About Child Arise Tennessee
Fostering hope, healing, and opportunity for children and families affected by parental incarceration across Tennessee.
Our Mission
To provide comprehensive wraparound support to children and families affected by parental incarceration—fostering stability, resilience, and opportunity through targeted services, community engagement, and trauma-informed care.
Our Vision
A Tennessee where every child affected by parental incarceration has access to the support, resources, and opportunities they need to thrive—regardless of their family's circumstances.
"We envision communities where these children are not defined by their parents' situation, but empowered to create their own bright futures."
Our Core Values
These principles guide every decision we make and every service we provide.
Compassionate Care
Every child deserves love, understanding, and support regardless of their circumstances.
Community-Centered
We believe in the power of community to heal, support, and uplift families in need.
Trauma-Informed
All our services are designed with deep understanding of trauma and its impact on children.
Empowerment
We focus on building resilience, self-esteem, and life skills that last a lifetime.
Excellence
We maintain the highest standards in our programs, partnerships, and outcomes.
Transparency
We operate with integrity, accountability, and openness in all our work.
Our Leadership Team
Dedicated professionals with lived experience and expertise in child advocacy.
Bethany Roberts Mann
Bethany Mann was born in prison and adopted as a toddler. She was raised with love and stability—celebrated each year on her "gotcha day," and reminded daily of that love by a wooden plaque above her bed that read:
"Not flesh of my flesh, not bone of my bone, but still miraculously my own. Never forget for a single minute that you weren't born under my heart, but in it."
Though deeply loved, Bethany carried early memories shaped by separation, loss, and the hidden impact of parental incarceration. Her biological mother gave birth to her at age 18 while incarcerated and struggling with addiction. Bethany was placed in the custody of the Department of Human Services in Nashville.
The reality was hard—but the outcome, providential. Bethany was given access to education, healthcare, and emotional stability. That opportunity broke a generational cycle of poverty—and shaped her life's work.
For the past 15 years, she has visited men on death row and come to believe that:
- Proximity eradicates stigma
- Telling our stories can dismantle shame
- And no child should have to carry the weight of incarceration alone
Bethany founded Child Arise Tennessee to offer acceptance, access, and advocacy for children with an incarcerated parent—over 140,000 of them in Tennessee alone. The organization is the first in the state to focus specifically on addressing the collateral consequences these children face: shame, grief, instability, and educational disruption.
Child Arise exists to make the invisible visible—one story, one child, one act of support at a time.
She's worked in law, immigration, and small business—but the accomplishment Bethany is proudest of is raising four daughters. She lives with intention every day to break cycles of poverty and build a more compassionate world.
Linda Manning, PhD
Linda Manning, PhD provides supervision and consultation for therapists interested in somatic psychotherapy and working with trauma. She was an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Human Development Counseling Program at Vanderbilt University, where she taught a course on Trauma: Impact and Intervention for twenty years. Before retiring from full-time practice in 2019, she was the Interim Director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. Dr. Manning received her PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and has completed advanced training in somatic psychotherapy, mindfulness-based practices, and the treatment of trauma.
Dan Mann
For over 40 years Dan has worked in and around Nashville's music business. He began by booking Christian music acts into churches and conference centers. Booking success led to several years working in record company management and artist personal management. He is currently back in the agency business.
During his career, his passion for social justice provided opportunities to work with Romanian orphanages, provide medical equipment to hospitals and clinics in India and to address cooperation for social justice at an ecumenical conference held at the Vatican.
Since 2010, Dan and his wife Bethany have visited the men on Tennessee's Death Row. During this time, Dan has advocated for their humane treatment before the governor, before prominent pastors, and in the press. Five times Dan has helped organize a march for mercy prior to executions in Tennessee; marching the nine miles from Death Row to the State Capitol in order to present the Governor with petitions.
Dr. Sally Barton-Arwood
Dr. Sally Barton-Arwood brings over 30 years of experience in education, child advocacy, and trauma-informed practice to her role as a board member for Child Arise Tennessee. A lifelong educator and justice-driven leader, Sally's work is rooted in the enduring words of the prophet Micah: "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8). These words have guided her life's calling—to walk alongside children and families with humility, to lead with compassion, and to challenge systems that fail to serve our most vulnerable.
As a board member of Child Arise Tennessee, Sally offers strategic insight into education systems, disability advocacy, and community-based partnerships. She believes that proximity eradicates stigma and that justice-impacted children deserve consistent relationships, meaningful opportunities, and the right to tell their own stories without shame.
Sally has worked directly with children and families across public, private, and nonprofit settings, including roles as a special education teacher, school administrator, and behavior specialist in Metro Nashville Public Schools. In these roles, she developed schoolwide behavior support systems and created individualized plans for children facing significant barriers to success. Her belief in the inherent worth of every child drives her commitment to inclusive practices and equitable access.
Currently a professor of education at Belmont University, Dr. B.—as her students affectionately call her—prepares future educators to serve with empathy, cultural humility, and purpose. Her teaching centers on trauma-informed, inclusive, and justice-centered approaches, reflecting the same values that shape Child Arise's mission. As part of her teaching, Sally founded and continues to lead a program that supports children with disabilities and their families—a space where her students engage directly in practices of inclusion, equity, and community-building.
Sally's research and consulting work focus on emotional and behavioral supports, service-learning, and systems that uphold the dignity of all children—particularly those affected by trauma and systemic inequities. She has published widely and presented nationally and internationally on topics such as equitable classroom practices, collaborative school culture, and inclusion.
Outside of her professional work, Sally finds renewal in the natural world, joy in cooking, and spiritual grounding in worship at Christ Church Cathedral. Whether paddling, reading, painting, or playing the piano (with more passion than precision), she embraces reflection, imagination, and community as vital parts of a well-lived life. These experiences fuel her creativity, restore her energy, and remind her of the beauty in both stillness and service.
Sally is honored to support Child Arise's work where children impacted by incarceration are embraced with acceptance, surrounded by advocacy, and empowered with access.
The Reverend Richard Wineland
The Rev. Richard Wineland grew up in Central Pennsylvania. He studied at Penn State University and Goshen College in Indiana, graduating with a bachelor's degree in music performance. He received a Master of Divinity degree from Mennonite Theological Seminary in Indiana, and an MA equivalent in Psychology from Andrews University in Michigan. Currently he is completing a Doctor of Ministry degree in missional leadership and congregational development at Bexley Seabury Episcopal Seminary in Chicago.
Richard served as a Mennonite and Lutheran pastor for 10 years prior to becoming an Episcopal priest, leading congregations in Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Tennessee, and has served Episcopal parishes in Indiana and Tennessee since 2005.
Fr. Richard has been involved in many nonprofit organizations throughout his ministry, and currently serves on the Boards of the Pastoral Center for Healing and Child Arise- Tennessee. He has also served on the Board of Directors of two church-wide organizations; Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship. He was the founding Executive Director of the Community Music School of Goshen College, in Indiana.
Richard is a lifelong singer and musician, a published composer, and has performed at the Grand Ole Opry House and on national television. As a writer he has also had articles published in both academic journals and denomination-wide publications.
Richard is married to Lee Armstrong, a musician, poet, and registered nurse. Together they have seven adult children, scattered from New York City to Los Angeles.
Libby Dayhuff
My name is Libby Dayhuff, and I am a criminal defense attorney at Larsen Law PLLC in Franklin, TN. I grew up in West Tennessee but later moved to Knoxville to attend the University of Tennessee where I completed my honors thesis on the effects of parental incarceration.
Join Our Mission
Whether through volunteering, donating, or partnering with us, there are many ways to support children and families affected by parental incarceration.