Hattie Baines, former executive director of Franklin’s Community Child Care Center will be honored as the 2017 Woman of Inspiration at this year’s HeART to Heart Luncheon. // SUBMITTED PHOTO
UNITED WAY OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY
Hattie Baines, who spent 45 years nurturing local children, will be recognized as a Patricia Hart Society Woman of Inspiration on Feb. 10 at the United Way’s annual HeART to Heart Luncheon.
Baines was part of an effort to solve a long-standing problem in Williamson County –to provide care for children whose parents have to work, but can’t afford childcare costs.
In 1971, the Church Women of Franklin opened the doors to Community Child Care to offer affordable, safe and nurturing childcare for children ranging in age from 6 weeks to 5 years old.
Baines, a young educator with an education degree from Tennessee State University and a passion for nurturing children, learned of the new facility, and was quickly hired on.
And for the next 45 years, she devoted herself to providing children in Williamson County’s under-served populations with strong educational foundations in an environment where they could grow and thrive.
On Dec. 30, 2016, Baines officially retired as executive director of Community Child Care. She is known for having inspired countless numbers of people — teaching young parents that temporary situations did not have to become permanent, and helping people to see the needs of the community and cast their nets wider to address those needs.
On Feb. 10, United Way of Williamson County will hold its annual HeART to Heart Luncheon, this year honoring Baines for her decades of work caring for the community’s children and services to the Williamson County community.
The event, which will be held at Embassy Suites Cool Springs in Franklin, opens at 11 a.m. with a silent auction, and lunch will be served beginning at 12:10 p.m.
Tickets to the event are $50 and are available now at uwwc.org/heart-to- heart-luncheon or by contacting Debby Rainey at 615-771- 2312 or [email protected].
Funds raised by the event go directly to support community programs that work to remove barriers to learning, reduce burdens of financial need and support the community’s most vulnerable.
The Patricia Hart Society was founded by local women who wanted to use their strengths, experiences and resources to engage women in improving lives. Volunteer, philanthropist and advocate Patricia Hart lent her name to the organization because she believes that “extraordinary things happen when women come together.”
Sponsors for this year’s HeART to Heart Luncheon include Ford, Century II, Simmons, Nissan North America, Atmos Energy, Fifth Third Bank and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee.
To find out more, visit uwwc.org/patriciahart or call 615-771- 2312.
