Progress staff and folks supported were featured on WKRN News 2 Nashville in a story about front line workers during the pandemic.

WSMV News 4 Nashville interviewed staff Connie Marable & Pam Styles, and their work with Page during the pandemic.

After many years of fundraising and months of construction, we are pleased to announce the new Program Building is complete! A huge thank you to every individual, foundation and business who made the building possible. The new building will house Residential and Senior Services programs, and has also made space for a new Employment Center on campus. Take a tour of the new building in the video below. An Open House will be held this spring, stay tuned for details!

The 2019 Annual Report is available! We are pleased to share the many accomplishments achieved in programming over the past year. Thank you to all of our supporters for helping to make these accomplishments possible!

​The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, a charitable organization dedicated to enriching the quality of life in the 40 Middle Tennessee counties it serves, announces $2,379,000 in grants to 365 nonprofit organizations as part of the 2019 annual grantmaking process.
 
Progress has received a $5,000 grant to provide training to 31 staff who will be supporting people with intellectual disabilities and seniors.
 
“The work of our nonprofit partners has never been more important as we watch needs emerge and evolve in this community,” said Ellen Lehman, president of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. “The Community Foundation is honored to connect generosity with need through these annual grants and other avenues throughout the year, but we couldn’t have an impact without the array of quality nonprofits offering solutions to our community’s needs and vital services to our neighbors.”
 
The Community Foundation awards discretionary grants annually from its unrestricted and field-of-interest funds through an open application process to Middle Tennessee nonprofits organizations addressing community needs and benefiting the well-being of citizens through valuable programs and innovative services.
 
More information on the grant process is online at www.cfmt.org.
 
About Progress
Founded in 1971, Progress promotes health, happiness and safety for people with disabilities and senior adults needing care. Progress provides a variety of programming to help people with intellectual disabilities and seniors live independently. Programs include Residential support, Employment training, Senior Services, Community-Based Day programming and Smart Art + Craft Supplies, a social enterprise that sells upcycled arts and crafts materials while providing employment and training to people with disabilities. Through these programs we serve approximately 250 people throughout Middle Tennessee.
 
About The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
The Community Foundation exists to promote and facilitate giving in the 40 counties of
Middle Tennessee and beyond. It does this by accepting gifts of any size from anyone at
any time and by empowering individuals, families, companies, nonprofits and
communities to respond to needs and opportunities that matter. The Community
Foundation works with people who have great hearts, whether or not they have great
wealth, to craft solutions that reflect their intentions and goals. For more information, call
615-321-4939 or visit www.cfmt.org. 

Progress has now launched Quarterly Deliveries for the Taking Care of Business program! Taking Care of Business provides pre-vocational training for people with disabilities. Progress Ambassadors deliver a dozen donuts to local businesses, and during the delivery have an opportunity to practice shaking hands, introducing themselves and work on communication skills. The program aims to provide exposure to many different types of business settings to people who are interested in learning to work, while encouraging local businesses to interact with and consider candidates with disabilities for roles within their companies. Deliveries help the people Progress supports connect further with the local community, and helps the local community get to know their neighbors with disabilities better. 

Quarterly deliveries are just that - deliveries made on a quarterly basis for businesses who sign up. Quarterly deliveries consist of different items that offices may need or enjoy, including office plants, beverage mixes, and more. 

The first quarterly deliveries took place on June 12th, and ambassadors made deliveries to The Nashville Predators, Warner Elementary and Crichton Group. 

To sign up for a one-time donut delivery or the quarterly delivery program, sign up here. 

We are so proud of Jamal for winning The Arc's Work Initiative Award! The Work Initiative Award is given to one individual who is an employee with a disability who has positively contributed to a workplace setting.

Jamal has worked in janitorial services at Progress since 2017. In just two and a half years he grew exponentially and is now a vital part of the Progress team. Jamal began his role with a job coach, Chris Carr, who supported him as he learned the ropes of the job. Within months, Jamal was working without a job coach and able to be completely independent throughout his day. He empties trash cans and recycling, cleans the bathrooms, shreds documents, and keeps Progress looking tidy throughout the week.
 
In addition to his exceptional work ethic, Jamal greets every single person with a big smile and “Hello, how are you?” When anyone responds with “Good, how are you?” he always responds with “Blessed. Thank you!” During the holidays, Jamal even decorates a tree in the day program for all of us. It is one of his favorite projects throughout the year, and staff and other people we support always look forward to seeing the final results. This is not a requirement of the job at all, it’s just something he likes to do for us. Jamal always has a pep in his step and brings smiles to everyone’s day. He is thorough, polite, and does an outstanding job. We are a better organization with Jamal on our team. He works tirelessly, is always happy to help, and goes above and beyond to bring happiness to our workplace.

Congratulations, Jamal, we are so proud of you!

Thanks to a generous donation from Connie and Mike Schingle and in honor of Connie's aunt Patricia (a former client of Progress for many years) 75 of the people we support and their staff enjoyed a day at the Nashville Zoo on  May 8th! Everyone had a great time, and enjoyed seeing all kinds of creatures great and small. We are extremely grateful for this generous contribution that made such a special day for our folks!

March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, and Progress recognized the month with a "See Me for Me" campaign. We asked people we support to describe themselves in one word. See the results below!

We were pleased to be featured in a video by TNCO ACTS that will be used to recruit Direct Support Professionals throughout the state! The video follows Progress DSPs and people they support throughout their day. Filming took place during the summer of 2018, and the video will be shared with legislators, on social media, and through a variety of other formats. DSPs are truly heroes, and we hope the video encourages many more to join the field!