One of the biggest problems in Nashville is a lack of centralized services. What happens all the time here is that some poor sod on foot is sent trekking from one agency to another, trying to obtain services. For those of us with wheels and phones, bopping around town from place to place and the occasional appointment reschedule is nothing but a minor inconvenience (unless of course you do it during rush hour!). For the Homeless however, it becomes a huge ordeal and if you click on this link to a picture of distance perspectives I posted on my Find Steve site, you'll see why.
Understand that you're only seeing a portion of what's available for services here in Nashville, and these walks are quite lengthy. Realize too that walking to particular appointments often means missing breakfast or lunch. Imagine what it would be like to walk from East Nashville's Holy Name Church to Metro General Hospital (Meharry), only to find out your appointment had been rescheduled, and then try to make it to the Rescue Mission before their cutoff time at 6pm, and you can begin to understand why it is that centralized services are so desperately needed here in Nashville. Factor in a bus system that is ridiculously overpriced and forces costly transfers from one bus to another to go just about anywhere, and you see the futility of trying to get folks to use public transportation to get around town, especially people who might not see the almost $3 bucks it costs to get an all day pass for weeks on end.
I am a member of a committee that is seeking to partially rectify this problem by providing a central coordinator who tends a phone and dispatches outreach workers or the new Mobile Crisis van to particular locations when needed. The goal here is to bring the services to the Homeless, instead of vice versa, and if we can't fix it in the field, we can then bring the person to the agency they need to visit in order to accomplish "the mission."
As it is now, I spend large portions of some days toting folks to and fro. trying to cram as many people as possible into my vehicle in order to have the biggest impact possible. My gas card has been averaging about $550 a month, and only a small portion of that money is reimbursed. I'm not complaining mind you as I love what I do, but I can tell you that I'm probably a rarity when it comes to transporting 6 or 7 folks at a time in a private vehicle who often haven't bathed for days and may be drunk or under the influence, not to mention surly, tired and often despondent with hopelessness.
It ain't always easy.
So I am of course excited at the proposition that we might soon have a field coordinator who can help "coordinate" these trips and responses to the needs of the Homeless while spreading them out over a number of outreach staff members. Like any committee however, we must tussle and haggle and work to achieve "consensus" prior to rolling out certain plans and unfortunately, this takes time. Because we only meet once a month (we all have other responsibilities that take up 110 percent of our time anyway), the process seems to move at a snail's pace, but move it does and the potential, especially when coupled with the recent signals from Metro PD about joining forces, is high indeed for better service referrals, quicker responses to those in need, and transportation for those who need to travel long distances on foot.
Now, if we could just get MTA to provide the Homeless with some special service cards - maybe some kind of pass that allows riding during normal business hours monday through friday - we'd be on the road to real progress and innovative planning to assist with the diverse and unique needs of the Homeless.
One day at a time, baby....
10.26.2007
Inching Towards A Field Coordinator
One of the biggest problems in Nashville is a lack of centralized services. What happens all the time here is that some poor sod on foot is sent trekking from one agency to another, trying to obtain services. For those of us with wheels and phones, bopping around town from place to place and the occasional appointment reschedule is nothing but a minor inconvenience (unless of course you do it during rush hour!). For the Homeless however, it becomes a huge ordeal and if you click on this link to a picture of distance perspectives I posted on my Find Steve site, you'll see why.
Understand that you're only seeing a portion of what's available for services here in Nashville, and these walks are quite lengthy. Realize too that walking to particular appointments often means missing breakfast or lunch. Imagine what it would be like to walk from East Nashville's Holy Name Church to Metro General Hospital (Meharry), only to find out your appointment had been rescheduled, and then try to make it to the Rescue Mission before their cutoff time at 6pm, and you can begin to understand why it is that centralized services are so desperately needed here in Nashville. Factor in a bus system that is ridiculously overpriced and forces costly transfers from one bus to another to go just about anywhere, and you see the futility of trying to get folks to use public transportation to get around town, especially people who might not see the almost $3 bucks it costs to get an all day pass for weeks on end.
I am a member of a committee that is seeking to partially rectify this problem by providing a central coordinator who tends a phone and dispatches outreach workers or the new Mobile Crisis van to particular locations when needed. The goal here is to bring the services to the Homeless, instead of vice versa, and if we can't fix it in the field, we can then bring the person to the agency they need to visit in order to accomplish "the mission."
As it is now, I spend large portions of some days toting folks to and fro. trying to cram as many people as possible into my vehicle in order to have the biggest impact possible. My gas card has been averaging about $550 a month, and only a small portion of that money is reimbursed. I'm not complaining mind you as I love what I do, but I can tell you that I'm probably a rarity when it comes to transporting 6 or 7 folks at a time in a private vehicle who often haven't bathed for days and may be drunk or under the influence, not to mention surly, tired and often despondent with hopelessness.
It ain't always easy.
So I am of course excited at the proposition that we might soon have a field coordinator who can help "coordinate" these trips and responses to the needs of the Homeless while spreading them out over a number of outreach staff members. Like any committee however, we must tussle and haggle and work to achieve "consensus" prior to rolling out certain plans and unfortunately, this takes time. Because we only meet once a month (we all have other responsibilities that take up 110 percent of our time anyway), the process seems to move at a snail's pace, but move it does and the potential, especially when coupled with the recent signals from Metro PD about joining forces, is high indeed for better service referrals, quicker responses to those in need, and transportation for those who need to travel long distances on foot.
Now, if we could just get MTA to provide the Homeless with some special service cards - maybe some kind of pass that allows riding during normal business hours monday through friday - we'd be on the road to real progress and innovative planning to assist with the diverse and unique needs of the Homeless.
One day at a time, baby....
Smiling does a body good
