About TGHI
TGHI Mission
Dedicated to improving lives in low-income neighborhoods with programs for critical needs, better health, new skills, jobs, housing and economic stability.
About TGHI
Since its inception in 2000, TGHI has been dedicated to making a positive impact in communities. We strive to combat the effects of poverty, illiteracy, drug dependency, HIV, delinquency, teen pregnancy, gangs, crime, and hopelessness. Our mission is to create a brighter future for individuals and families facing these challenges. Through our various programs and initiatives, we aim to provide support, resources, and opportunities for growth. We believe that everyone deserves a chance to thrive, and we are committed to making a difference in the lives of those we serve.
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TGHI employs a caring and experienced group of professionals including Masters Level Counselors, Certified Behavior Analysts, Case Managers, and Vocational Training Staff. We are dedicated to moving each client forward towards healthy, more skilled, and better organized lives, helping them find jobs which can lead to a career and a successful life in the community of their choice.
Thelma Vernell Anderson Gibson | Founding Sponsor and Namesake
Thelma Vernell Anderson Gibson was born in 1927 and grew up in Coconut Grove. She pursued an extensive formal education in nursing, and established herself as a leader in her field during her 33-year career in nursing and nursing education. For more than 50 years she has been an eloquent spokesperson and advocate for education, mental and physical health, community leadership, and volunteer community service in Miami-Dade County. She has received praise and countless awards for her leadership. In 1984, she founded and nurtured Miami-Dade’s first Women’s Chamber of Commerce. In 1994 she served as an Interim City Commissioner for City of Miami, and in 2000 helped establish TGHI where she still sits on the Board of Directors.
Merline Barton | Founder and President
Born and educated in Jamaica and later in Manhattan, NY, Mrs. Merline Barton moved to Miami and devoted many years to the affordable housing industry in Coconut Grove. In the late 1990’s she saw the desperate need for social services and health care in Coconut Grove to combat poverty and the rising HIV and substance abuse epidemics. With the support and encouragement of Thelma Gibson, she founded a non-profit in 2000 to address these needs, the Thelma Gibson Health Initiative, Inc.
Mrs. Barton brings a caring and professional energy and voice to her work, and has earned much recognition for her leadership and dedication to the poor in Miami-Dade County. At TGHI she has developed a continuum of programs to address not only critical health issues, but programs to help clients break the poverty cycle and build a successful life in their chosen community.
Partners
TGHI partners with schools, colleges, neighborhood housing agencies, legal support entities and others to provide non-credit classes and administrative support. Interns from UM School of Nursing & Public Health teach nutrition and health, and help with data collection and case management. Miami-Dade College provides non-degree practical reading and math classes at the Gibson Educational Center on Grand Avenue. Popular Community Bank provides instruction in banking, budgeting and credit. Other partners provide funding to improve the social and organizational skills needed for jobs advancement and economic stability.
City of Miami
Coral Gables Community Foundation
Dr. John T Macdonald Foundation
Dunspaugh-Dalton Foundation, Inc.
Miami-Dade County - PHCD
Miami-Dade County - OMB
The Miami Foundation
Popular Community Bank
The Related Group
The Rotary Club of Coconut Grove