Tennessee Voices, Episode 246: Pamela Madison, CEO, Monroe Harding
Monroe Harding builds on the legacy of Fannie E. Harding who, in the 1890s, housed orphaned children in Middle Tennessee.
Today, the Nashville-based nonprofit serves the needs of children in foster care, those who have aged out of the system and young adults who are victims of crime.
The mission is simple: "We change young people's lives," said CEO Pamela Madison, who is my guest on this episode of the Tennessee Voices podcast.
We discussed the challenges that children in foster care face, which intensified because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID caused Monroe Harding to pivot and find new ways to engage their clientele and help them become resilient.
Young people who age out of the foster care system find it difficult to seek and hold employment and fitting into societal expectations because of the trauma they have experienced. That is why they need support.
Madison shared that she wanted to be a nurse growing up and once worked for the Girl Scouts.
She said she "had a heart for working for people."
Monroe Harding has served more than 16,000 children and young adults since Mrs. Harding opened her doors more than a century ago.
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About Tennessee Voices
The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.
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David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee and an editorial board member of The Tennessean. Tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Changing the lives of foster children in Nashville with Pamela Madison
