Brightstone: SharingChange Spotlight
Flourishing in Franklin
At BrightStone, the phrase “empowering potential, enriching lives” is more than a catchy line on a marketing brochure. It is a mission lived out daily on the Franklin nonprofit’s 140-acre campus where programming focuses on adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). “We’re redefining what adulthood can look like for individuals too often underestimated,” said Lee Rose, president and CEO.
Founded in 1999 by Brenda Hauk, a special education teacher in Williamson County, BrightStone fills a critical need
for adults with IDD after public education ends for them at age 22. It provides post-high school vocational education and
life skills training — a godsend for some local families.
“When my sister, Catherine, graduated from high school, we didn’t know what the next chapter would be in her life,” MTE member Kellum Wiedenhoeft of Brentwood said. “BrightStone has provided her with endless love and support from day one.”
BrightStone currently enrolls 70 students. Financial help from MTE’s member-funded SharingChange foundation
helps to bridge the gap between what families pay for tuition and the total operational cost of running the program.
Vocational coaching received at the center is helping some BrightStone students step into employment across the community. Day program students are learning job skills while creating BrightStone’s line of food mixes, greeting cards and home décor ceramics. Those living in BrightStone’s new residential homes — the only independent living option available for IDD adults in Tennessee — are putting their life skills training to practical use.
Rose sums up the momentum: “Our students are flourishing and discovering their potential every day!”
Learn more at BrightStone.org.
