This document relays the stories of nearly 100 Tennessee adults whose lives were changed through participation in some form of adult basic education (ABE). The document begins with a brief explanation of how Tennessee's 102 ABE programs are administered and definitions of the following forms of ABE: Families First (a 20-hour weekly course of basic skills provided to welfare recipients with no high school credentials); English as a second language; adult high school (high schools where nontraditional adult students 25 years of age or older can earn state-accredited high school diplomas); One Room Drop In School (ORDIS) (a program designed to arrest intergenerational illiteracy among Tennessee's public housing development residents); and family literacy. The remainder of the document consists of the stories of 97 adults (1 each from 97 of Tennessee's 102 county ABE programs). The stories focus on how ABE has helped individuals overcome their specific personal challenges and improve their employment situation and life overall. Concluding each profile is the number of individuals who received ABE services in the given county in 1997. Appended are the addresses of Tennessee's 102 local ABE providers. (MN)