“On A Mission” showcases leaders who are going the extra mile each and every day. Each of the people we interview is on a mission to serve, inspire and educate. Our hosts highlight their impact and explore what motivates, engages and fulfills individuals and teams to be more productive, more effective, better at what they do, and happier to do it. Today our hosts, Morgan Allen spoke with Graham Honeycutt of Tucker’s House.
Graham Honeycutt
CEO of Tucker’s House
Website Address: https://tuckershouse.org/
Short company description:
We provide home modifications for families who have children with disabilities.
What nonprofit do you have a heart for and how do you support it?
Tucker’s House.
What’s your favorite way to get involved in the community?
Fundraising.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned over your career?
To surround yourself with great people and ask for help.
If you could be remembered for one thing, what would it be?
Being a great father.
Transcript:
Morgan:
Welcome back to another episode of On a Mission, where we are on a mission to highlight Nashville nonprofits today. I’m Morgan Allen, joined today by Graham Honeycutt with Tucker’s House. Graham, thank you so much for being here.
Graham:
Yeah, I appreciate being here. It’s a pleasure to be with you, Morgan.
Morgan:
Well, thank you. And tell me about Tucker’s House and the great work that you guys are doing.
Graham:
Yeah, so Tucker’s House. We’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit located in Middle Tennessee, and our mission is to provide home modifications for families who have children with disabilities.
Morgan:
And so what was your experience like with getting started with Tucker’s House? How did you get involved?
Graham:
Yes, I originally got involved when my oldest daughter, Mikayla, was born with disabilities. Tucker’s House actually came out and did some initial home modifications for us. Unfortunately, she passed away seven years ago before we could finish all those modifications. But I just stayed in touch with the founder, Sonny, and she was looking five years ago to hand the reins off to someone, and I came to mind.
So I’ve been involved with Tucker’s House now for, I guess it’s almost six years. It’s just a really personal mission to me. I appreciate getting to remember her in this special way and then really give back and provide to other families who are in the same need that we were.
Morgan:
Well, as much as that breaks my heart to hear it, it warms it as well that you’re filling that gap for those who need it the most. So tell me about some of the projects and things that you guys do with Tucker’s House in these people’s homes.
Graham:
Yeah, so most often we’re looking at doing a lot of ramps, entry and exit ways into the homes, and then a lot of accessible bathrooms. So zero-entry showers, roll-under sinks, looking at widening doorways, really anything that that child and that family need to have a safe and accessible home.
We really don’t go in with a specific plan in mind. We do an assessment on each project that I can talk more about. In that assessment we really look at you tell us what the need is, and then we really look at providing a service plan and a construction plan that’s going to work best for them and what their needs are in each individual home.
Morgan:
So they are customizable depending on the person’s disability.
Graham:
It is. Yeah, it’s completely customized. Even though the same diagnosis—each child may have the same diagnosis or similar diagnoses—but every house is different, every family environment is different, and the needs can always present and manifest differently. So it’s very customized each one.
What I think makes us unique too is we actually have in our pre-assessment process a licensed physical or occupational therapist go into the home before we even get to designing architectural designs or construction plans. That therapist will know the diagnosis but also the prognosis. So that child may be able to walk now, but due to the nature of their disease or disability they may not be able to in the future.
So we can go ahead and design a plan that’s going to work for the lifetime of that individual with the disability, and not just necessarily work for them now and then we have to go back in five years and redo a bathroom or something like that.
Morgan:
Well, that is incredible that you guys are thinking that thoroughly through the process of this child’s life. So do you guys have partners that you work with? So you said occupational therapists, but what about the contracting side of things? Do you have contractors that you typically work with?
Graham:
We do. Yeah. So we have two sets of contractors actually that we work with. We have contractors that are really paid contractors that, if maybe there’s a project we need to do swiftly, we contract with. We raise funds and then pay for those modifications to be done.
Then we also have other partners that do it in-kind. They may be a large commercial construction company and they’d like to provide a driveway or a concrete ramp. In those cases they might be donating labor and materials towards the project.
Morgan:
That’s fantastic and so needed. So are you just in Nashville or have you branched outside of Nashville yet?
Graham:
So we’re in Middle Tennessee. It’s really about a 35-mile radius outside of Nashville proper, or really where our office is based in Franklin, Williamson County. So we really serve the Middle Tennessee area.
But due to the nature of it being so highly customized, we really haven’t expanded our geography or service area outside of this line. There’s still lots of need just even right here in Middle Tennessee.
Morgan:
Absolutely. I can only imagine. So what are some of the things that you’re looking forward to in this upcoming year as you guys continue to grow your nonprofit?
Graham:
Yeah, I mean I’m just always looking forward to serving the next family. For me, again with that personal story, each family is so unique and so different.
I think sometimes in the midst of growth, when we’re trying to go up and to the right and grow everything, we can lose sight of just serving that family that’s right in front of you. So for us, as we continue to grow, we’re really thinking about how do we do that in a thoughtful way.
As I mentioned, it’s really highly customized, and that’s really the heart behind Tucker’s House—making sure we’re doing a really thorough job and really providing complex modifications in a highly compassionate way.
So as we grow and expand, we don’t want to lose that. We’re really trying to figure that out with our current board and our staff—how do we grow but do that in a really thoughtful way.
Morgan:
I think that’s the best way to do it, just working together as a team and figuring out what that next step is and taking it one bite at a time. I love what you guys are doing. Thank you for your passion and for sharing your mission with us today.
Graham:
Yes, my pleasure. Thank you so much.
Morgan:
Yes, and viewers, thank you for tuning in to another episode. If you want more information on Tucker’s House, head on over to LivingMyFaith.com and we have it right there. We’ll see you in the next episode of On a Mission.
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