Martha O'Bryan and the Tennessee Alliance for Economic Mobility Present to the State

The director of the Tennessee Alliance for Economic Mobility, Marielle Cummings, was joined by Clarksville caregiver and steering committee member, Elizabeth Adewale, and our own Kent Miller, Chief Operating Officer at Martha O'Bryan, to present to the Tennessee Department of Human Services. The Martha O’Bryan Center is the backbone agency for the 32-partner, seven county collaborative known as the Tennessee Alliance for Economic Mobility, or TAEM. Our shared strategy is to demonstrate and evaluate a new vision for the Tennessee safety net by pairing community-driven wrap-around supports, family-centered coaching, and employment training and pathways with a temporary transitional benefit that mitigates the effects of the benefits cliff and increases Middle Tennessee’s families’ incentive to earn more.?

The benefits cliff occurs when a family’s increased income triggers an abrupt loss of public benefits that outweighs the increase in income, often substantially. Because the value of the family’s increased income is less than the value of the lost benefit(s), the family is left in a worse financial situation. Many families are aware of this phenomenon but don’t know when it will occur. Others do know but still struggle to navigate such an event. In either case, the benefits cliff creates a disincentive for caregivers to pursue increased education and earnings.

We truly believe when there is incentive and opportunity to move forward our families will.?Our goal was not just to cast a new vision for the Tennessee safety net, but to demonstrate a new way forward for all.

If you would like to learn more, watch the presentation link above, and visit our first of its kind transitional benefit calculator:?www.beyondthecliff.com

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We would also like to take this opportunity to thank some of our key partners:

A Step Ahead Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Big Brothers Big Sisters (2 sites), Catholic Charities of Tennessee, Clarksville Housing Authority, Dickson County Help Center, Educational Data Systems, Forward Sumner, Greenhouse Ministries, Manna Café Ministries, Martha O’Bryan Center (backbone agency), Metro Action Commission, Metro Development and Housing Agency, Motlow State Community College, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Nashville State Community College (2 sites), Nurture the Next, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, Tennessee College of Applied Technology (6 sites), The Well Outreach, United Way of Greater Nashville, Volunteer State Community College, Wilson Works, and Workforce Essentials.

Be sure to visit MarthaOBryan.org for more stories about our mission.