain Goat Trail Alliance
Mountain Goat Trail Alliance is working on a long-term project to develop a walking/biking trail along the old rail line that ran from Cowan to Palmer. A section of the trail from Sewanee to St. Andrews has been completed, and construction of an extension to Monteagle will begin this year. This grant of $15,000 will go toward the $30,000 purchase of additional railroad property in Grundy County.
North Elementary School
North Elementary School, in partnership with the Grundy County Health Council, is developing a quarter-mile walking track around the perimeter of the school in Altamont. This grant of $14,750 will complete the funding needed to build the track to serve as a safe environment for walking and running, not only for students and teachers, but for the local community. The grant will be paid to the Grundy County Board of Education.
S Double A Ranch
S Double A Ranch assists uninsured individuals and their families to overcome substance abuse through interaction with horses, art, music, and other faith-based recreational activities and twelve-step programs. This grant of $8500 will enable the Ranch to purchase the equipment and insurance necessary to establish a recycling program through which individuals can develop a stronger work ethic and sense of responsibility in preparation for more gainful employment. Moreover, the recycling program will generate revenues to support the recovery programs at the Ranch, plus provide an outlet for community service hours mandated by the courts, and foster a more responsible disposition toward the environment throughout the community.
Beersheba Springs Medical C
Beersheba Springs Medical Clinic was established in 2010 to provide free medical services, especially for the medically indigent in the area. Staffed with a nurse practitioner, office manager, and medical assistant, the organization recognizes the need for leadership to ensure the sustainability of the clinic. This grant of $15,000 will go toward the salary of an administrator who will help in an executive role for oversight and management, as well as lead a development campaign for long-term funding.
Hillcrest Village, Inc.
Hillcrest Village, Inc. operates two facilities, Hillcrest Village and Meadowood Apartments, to provide housing for elderly and disabled residents of the plateau. This grant of $5,000 will enable the organization to upgrade amenities that provide recreational and social outlets for the two facilities. These include handicapped accessible outdoor benches, tables, and container gardens, plus the conversion of office space at Meadowood to provide a room for crafts, devotionals, entertainment, and exercise. The grant will be paid to the First United Methodist Church of Tracy City.
Grundy County Swiss Historical Society
Grundy County Swiss Historical Society, host of the Annual Celebration for 38 years, maintains a Farm Museum to educate visitors about the unique history of the Swiss settlement in the Gruetli-Laager area. This grant of $15,000 will provide part of the funding needed to construct a pavilion with a metal roof reminiscent of the old Swiss school. The pavilion will ensure that there is covered space for the annual festival and a variety of other educational and community events.
Mountain T.O.P.
Mountain T.O.P. is a Christian mission that serves the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual needs of families of Tennessee’s Cumberland Mountains. Among other programs, the organization attracts youth and adults from across the country to do home repair in the area, and it operates day camps for Grundy County children in the summer. This grant of $4,500 provides partial subsidy for the new Neighbors Helping Neighbors week-long residential camp, where youth from small churches, mostly in Grundy County, can participate in the mission work of Mountain T.O.P., helping with projects like home repair and emotional support activities in their own region.
Town of Tracy City
Town of Tracy City, working with a downtown revitalization program sponsored by the State of Tennessee and with the Mountain Goat Trail Alliance, is seeking to establish a park on the south side of downtown on the site once occupied by the train depot and the Mountain Goat Railroad Roundhouse. The Town has offered to purchase the four-acre site for appraised value, and assuming that a contract can be successfully negotiated, this grant of $15,000 will go toward that purchase. The park is envisioned as a node on the biking/walking Trail between Cowan and Palmer, and as a complement to other downtown improvements.