A Vision for Chattanooga’s Next Great Public Space Montague Park sits at a centerpoint of Chattanooga’s urban valley – 45 acres of public land full of potential to be a gathering place for thousands of diverse residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. Already home to Sculpture FIelds, a nationally acclaimed sculpture park, Montague will soon welcome...
Construction Career Center Turns One Leslie Gower, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of East Tennessee (AGC East TN), knew years ago that the industry faced a looming crisis. People were aging out of construction trades, and young people were no longer entering the field. Through diligent effort and intentional partnerships she welcomed a standing...
Pop-Up Project Employs Dance as a Means of Community Building Dance has captured the imagination of East Side Elementary. Every third, fourth and fifth grader was introduced to Dance for a week in January, and since then, dancers have been training weekly. When organizers opened up an afterschool program, 75 children asked to participate! Teaching...
Purpose Point Learning Academy Mt. Canaan Baptist Church Pastor Ternae Jordan has known 105 children who never got to grow up. Their lives were cut short by violence. Pastor Jordan had the solemn responsibility to officiate each funeral, comfort each family, and ask the question “how do I help stop the madness?” His career has...
BCBST BlueSky Tennessee Institute Brad Leon spent much of May 2022 celebrating. He and colleague Melissa Graham traveled to high schools across Hamilton County announcing potentially life-changing scholarships to the new BlueCross BlueShield BlueSky Tennessee Institute, an innovative pilot program that condenses a 4-year bachelor’s degree in computer science into 27 rigorous months with a...
What is the “why” of middle school? Pre K through fifth grade are focused on establishing a strong foundation of reading and math skills. High school concentrates on preparing students for the next stage – further education or the workforce. Is middle school just something students have to survive (we’ve all been there!), or can...
Job Training and Leadership Program Exists to Empower People and Neighborhoods (photo: Jackson McDowell is a graduate of Build It Green) You can build the neighborhood you want to live in. Consider the power and opportunity in that statement. Take a minute and consider if you truly believe it – and why your answer matters. Chattanooga...
Gateway Scholars Pursue Success after Graduation Chattanooga is known for dreaming big. Home to the fastest improving public schools in Tennessee, community leaders have set their sights on earning the title of best school district in the state – and being the Smartest Community in the South. To make that happen, it’s vital that students...
Chattanooga is closing the digital divide with a precedent-setting commitment to internet connectivity for all. In Chattanooga, we expect that every home will have running water and electricity. An internet connection, however, is a luxury. But when schools and businesses sent students and staff home to shelter in place in March 2020 to limit the...
In the 1920s Chattanooga’s 9th Street was a music-filled hub of commerce and entertainment for the black community. Nicknamed the “Big 9,” and now named Martin Luther King Boulevard, it was simply the place to be – morning, evening, and all the times in between. But times change, and by the 60s “brain drain” was...
