Health, Funding Threaten Adult Education Center

They have helped low-income Nashville residents improve their future, but now Better Tomorrows Adult Education Center needs help to secure its future. This nonprofit organization offers free classes in literacy, GED preparation, and computer skills in order to help local residents in and around the Dickerson Road area further their education and increase their employment value. Yet soon it may be forced to close its doors due to health, relocation, and funding issues.

Better Tomorrows (BTAEC) is a nonprofit organization founded four years ago to help underserved Nashville adults earn a GED, increase literacy levels, and develop computer skills. The organization currently serves 75 students and plans to expand its operations to help serve the 68,000 Nashvillians without a high school diploma and the 20% of Nashvillians with low literacy skills, including 100 students on their waiting list (according to the 2000 U.S. Census). “We have just been inundated with people that want desperately to learn and improve their lives,” said co-founder Tammy Unruh. “Right now, we have 50 volunteer tutors that encourage students, provide one-on-one attention, and help remove as many barriers as possible to student success.”

BTAEC fills a desperate need for adult education services in East Nashville where almost half of all adults lack a high school diploma. Currently, they offer eight classes in GED, Literacy, and Computer Skills. Each class is free and provides a flexible schedule for students juggling education goals with hectic work and family responsibilities.

“You can tell they really care,” says GED student Anastasia Batey, “They’re always encouraging.” Vera Perry, yet another GED student, chimes in, “You get more one-on-one attention here. I’ve learned a lot.”

The center’s future plans had included the opening of Satellite Education Centers in other depressed areas of the city in order to reach a larger number of Nashville residents who need job training and literacy help. Progress was also being made toward moving into a facility that could accommodate more students, more computers, and more classrooms. Currently based out of the Ray of Hope Community Church on Meridian Street, the organization was looking forward to its eventual move across the street into Fountain Blue, a 6,000-square-foot historic home built in the 1840s by early Nashville settler James McGavock. The church, which owns the building, has generously leased the historic building to the non-profit organization for $1 a year. Plans are already underway to renovate Fountain Blue for Better Tomorrows, with volunteers pitching in and in-kind support offered by Sara Gillum Interiors and the Home Builders Association of Middle Tennessee. The additional space will allow for more classes to be taught and more students to attend.

Now, the organization and its innovative plans are in jeopardy as each co-founder faces radical life changes. Co-founder Mary Humber was recently diagnosed with cancer. While her treatment is going well, she still needs to continue to focus on her health and recovery. Tammy Unruh, the only other staff member, is moving to Kentucky as her minister husband transfers to a new church.

“The board would like to hire individuals to build on Mary and Tammy’s success,” says BTAEC board member Eddie Gwock, “but we are hampered by a serious shortage of funding despite generous donations from foundations and corporate sponsors such as Dollar General, Gannett and The Community Foundation.” For most of the four years of Better Tomorrows’ existence, Humber and Unruh have chosen to direct available funds toward meeting students needs before paying salaries. Therefore, funds must now be raised in order to hire a replacement staff as well as to continue the program expansion.

Better Tomorrows Computer Skills graduate and literacy tutor Larry Holt sums it up well, “If we have a literacy problem in this city, then places like this don’t need to be closing. It’s just going to keep the welfare system overloaded. A lot of people in this community are dependent on this program. I benefited from it, and now I’m turning around and helping someone else.” Batey agrees, “Their volunteers are so nice. It’s inspired me to find a place to volunteer my time.”

For more information about Better Tomorrows’ needs and how you can help, call Development Director and Co-Founder Tammy Unruh, 228-6525.

Some things YOU need to know about the need for Adult Education

In Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County:

68,000 adults aged 25 and over lack a high school diploma
5,000 youth aged 16 to 24 lack a high school diploma
80,000 adults reading at lowest level of literacy

Other Adult Education facts:

Individuals with a high school diploma or GED realize a 35% increase in median annual earnings over non-high school grads (Source: Occupational Outlook Quarterly: Spring 2002).

When adults enter literacy programs and improve their literacy skills, their children tend to have fewer nutrition and health problems, drop out of school less, and have fewer teen pregnancies, less joblessness, and less social alienation.
(Source: U.S. Adult Literacy Programs: Making a Difference, ProLiteracy America, March, 2003)