We believe that anyone with an idea to make our city better should have access to the tools and resources they need to act on that opportunity, and we are here to help.

Causeway was founded in 2010 by a group of entrepreneurs in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We began as an online platform that helped connect individuals and grassroots organizations to the resources they needed to get their projects off the ground. We helped raise nearly $500,000 for local causes through crowdfunding. In early 2014, thanks to a multi-year grant from the Benwood Foundation, Causeway moved from an exclusively online platform to one that is physically present in the city.

We had 105 community leaders graduate from CO.STARTERS for Causes — a nine-week program that helps individuals put ideas into action, turning a passion for bettering the community into a sustainable and thriving endeavor. We put $279,000 directly into the hands of 130 community leaders through our Causeway Challenge program. On average, community leaders report a 30% increase in their ability to lead a community project after participating in one of our programs.

In November of 2014, Causeway started a city-wide Thanksgiving potluck that was first known as One Table. The event grew into a beloved annual tradition locally, now averaging about 2000 attendees per year. It was featured in the Washington Post in 2015. As other cities showed interest in replicating the event, One Table was rebranded to be Gratefull. As of 2019, Gratefull has been replicated in six cities throughout the southeast: Huntsville, Alabama; Milan, Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; Dalton, Georgia; Florence, Alabama; and Greenville, South Carolina. We invite anyone interested to host the event with our free Gratefull Replication Guide, and join our Gratefull City Hosts Facebook Group.

In 2020, we released all of our resources as online guides that are free and open for anyone to use.