This story is part of the Nashville Banner’s ZIP Code Project. The yearlong community engagement effort assigns Banner staffers to various ZIP codes across the city, where they spend significant time listening to residents and elevating stories directly from the community.
Roxanne McEwen-Fondren has worn all the hats at the Eighteenth Avenue Family Enrichment Center — a North Nashville child care center that’s been a staple of the community in one form or another for nearly 100 years.
She’s currently the center’s executive director, but she’s been a teacher, a cook and an administrative assistant. She even cleaned the building at one point…