Connecting students with essential resources
Our mission is to ensure that children experiencing unstable housing have the necessities they need to be present and ready to learn each day at school.
Through a unique partnership with Metro Nashville Public Schools, we directly and immediately address day-to-day education-related challenges children and families face when they are in an unstable housing situation. We provide school clothing, shoes, coats, hygiene products, school supplies, emergency food, transportation support, home goods, and other resources when children need it most, making sure students have what they need to focus on learning and growing.
We believe in the generosity of our community and strength of the families we serve and that connecting those two things is possible. Simple and easy.
How we work
We serve all Davidson County students, and have a partnership with the Metro Nashville Public Schools Homeless Education Resource Office (HERO) to directly serve qualified HERO students and their families, providing resources families need to persevere during transitional situations. Learn more about the HERO Program, Nashville Community Connections operations, and how we are able to deliver the right resources at the right time.
Our Story
Nashville Community Connections evolved from the runaway success of a school uniform recycling collaboration between Catherine Knowles and Jami Oakley in 2015. Jami had just moved to Nashville and read an article about Catherine’s substantial work with homeless youth as director of the Metro Nashville Public School’s HERO Program. A meeting between the two women led to Jami finding a way to connect with people in her new community while lightening the load for fellow Nashville families experiencing homelessness by collecting “outgrown, not worn out” school uniform items. A few years in, the same publication that profiled Catherine wrote a piece on the duo’s success in launching UniCycle: A School Uniform Recycling Program.
Since then, the organization has grown to deliver more than school clothing. Today, Catherine and Jami lead Nashville Community Connections in a volunteer capacity to keep the organization nimble and highly attuned to the needs of MNPS students and particularly the HERO Program and the 4,500+ students in unstable housing. Catherine’s 27 years of work leading the HERO Program coupled with Jami’s efforts to integrate more community partnerships into the ways youth and families are supported by our Nashville neighbors make for a dynamic and effective approach to address the many challenges families face as a result of unstable housing.
Leadership and Board of Directors
Jami Oakley
Co-Founder, Board President
Jami Oakley is the founder and executive director of Nashville Community Connections. In her role, Jami oversees all organizational operations, clothing donations, funding, and community and school partnerships. Inspired by a magazine article in 2014 about the workings of the Homeless Education Resource Office (HERO) within Metro Nashville Public Schools, Jami was moved to contact the program’s manager to see if she could somehow help to ensure that the school day was as calm, consistent and supportive as possible for the thousands of students experiencing homelessness citywide each year. Since that time, Jami has successfully engaged the donor and support community, managed an efficient and practical distribution model, and has grown the organization from its initial offering of school uniforms to now eight distinct programs that work cohesively to meet student’s essential needs.
Catherine Knowles
Co-Founder and Board Vice President
Catherine Knowles is the Director of Special Population Services and has served as the district’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Liaison for 27 years. “I love that no day is ever the same,” shares Catherine. Honored in 2019 as the Homeless Liaison of the Year by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, Catherine’s extensive work in growing and leading the HERO Program has been pivotal. The services offered, including the unique partnership with Nashville Community Connections, go beyond federal and state-mandated supports, providing a carefully calibrated array of resources and referrals critical to families in unstable housing. Her expertise and experience in youth and family homelessness make her an invaluable resource for the Nashville community. In addition to serving Nashville Community Connections, Catherine also serves on several local and statewide advisory councils focused on addressing family homelessness.
Erika Sweeter
Board Secretary
Erika is a first generation Cuban-American mother of three in Nashville, and works as the associate general counsel for C2FO, a capital solutions firm. She is active in her children’s schools and devotes additional hours to the 4,000+ Nashville youth in unstable housing, using her legally-sharp mind and organizational skills to ensure that UniCycle runs smoothly behind the scenes.
Team Members
Jennifer Ruben
Warehouse Coordinator
Jennifer is behind nearly every box and bag received by a student or a UniCycle Closet coordinator, and she organizes many community and special school drives throughout the year. Additionally, she works with volunteers and makes school visits to help set up or re-imagine UniCycle Closet spaces.
Lola Honeybone
Warehouse and Inventory Support
With many of our supported schools now transitioning away from uniforms, Lola supports our inventory by focusing on sorting, curating, and maintaining a robust non-uniform inventory.