Visions Five Group, is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit corporation whose mission is to provide affordable housing and to foster economic development in the Davidson County, Tennessee, region. Visions Five is certified as a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) under HUD guidelines.

Visions Five Group was founded in 1988 as a rural economic development organization. Formerly it served primarily the rural Tennessee counties of Clay, Fentress, Jackson, Overton, Pickett, and later Putnam. Some of these counties are among the most rural and economically distressed in Tennessee. The Tennessee Valley Authority through its rural economic development activities encouraged the formation of Visions Five Group, acting in concert with the county executives of the five counties being served at that time. Visions Five Group chartered Visions Five Community Developoment Corp. May 19, 1994, to serve as a separate housing arm. In 2003 the two organizations established distinct, independent boards.

Visions Five Group has raised a few million dollars for county governments and private businesses to pursue recycling and solid waste management and to establish a fiber optic interactive video/computer network in the public schools which is also connected to Tennessee Technological University. This network is operational. The organization was instrumental in funding and constructing a museum building for the library and artifacts of Nobel Peace laureate Cordell Hull. Visions Five succeeded in getting the museum designated and permanently funded as a state park. The organization has raised funds for industrial parks, private businesses, law enforcement and other ventures as well, working through the member county executives at the time.

With TVA's decreased emphasis on rural development, Visions Five Group redefined its objectives to focus on becoming increasingly involved in housing. This lead to the formation of Visions Five CDC and to restructuring the board of directors so that elected officials were a minority of the membership and to permit the organization to qualify as a HUD Community Housing Development Organization.

In accordance with HUD guidelines for CHDO's, one third of the board seats are allocated to low income residents. Visions Five is now pursuing a strategy of working closely with African-American and faith based organizations to assist them with establishing a higher profile in housing and economic development work in the Davidson County region.

In 2000 Visions Five became the first nonprofit housing organization in Tennessee to join the U. S. Department of Energy's Rebuild America initiative as a Community Partner. This program seeks to reduce energy consumption in America's homes and communities to mitigate the effects of global warming.

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Opportunity