One of the firm’s strategic pro bono priorities is empowering community, and our work with Harvest Hands Community Development Corporation is a great example. For 16 years, Harvest Hands has partnered with families in under-resourced areas of South Nashville, providing support and developing leaders. Starting with 12 kids and a handful of volunteers in what is now known as Houston-Wedgewood, in 2016 Harvest Hands moved to the heart of Napier-Sudekum, an area that experiences a high rate of poverty, violence, and joblessness. The facility there houses after-school programs, a gym, a community playground, and a social enterprise that brings jobs to the neighborhood and teaches teens business skills. That social enterprise, Humphreys Street Coffee, includes coffee roasting and operation of two coffee shops.
Brian Hicks, CEO of Harvest Hands, contacted the firm in early 2023, and we have partnered with the organization as its footprint expands to other Nashville neighborhoods: “As we have grown to this next level we have met with some challenges: how do you scale up, how do you expand. Bass, Berry & Sims has been really helpful. They can see roadblocks or challenges ahead and provide guidance and insight and counsel in a way that keeps us from getting in some of those ditches.”
Reflecting on our work with Harvest Hands, Pro Bono Member David Esquivel said, “Our role as business counsel is to take the worries off their plate so they focus on what they are good at, which is effecting change in our communities, and we focus on what we are good at, which is addressing our clients’ legal needs and guiding them through growth and opportunity.”
To date, our attorneys have helped Harvest Hands in matters including trademark, real estate, intellectual property, employment, and contracts that expand their programming and social enterprise. To learn more about our work with Harvest Hands, please watch the video below.