I remember my first day at PTM as a part time site director. I was so nervous and excited. Ms. Kathy introduced herself to me as my new reading teacher and together we hosted 20 students at what was then Park Ave Baptist. It was a rambunctious group of mostly boys and I was glad we had a playground with a field big enough to play football! I really perfected my spiral in those early days. God was faithful and I truly felt his presence in those rooms with Kathy, myself and a handful of faithful volunteers. I was blessed beyond all that I could hope for there. That was 2012 and I watched some of those very first students graduate high school this year. Ms Kathy is still teaching reading at PTM today.

It was hectic, I was scared, but I was hooked. I had homeschooled for 16 years and my last had graduated and gone off to college, so I was looking for a way to connect with community. PTM became my new family. In those early years, we were experimenting with all kinds of ways to deepen programming and help students feel seen and loved. We started a mentoring program where caring adults could meet one on one with students during lunch at schools, now known as Lunchmates. 

During my first staff overnight retreat, we came up with a crazy idea of building a gap year program where college graduates could learn about all the aspects of running a Christ centered non profit while living in Nashville. At the time, I thought it was insanely ambitious for how small our staff was, but that LEAP program brought in some amazing individuals that we never would have been able to attract to our small little ministry if we didn't provide housing, host families and support. I am still close friends with many who spent that first year and beyond with us. There is a richness to our offerings to students that just wouldn't be there without so many young hearts with big ideas. 

 In 2017, United Way approached us about partnering with them at a Family Resource Center in the Nations neighborhood to run a collaborative partnership with St Luke's Community House. It was our first K-12 program where 3 site directors would be working alongside each other to provide a seamless continuum of care across grades. We knew we needed one person to supervise those site directors and act as a liaison with our new partners, so the title of Program Director was born. I took on that position and Dwight, our current Executive Director was my middle school site director. We hosted 70 students that first year which quickly grew to 90 as the needs of the neighborhood grew. That was our first exposure with having several site directors making one space work and it took a special team. We developed a full 7 week summer program with morning camps and afternoon camps to give students a summer experience with PTM. 

Being in the Nations was personally impactful for me. God put a burning love in our hearts for the neighborhood and so we sold our house in Franklin and built a house right across the street from St Luke's! We were all in and wanted to be living alongside the families that became our good friends. We became a first family for a church plant, Parks Church and have been serving there since its opening. God has blessed us to so many sweet families and good friends there. We even opened a PTM site there to help with the ever expanding waitlist on the west side.

As we added sites yearly, it became apparent that one person could not do operations, volunteer relations and program director, so we split up those roles and I took on the role of Director of Connectedness. If a program touched a student, I supervised and oversaw its thriving. Boy I loved that title! We brought on Big Brothers Big Sisters to support mentorship. We added SnackChat to bring adults into mentoring relationships during middle school lunch. We developed relationships with colleges and universities that had social work programs to host practicums on site and give students therapy and wellness services. In 2019,we expanded our partnership with the United Way and started another multi-grade site at McGruder Family Resource Center hosting K-8 students on the north end. 

After serving under Chan Sheppard for so many wonderful years, I had the great pleasure to help usher my old friend and colleague, Dwight Johnson into the role as executive director. Dwight and I started together at PTM. (There is video of Dwight and I singing Beyonce Love on Top to prove it!) Dwight put together an executive team to oversee all aspects of PTM and he asked me to be his Executive Program Director and supervise our now four program directors that steward our site coordinators. This team has become so dear to me. They love the Lord and each other with their whole hearts and I have learned so much from them. 

As Executive Program Director, I have the best job at PTM. The four program directors at PTM all started in other roles and were promoted from within. This team has experience being former reading teachers, part time site coordinators, youth directors and running Family Resource Center roles. They are also authors, poets and ministry leaders in their personal lives. It's an incredible wealth of knowledge and lived experiences and I cannot tell you what a joy it is to lead alongside them. I am humbled by their love for the Lord, their work ethic and the perspective they each bring to the role. I am learning so much. (Somehow their love for chicken becomes a topic of conversation at our weekly PD pow wows and I respect that!) 

My role here has stretch me in so many wonderful ways. God has shown me that there is no other way to do a hard thing than through and alongside so I have linked arms with my comrades and been transparent with my struggles. My prayer life is stronger and more authentic because of these prayer partners and each one of them strives alongside in prayer with me daily. I continue to admire their examples of walking in step with the spirit and the ways they share the Lord's working in their own lives. 

There are no words to express my love for this ministry. God is good all the time and He has certainly been good to me during my time here at PTM. It is my hope that while I can no longer lead that God willing, I'll be able to lend my voice to PTM's future in whatever capacity that looks like. Thank you for allowing me to express my heartfelt appreciation for each of you that is reading this. Where I go, through the fellowship of the Holy spirit, you go also. 

Much love, 

Lisa