Martha O'Bryan Center

Judy Rye, Adult Education Teacher, discussed the obstacles her students overcame:

"Everyone out here in this room has some story that includes obstacles, whether it's health, transportation, family, having their own ill health, that they're dealing with. So barriers are the norm for each student. Whether or not they want to put in the effort to overcome it is a question.

"This is the best part of working at Martha O'Bryan. I'm going to do everything I can. As long as you are working, I'm going to keep working with you. As a result, if they see they're making a little progress, they know, OK, I've got to make more. Maybe we've created an environment where they can get that sense of what it takes. It takes a lot of hard work to achieve these goals, especially when you're overcoming obstacles.

"I tell them that I'm not teaching you so that you can become a burger flipper at McDonald's. I want you to work, but I want you to become a manager or an owner. So my view of them is that they're going to be running companies, they're going to be out in the world making a difference and so I teach them and communicate with them in that way.

"That's what people do for each other. We give them a greater vision than they have for themselves."

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July 16 was a day of symbolism and creative fun as the middle school students of the THRIVE Summer Enrichment Program collaborated to create a mural of promise for the CWA-Cayce Learning Center and lower east Nashville community. A talented local artist, Anthony Billups of Billups Art in East Nashville, volunteered his time to help the students turn their community ambitions into artistic verve.

"Bridging the Gap Toward the Future" was the theme as the mural came to life. Unity through diversity was illustrated in the mural and in its creation as passionate volunteers from Hands On Nashville stopped by to lend a helping hand.

The children of today are the key to unlocking the promise of a brighter tomorrow and the THRIVE Program has always served as a medium for allowing the voices of "our" community's youth to be heard.

The THRIVE middle school students would like to give a special thanks to:

• Anthony Billups, Billups Art
• Dan Wallace, Sabarri E. and Mark R. of Hands On Nashville.

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Thanks to a generous last-minute gift of $1,550.66 from Kroger grocery stores, Martha O’Bryan Young Professionals Committee reached its goal of raising $5,000 to help fund a bus that gives better access to healthy food to residents in the lower east Nashville neighborhoods in and around Cayce Place.

The bus made its first test run in May to Wal-Mart, then in June began making regular trips to the Kroger on Gallatin Road and Eastland Street. The regular trips give Cayce Place residents without cars access not only to the grocery store, but also a bank and the Goodwill store.

The Martha O'Bryan Center's service area is considered a "food desert," a district with little or no access to foods needed to maintain a healthy diet but often served by plenty of fast food restaurants. The concept of "access" may be interpreted in three ways – physical access, financial access, and mental attitude or food knowledge.

Nissan Taste of Music City: Hundreds of people flocked to Deaderick Street to sample food from some of Nashville's finest restaurants for the Nissan Taste of Music City in June. An able and organized team of volunteers kept ticket lines moving and the event running smoothly.

The event, which benefited the Martha O'Bryan Center, raised $26,032.50.

Miss Martha's Ice Cream Crankin': Despite the threat of rain that never came, hundreds of people visited the grounds of First Presbyterian Church to sample dozens of flavors of homemade ice cream in the 25th Purity Miss Martha's Ice Cream Crankin'.

The winning flavors were chosen by a group of judges that included Tucker Perry, the reigning Miss Tennessee. The annual family event raised $41,556.90 for the Martha O'Bryan Center.

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