Get To Know Us!

In May of 2016, A Step Ahead Middle Tennessee joined the nonprofit community and began offering services to women in Middle Tennessee with the goal of providing access to effective family planning. Our goal is to prevent unplanned pregnancies by providing free long-acting, reversible contraception (LARC) to women in Middle Tennessee. By preventing unplanned pregnancies our hope is to build more stable families, improve educational and economic outcomes, and increase health and happiness for women and children in our community.

Since the beginning, the only requirement to utilizing our resources is to live in one of the following counties: Cheatham, Davidson, Rutherford, Robertson, Sumner, Williamson, and Wilson. We are the payer of last resort; so even if a woman who has insurance seeks us out and has fees her insurance doesn’t cover- we will. No insurance? No problem. We want to break down any barrier that could prevent a woman from accessing a LARC. We will take care of everything, including transportation to the clinic through LYFT.

We started small with a small Board of Directors and 3 partner clinics and over the past 4 years have nearly doubled our board and partner clinics. Jenny Matthews, Executive Director, has been a part of the growth and empowerment of A Step Ahead from the beginning starting as a part-time employee and transitioning into a full-time ED. Jenny has overseen everything from daily tasks, website management, grant writing, to clinic/community partnerships.

After 3 years of watching A Step Ahead flourish in Middle Tennessee, Jenny and the board decided it was time to bring in someone for outreach and further education of A Step Ahead in the community. So in April of 2019, Caina Lynch was hired as the Community Outreach Manager to continue and grow the network of community partners and knowledge about A Step Ahead in the community.

Where are we now? As of early 2020, we have served more than 1,000 women! The pandemic may have put a damper in our regular Summer Outreach, but our community partners and generous donors have kept us actively serving women. Our call center is still available 24/7 at 615-671-STEP and appointments are still being scheduled at our partner Neighborhood Health Clinics. We also recently launched our furtHER campaign which is a monthly giving program that directly supports a woman in the community.

So, who are we!? Along with the support of our incredible Board of Directors- Jenny and Caina are currently the staff of A Step Ahead of Middle Tennessee.

Jenny has been in the nonprofit world for 12 years and began with A Step Ahead in September of 2015 when we were just getting started. She continues to work hard every day to help provide access to LARCs, as well as to grow our awareness about the impact on women in our community. She does all this even as a new mom after adopting her precious daughter, Faith. Although “mommying” has been her busiest and most fulfilling hobby, she still finds time to enjoy trying new restaurants in town, exercising to clear her mind, and being with friends and family.

Caina left the fitness industry to help women of all ages and backgrounds to further the A Step Ahead mission. She works hard every day to connect with girls and women in our community to raise awareness about unintended pregnancies, LARC, and planning their life journey. In her free time, Caina enjoys spending time with her dog, Cash (if you follow us on social media, you’ll recognize this fluff-ball as our A Step Ahead mascot), camping and kayaking, and upcycling old glass/aluminum beverage containers as hand poured soy wax candles.

We would love to hear from and connect with you regarding your story with A Step Ahead Middle TN at info@astepaheadmiddletn.org.

If you would like to partner with us reach out to Cai

na at caina@astepaheadmiddletn.org

Thank you for joining us on this journey of empowering women to fulfill their biggest dreams!