Gov. Bill Lee launched the Tennessee Human Flourishing Initiative at Church of the City in Franklin, TN, in May 2026. Led by Sagamore Senior Fellow Will Acuff, the pilot is intended to catalyze similar innovations across the state.
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Flourishing in Tennessee
Our Team
Dan Johnson
Dan Johnson began his career as a Senior Pastor in Illinois and Indiana, where a burden for hurting people drew him toward those struggling with addiction, and he has since walked personally with hundreds of individuals and families as they found freedom. His expertise spans clinical treatment and faith-based recovery, from founding The NewDay Center in 2019 as a state-certified, Joint Commission-accredited treatment organization, to authoring six books and the Center’s curriculum, to leading the Faith and Recovery Network under Hope for Hoosiers at the invitation of the Sagamore Institute.
Our Team
Will Acuff is the Williamson County coordinator for the Tennessee Human Flourishing Initiative (THFI), a partnership with state government agencies and a growing network of nonprofits and faith-based organizations to align resources and systems to help community members flourish. Nashville’s Church of the City serves as the backbone of THFI and as the primary convening partner.
Local Advocates for Flourishing
Key leaders in THFI are local advocates who walk alongside neighborhoods working to build stability and opportunity in their communities. THFI advocate Bri Collingwood notes that what she likes most about the work is “getting to step into someone’s story before crisis gets the final word” and helping them “connect the pieces that may feel impossible to navigate alone.”
Another advocate, Alexis Goddard, recounts how THFI can connect those in need to a variety of key services across the city:
“A social worker from one of our school partners referred a single mom with intellectual disabilities to the Human Flourishing Initiative because of barriers to navigating resources available to her. Since becoming a participant, she has received summer childcare through our local Boys and Girls Club with the help of their scholarship program, car repair assistance through Mechanics on a Mission, healthcare resources through the Williamson County Health Department, and food assistance through GraceWorks. She is highly motivated but lacked dedicated support to assist with getting connected to all the resources available. Getting to walk alongside her and see the strides made has been so rewarding. I am proud of her efforts and cannot wait to see how she continues to move toward thriving with the support of her care team.”
The Model
Tennessee’s Human Flourishing Initiative began in Williamson County as the first pilot for a county-level model that coordinates existing government, nonprofit, faith, and community resources around families facing complex challenges. Sagamore senior fellow Will Acuff was hired to lead the local implementation and build the network of partners with Church of the City – The Village.
Our Pilot
Hope for Hoosiers, a program of Sagamore Institute, has launched its first Hope Hub at Shepherd Community Center on the Near Eastside of Indianapolis. The Shepherd pilot is where our model comes to life on the ground: a faith-rooted, community-based effort to help neighbors affected by opioid and other substance use find their way to the care and support they need.
At the heart of the pilot are our Hope Navigators, trained volunteers who walk alongside each Member (individual in crisis) and connect them to the right help at the right time. Instead of leaving people to work through a complicated system on their own, Navigators make warm, personal handoffs to treatment, recovery support, mental health services, and other community resources, and stay connected along the way.
How the pilot works
- Hope Navigators meet people where they are and listen first.
- Each Member is connected to trusted local resources through warm, personal handoffs.
- Navigators stay engaged so no one falls through the cracks.
- The work is grounded in faith, dignity, and the belief that every person can find hope.
About the grant
Hope for Hoosiers is supported by a two-year grant from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA), through the state’s Opioid Settlement Abatement Fund. Running from July 2026 through June 2028, the grant funds a statewide, data-informed effort to mobilize Indiana’s faith community as partners in addressing opioid use and co-occurring mental health and substance use needs. The work has two connected parts: a statewide Faith-Based Recovery Network that maps, connects, and strengthens faith and recovery organizations across Indiana, and the Hope Navigator pilot, which places trained navigators in community settings to make warm handoffs to treatment, recovery, and mental health resources. The Shepherd Community Center pilot is the first proving ground for this model.
What’s next
The Shepherd pilot is only the beginning. Over the two-year grant period, Hope for Hoosiers will train and deploy more Hope Navigators and refine the model based on what we learn at Shepherd. We will grow a statewide Faith-Based Recovery Network, connecting and strengthening faith and recovery organizations across Indiana through partnerships and community listening sessions. As the model proves out, we plan to open additional Hope Hubs in communities across the state, measuring outcomes and sharing what works so the effort can grow and last well beyond the grant. Our long-term vision is a network of Hope Hubs reaching communities throughout Indiana, each one helping neighbors find hope, care, and a path forward.