Tent City Progress Continues....

I had a very interesting meeting yesterday that was supposed to include the gentleman who runs the Homeless Nashville website.   We were going to discuss the rather dubious claims about that site being the "primiear site for help the homeless in Nashville, Tennessee," especially since the Homelessness Commission feels that designation belongs to them, and frankly, it probably should, whether or not you support their efforts to date.  






He was a no-show, however, and  several folks tried contacting him via cell during that meeting, all to no avail.




He did send an email to Tasha French sometime yesterday, explaining that:

"There has evidently been some miscommunication regarding this meeting I had emailed Laura with the homelessness commission asking that the meeting be rescheduled until the last week of this month so thatsome of the othermembers could attend. Please convey my sincere apologies to anyone who came this morning."

  I'm in the process of trying to determine the validity of this claim and must trust that the man experienced a communication error regarding the meeting.  




But those of us in attendance were able to discuss other important issues, including the future of Tent City.




As most of you know, Doug Sanders, Pastor at Otter Creek Church of Christ out in Brentwood has been a major force in getting things done for the camp, including bringing in dumpsters and portapotties, as well as providing resources to the residents on a regular basis.




Doug, along with many other fine folks, especially those from my old employer, Park Center, have been instrumental in keeping the camp open and the residents clothed, fed warm and safe over the past couple of years; long before anyone ever heard of or saw Mr. Jenkins come to the camp on Sundays to preach and pass the collection plate among the homeless.  And yes, he really does that.




Granted, he does provide some grub, but does so by telling another church group that was providing Sunday meals that they no longer needed to come as he was "taking it over."  Not sure why he'd do such a thing but the original church was struggling a bit due to its own small size and money issues, so it may have been a good thing for everyone involved.

In any event, Doug shared where he was at with the plans to legitimize and improve the camp and to that end, he's confident that, so long as nothing big happens at the camp and it ends up splashed across the front page of the Tennessean or any of the local television news prime-time spots, it's probably safe to assume that folks will be left alone as efforts to put them into transitional and/or permanent housing continues at a snails pace.  


And by the way, it isn't for lack of effort; rather, it is because transitional and affordable housing in and around the Nashville area is scarcer than a poor person at a Republican convention. 





Doug attended a recent meeting with Clifton Harris, BigWillyConnelly, Metro PD Commander Huggins and Lt. Swisher.  During that meeting, Doug informed the group that  the move for folks from the two adjoining sides into Tent City proper was underway and that people on both those sides had been informed that they'd need to move in order for other plans to begin coming together.




Commander Huggins stated that within the next couple of days (and he may have already done it by now) he'd be posting "No Trespassing" signs on those adjacent properties but promised he wasn't going to arrest anyone during this canvass.




Doug has been working with local law and construction companies to create the layout for campsites and access roads into Tent City, but because the area lies within the Cumberland River floodplain, a permanent camp "will never happen there."  




Doug informed the group that this wasn't a problem, so long as they could find a piece of land that could be used as a suitable replacement.  This land of course must be on a bus line, close enough to downtown to get folks to food services and resources in a timely manner, and safe enough to allow people to wander about on it without fear of falling into holes, bedding down on a toxic waste pile, or having to breathe the vapors from something like the sewage treatment plant.  He wasn't averse to purchasing a piece of land that met these criteria, either, and let the group know this as well.




In the meantime, the construction company that currently pays for the portapotties at the site is coming down in November to put on a "2nd annual" camp cleanup and begin setting up established camping sites on the TDOT property.  A road will be cleared into the area and graveled to allow Metro PD and emergency vehicles ease of access.  Additionally, anyone who sets up shop at the camp will definitely be listed in some type of official camp roster and you can bet that a "wants and warrants check" will also be run on them by Metro's finest, so Tent City will not be a place one can hide when one wants to anymore. 




A governing council has been formed, according to Doug, and things are slowly coming together for self governance in the area.  This in itself is a huge step for the camp, since I know first-hand that some of the personalities down at the camp are....strong ones, for lack of a better term, and the folks don't much cotton to being told what to do by anyone, least of all their neighbors.  It's one of the reasons the camp was so popular in the first place.




So Tent City looks to be safe as the good folks enter the fall, and barring anything major occurring at the camp, should be about the only spot in Nashville that one can find transitional housing on demand.  Just make sure you bring your own tent......