With a PhD in Psychology from the University of Tennessee Knoxville and extensive practice in the field, Sue Gridley could have lived anywhere.  However, a love for the community’s natural resources and beauty – that started when her parents moved to Lookout Mountain in the 1970s – eventually led Sue to settle in the Chattanooga area.

Living on five acres just two miles from beautiful Cloudland Canyon National Park, Sue has the privilege of enjoying our community’s natural beauty on a daily basis.  “I am blessed to wake up every morning with a view from my window that spans three states,” notes Sue.

Sue’s home is also perfectly situated amidst a natural landscape that serves as the perfect home for her “children”: seven cats, two dogs, and fifteen chickens. So naturally, it only makes sense that she cares passionately about environmental and animal welfare causes, in addition to education and creating a just and fair community for all.

An only child, Sue inherited assets passed down from her grandfather upon the passing of her parents. Wanting to be a good steward of those assets, Sue contacted her lawyer, who recommended she set up an estate plan with the Community Foundation.

“I am grateful my lawyer introduced me to the Community Foundation,” remarks Sue. “The Foundation’s deep knowledge of local causes has helped me structure a plan that ensures my philanthropic passions of equal opportunities for all, education, the environment, and animal welfare are supported long past my lifetime.”

Sue acknowledges that she has gained much more from her relationship with the Foundation than she originally anticipated.  “Through my relationship with the Foundation, I’ve been exposed to numerous worthwhile causes doing great work in our community while also reaping the benefits of new friendships that I would not have found any other way. The Foundation has been a blessing to me in ways that were totally unanticipated but so uplifting.”

“We often hear that the intangible benefits associated with working with us, for instance, a greater connection to others and our community, are as important, if not more so, than the tangible benefits of giving through the Foundation,” observes Maeghan Jones, Community Foundation President.  “We know that if we are doing our job well, not only are our most critical community needs being addressed but the threads that tie our community together are being strengthened in the process.”

To learn more about planned giving vehicles that enable you to support the causes and the community you care about in perpetuity, contact us.

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