Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Hill.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My passion for serving individuals with special needs began through my work as a pediatric occupational therapist. Through my work with children in local school systems, and particularly as I watched young adults age out of school-based services, I became increasingly aware of the limited opportunities available to individuals with disabilities and their families.
They deserved more than services to meet their basic needs. They deserved opportunities to build friendships, gain confidence, develop independence, have fun, discover their abilities, and experience a genuine sense of belonging.
In 1999, I volunteered to direct a basketball league for individuals with disabilities. Getting to know the participants and their families opened my eyes to the tremendous need for additional opportunities, particularly during the summer months. I invited a group of pediatric therapists to join me in creating a summer program, and from those early efforts, Empower Me Center was born.
From the beginning, our growth has been guided by listening to families and responding to the needs they share with us. Over time, we expanded from a summer program to include year-round respite and enrichment activities, recreational opportunities, and programming for adults.
Today, I am grateful to serve as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Empower Me Center, a 501(c)(3) community-based organization dedicated to empowering individuals with special needs to lead fun, fulfilling, and productive lives. We currently offer a six-week Summer Day Camp, our Day Dreamers Adult Program four days per week, and 21 year-round respite and enrichment activities. Our programs are designed to meet participants where they are and accommodate a wide range of behavioral, developmental, and medical needs.
Over the past 12 months alone, Empower Me Center provided 6,128 activity experiences for 776 individuals with special needs from 20 Middle Tennessee counties. Those participants represented 89 unique disabilities, with many living with multiple diagnoses. Since our founding, we have had the privilege of serving thousands of individuals from 28 Tennessee counties, three states, and even one international participant.
While those numbers demonstrate how much Empower Me Center has grown, the moments behind the numbers are what matter most. It is watching a participant try something new, make a friend, communicate a need, develop greater independence, or simply experience the joy of being included.
Every individual we serve has unique abilities and tremendous value. Our role is to help create opportunities for those abilities to be discovered and celebrated while making sure every participant knows they are valued, loved, and that they belong. That has been at the heart of Empower Me Center since the very beginning.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It certainly has not always been a smooth road, but each challenge has helped shape Empower Me Center into the organization it is today. In many ways, one of our greatest challenges is also one of our greatest blessings: the need for our services continues to grow.
For many years, we have relied on creativity, resourcefulness, and the generosity of our community to provide programs in borrowed and shared spaces, including fairgrounds, churches, recreation facilities, and community centers. We are incredibly grateful to every organization that has opened its doors to us. As our programs have grown, however, the lack of a permanent facility designed specifically for the individuals we serve has increasingly limited our ability to expand.
One of the most difficult things is knowing that a child or adult could benefit from our programs but that limitations involving space, staffing, or funding may prevent us from immediately saying “yes.” Those moments reinforce why continuing to grow is so important.
Funding is another ongoing challenge. Providing safe, individualized programming for people with a wide range of needs requires qualified staff, specialized materials, adaptive equipment, and accessible environments. At the same time, we remain committed to keeping our programs accessible and affordable to families, with some opportunities offered at no cost.
Rather than allowing those challenges to define what we cannot do, we have tried to focus on what is possible. The increasing demand for our programs confirms the need for a permanent place where individuals of all abilities can learn, play, build relationships, and thrive.
That need led Empower Me Center to launch a $22 million capital campaign to develop a permanent campus on 25.45 acres along South Hartmann Drive in Wilson County. We have secured more than $5 million toward our initial Phase One goal of $6 million, in addition to significant contributions of professional expertise, labor, and materials.
Reaching this point has taken patience, perseverance, and an extraordinary amount of community support. Since purchasing the property, donated surveying and site work have helped move the project forward, and sewer service was extended to the site. In 2023, we announced a transformational $1 million anonymous gift. In 2024, our builder generously committed $500,000 in time and expertise toward Phase One. Materials for our approximately 10,000-square-foot Education Building arrived in 2025, followed by additional in-kind contributions for concrete, electrical, plumbing, and other construction needs.
In August 2026, the foundation was poured and the building began going vertical, an incredibly meaningful milestone after years of planning and preparation. Through an EarthCam sponsored by Wilson Bank & Trust, our participants, families, supporters, and community can watch the progress in real time. There is something especially meaningful about allowing the individuals for whom this campus is being built to watch it come to life.
None of this has been accomplished by one person. It has taken families who believed in the vision, staff and volunteers who continually give of themselves, board members who have helped guide the organization, donors who have invested in the future, and businesses and community partners who have generously shared their resources and expertise.
Whether our team is supporting a participant, helping a family, training an educator, collaborating with another professional, or sharing our vision with a potential supporter, our purpose remains the same: creating opportunities for individuals of all abilities to reach their potential, be recognized for their strengths, and know they are surrounded by a community that believes in them.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Over the next five to ten years, I believe the special needs service sector will experience tremendous growth and transformation. Demand will continue to increase as communities grow, more individuals are identified as needing support, and families seek meaningful opportunities beyond traditional school and clinical settings.
The need is already significant. During the 2024–2025 school year, the Tennessee Department of Education reported that 140,022 children ages three through 21 received special education services. That number alone demonstrates the importance of preparing communities to support these individuals not only during childhood, but throughout their lives.
One of the most important shifts will be a greater emphasis on lifelong, community-based support. Historically, many services and resources have centered on children. Once individuals age out of the school system, they and their families often discover that far fewer opportunities are available. The future must include expanded adult programming, employment preparation, independent-living education, social and recreational opportunities, adaptive athletics, family respite, and opportunities for individuals to develop and practice self-advocacy.
I also believe we will continue to see a movement toward truly individualized programming. Inclusion must mean more than simply allowing someone to enter a space or attend an activity. True inclusion means creating an environment in which each person has an opportunity to participate meaningfully, build relationships, develop confidence, and succeed at their own pace. That requires accessible facilities, adaptive equipment, trained and compassionate staff, and programs equipped to accommodate a wide range of behavioral, developmental, and medical needs.
Adaptive sports and recreation will also play an increasingly important role. These opportunities provide far more than physical activity. They allow participants to experience teamwork, confidence, friendship, accomplishment, and connection to their community. Empower Me Center continues to expand these opportunities as we listen to our participants and families and identify where needs exist.
Our new campus represents Empower Me Center’s response to many of these emerging needs. Phase One will include an approximately 10,000-square-foot Education Building with activity and gathering spaces, an outdoor pavilion, multi-use sports field, bocce courts, and a driving range with a putting area. Our vision for Phase Two includes a 37,000-square-foot Community Recreational Building and Sports Complex featuring a splash pad, adaptive playground, covered sports court, Miracle League baseball field, and Garden of Dreams.
We plan to begin transitioning programs to the new campus in the summer of 2027. Once Phase One is complete, we anticipate being able to serve approximately twice as many individuals. Our Day Dreamers Adult Program is expected to expand from four to five days per week, and additional qualified staff will be needed to ensure we maintain the individualized attention, quality, and safety our families have come to expect.
Growth also brings responsibility. As we serve more individuals, our operating expenses and needs for educational and therapeutic supplies, adaptive equipment, activity materials, recreational resources, and safety products will increase. Building long-term, sustainable community and financial support will therefore remain essential.
Ultimately, I believe the next decade will bring greater recognition that individuals with disabilities deserve much more than basic care. They deserve opportunities for friendship, education, recreation, purpose, independence, personal growth, and belonging.
Our dream is for Empower Me Center to be a place where those opportunities come together, a community where individuals are seen for who they are rather than defined by a diagnosis, where their abilities are recognized and celebrated, and where they are encouraged to live their fullest lives.
I may have helped begin Empower Me Center, but what it has become belongs to an entire community. It has been shaped by the individuals and families who have trusted us, the staff and volunteers who pour their hearts into our programs, and the countless supporters who have believed in what is possible. The people we serve have always been the heart of Empower Me Center, and they will continue to guide where we go next.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.empowermecenter.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empowermecenter
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmpowerMeCenter
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@empowermecenter9119
