Velvet's Final Goodbye - Thank You, Nashvillians!

Deanna Lambert did a wonderful job here, as did Andy Humbles at the Tennessean (and really, I owe the success of the funeral effort to Kate Howard's first - and excellent - post on Velvet's demise) and I can't thank everyone who assisted in this effort enough for their contributions, efforts and love for the "High Priest of 2nd Avenue!"

I feel like I was able to give him the funeral he deserved, and the good peeps of Nashville stepped up to the plate when they needed to.  I am sure gonna miss that ol bear.....

Related To Story

Video

• Street Musician Dies From Stroke

Final Performance For Iconic Street Musician

Friends Orchestrated Proper Funeral

Reported By Deanna Lambert

POSTED: 4:17 pm CST November 28, 2009

UPDATED: 10:04 am CST November 30, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- He spent three decades performing in he same spot on Second Avenue, but now one of Nashville's most famous street musicians is gone.

Related: Watch This Story

Those who knew him wanted to make sure the man who gave so much music and to Music City had a proper funeral.

Most probably never knew his name, but Elringo De’Angelino was best known as "Velvet Thunder," and if you've ever been on Second Avenue by the Old Spaghetti Factory, you most likely would have remembered his voice.

"He lived every day to provide the citizens of Nashville with amazing heartfelt, soulful music every single day of his life," Homeless outreach worker Steve Samra said.

The soulful singer made his mark on Nashville after leaving Boston years ago to pursue a career in country music.

During a ceremony Saturday, Charlie Strobel, who works at the Room In The Inn, said, “He was first introduced on stage by Hank Williams, the legendary Hank Williams. The story goes he was denied entrance into a club where Williams was playing in northern Alabama, a whites-only club. Hank went out and invited him in and invited him on stage, and he always told that story with great pride.”

Samra first met De’Angelino three years ago.

"I wandered up in front of the Spaghetti Factory, and here is this man in a wheelchair with a beat-up old guitar, and he was just ... he had the most incredible voice," he said. "It just stopped me in my tracks, and I thought, 'Who is singing like that here?'"

This past January, De'Angelino became homeless after his diabetes worsened.

"It was also at that time that the Metro PD began getting reports from him that he had been strong-arm robbed, and that became a pretty regular occurrence for him," said Samra.

Samra and Lt. Nicki Swisher of the Metro Police Department soon helped find Velvet an apartment, but it didn't stop the 75-year-old from performing.

"He didn't go quietly," Samra said. "He really wanted to be able to stay on Second Avenue.”

De'Angelino had been in his new home only a few months before he was found unconscious. A few days later, on Nov. 16, he died from a massive stroke.

"If only the people of Nashville really knew, what and who had passed, they would come out to celebrate him," Samra said during Saturday's ceremony.

The few who knew him best celebrated his life.

"He was most grateful for anything anybody did for him," said Swisher.

His friends worked hard to orchestrate a proper funeral for the musicical icon. The Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home donated everything from the casket, to the cemetery plot. Almost $500 was quickly raised to pay for other things.

"Velvet would be thrilled to know people appreciated him that much," said Samra.

Even though De’Angelino was never signed by a big record label, he was proud of his own performance, in the same spot, every day and night on Second Avenue.

There are plans to place a plaque out in front of the Old Spaghetti Factory to honor the spot where he always sang. There will also be a benefit Dec. 9 to raise money for the musician's memorial fund. That benefit will be held at the Center Stage at 4 p.m.

Nashville street musician Velvet Thunder remembered at funeral

Funeral recalls Velvet Thunder

By Andy Humbles • THE TENNESSEAN • November 29, 2009

An iconic street musician, "a Nashville legend in his own way,'' was given a dignified funeral Saturday with hope that the attention given to this homeless man can lead to help for others.

Velvet Thunder, who friends believe was in his 70s, died Nov. 16 after an estimated three decades of playing music for spare change on Second Avenue in front of The Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant.
"It's different; it's not Second Avenue without him there,'' said Abbie Vicknair, who attended the funeral. She had known the singer from having worked in the area at one time.
Elringo De'Angelino, Velvet Thunder's real name, was described as homeless for at least some of the time he entertained on Second Avenue.

Related

• Benefit to help purchase headstone for Velvet Thunder

De'Angelino's music gave him a connection to many in Nashville, but "many don't have any connection,'' said the Rev. Charles Strobel, founding director of the Room in the Inn program for the homeless, who spoke at the funeral service.
De'Angelino had no known family and no significant money, so homeless outreach worker Steve Samra led a fundraising effort to give him a funeral and headstone and has plans for other ways to honor the man and help Nashville's homeless.
Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home conducted the funeral service and provided the casket and burial space for free.
De'Angelino was buried in the cemetery near other music greats, including Porter Wagoner, Tammy Wynette, Marty Robbins and Eddy Arnold, said Brian Davidson, a funeral director at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton who led the service.
"I'm told by others he would have absolutely loved that,'' Davidson said. "He was a Nashville legend in his own way.''
"I'm proud to see how Nashville has responded to giving him a funeral,'' Samra said.

A celebratory tone

There were tears, but the service had a celebratory tone. Velvet Thunder's own music was played and at least one song just before the service began had most laughing. An estimated 25-30 were in attendance

Back to the Grind

After a relaxing and nice weekend, it's time to return to the grind.  Lot's of news to report but I'm working on a major paper for an old graduate professor of mine and so posting will be sparse over the next few days as I finish this effort.

News on the benefit effort at 4pm on Dec. 9th, right after Project Homeless Connect, will be posted in the next few days.....

"7,000 copies of the November issue were printed, the largest number ever"

Ohhhh, I'm so proud that the little baby I helped deliver is growing into such a wonderful child! :-)

Although the Founding members, Tom Wills, Tasha French, Will Connelly and myself, all worked to get it off the ground, Tom and Tasha deserve the full kudos and pat on the back for devoting the time necessary to ensure the paper grew and succeeded.

Tasha commented the other day on Facebook that some "40 vendors" had attended the last last training meeting; that's a lotta folks out there slinging the paper!

My one hope is that the paper one day falls directly and completely into the hands of those who are either homeless or formerly homeless; that was the original intent of the paper and I hope I'm around to see it come to fruition..... 

Nashville homeless newspaper sales keep soaring

By Anne Paine • THE TENNESSEAN • November 28, 2009

The Contributor, a newspaper written and sold by the homeless and formerly homeless, continues on an upswing in the midst of a slumping economy.

After being featured in The Tennessean in September, sales have risen and an attorney volunteered to help the group establish tax-exempt status so it can accept donations, according to Tom Wills, volunteer treasurer.


"In the meantime, we have a sponsoring organization that allows us to start fundraising through them," he said.


A foundation has also signed up to match gifts of up to $5,000. A push is on to raise $10,000 in funding to pay a part-time director.
A total of 7,000 copies of the November issue were printed, the largest number ever, Wills said.
Vendors are being seen spreading from downtown, with sales taking place in locales like Hillsboro Village and Green Hills.


"Our goal is to sell 50,000 papers for the year," Wills said. "That would equate to about $100,000 into our vendors' pockets."


The paper's price is $1, though often people give tips along with the cost. To keep their jobs, vendors are required to be polite, sober and not ask for handouts.


The December issue has just been released.

"Nashville has a lot of icons...I believe he was one of them."

I'm just so proud of the people of Nashville, well, with the exception of a few morons spouting gibberish in the comment section of this article over at the Tennessean.

Ah, I guess it comes with the territory and there will always be assholes and idiots out there who find fault with anything. 

Hope to see folks tomorrow at the funeral; will be looking forward to sending the man off on his last performance.

Benefit concert will be December 9th at Center Stage; it will highlight and break the news about the new homeless songwriter's class that has been underway at the Campus for....errrr, Room in the Inn for several weeks now.

 Any proceeds I receive from that will go directly towards improvements in a soundproof recording area I've been informed Charlie Strobel has agreed to have built there; this is NOT confirmed by Charlie however, and I'm merely passing along information given to me by the man who is behind the effort, so at this point I can only say it is underway, not cast in stone yet. 

In any event, it's a great effort and I hope it comes to fruition. 

Nashville street musician Velvet Thunder to get proper funeral

Funeral services, a cemetery plot and even a suit are provided for man who spent three decades performing

By Kate Howard • THE TENNESSEAN • November 27, 2009

Velvet Thunder, who performed on Second Avenue, died on Nov. 16.

When Velvet Thunder was on life support in the hospital, his friends were hoping they could at least raise enough money to cremate him and keep the street musician out of a pauper's grave.

Instead, he will have a proper funeral on Saturday, free of charge, a headstone to mark his final resting place and a musical sendoff benefit. A plaque is in the works to permanently mark his signature spot in front of the Old Spaghetti Factory, and his friends are glad Velvet will be laid to rest in the city he loved.


Velvet, whose real name was Elringo De'Angelino, died Nov. 16 after three decades of playing his guitar on the streets of downtown Nashville. A story in The Tennessean described friend and outreach worker Steve Samra's hope that he could raise enough money to give Velvet a proper burial, and many people reached out to help.


Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Funeral Home donated deeply to the cause, offering a plot in its cemetery and the entire funeral for free.

• Funeral services and donations
• Iconic Nashville street musician Velvet Thunder dies

"Nashville has a lot of icons," said general manager Rodney Wells. "I believe he was one of them."


The more than $400 donated to his memorial fund this week will go toward a headstone for Velvet. Homeless advocates who are also ministers will speak at the service, which will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at 660 Thompson Lane.


The funeral home even bought Velvet a suit to be buried in. It's a beige pinstriped number with a red velvet shirt, bought at a deep discount from K&G Clothiers.


"(They) nailed Velvet's taste, and I'm sure he'd be strutting proud in the suit they got him," said Samra, who is handling arrangements.


Samra hopes to get Velvet's guitar encased and displayed somewhere, and an upcoming songwriting class at the Campus for Human Development will be named for him. A benefit for the remainder of the costs to honor the musician will be held at Center Stage at 4 p.m. on Dec. 9.


Samra said people have bent over backwards to help honor Velvet, and his phone has been ringing nonstop from people wanting to reminisce. Some knew Velvet well, and others just heard him once or twice and didn't know the circumstances under which the soulful singer lived.

t heard him once or twice and didn't know the circumstances under which the soulful singer lived.

Velvet will always hold a special place in the heart of June Novelle, not just for his music but his compassion.

"He wasn't just a homeless musician," said Novelle. "He was someone who cared about other people."
Novelle's son Danny was in an accident in 1996, and she used to take him to Second Avenue to practice walking. Blind and in pain, he'd try to make the trek from one end of the tourist-laden street to the other.

A helpful gesture

Velvet kept a chair out for Danny every day, knowing he would need a break halfway down. She recounted the memories after learning of his death.

"It was a small kindness, but it made such a difference in my son's life," Novelle said. "After my son got better I'd still go down there to see him, and even though he had his own needs, he'd always ask me how he was doing."


Krissa Barclay, who often put money in the street performer's bucket in front of the Old Spaghetti Factory, felt compelled to donate to Velvet's burial fund to honor all the times he honored her requests for his raunchy rendition of "Big-Legged Woman."


She said it broke her heart to hear that he'd begun sleeping there.


"I always thought he was there because he wanted to be, and I'm sad I didn't know the true story," Barclay said. "I hope tonight that Velvet Thunder is at peace with no worries and playing to a crowd that admires his talent as much as I did."

"serious flaws in contracting practices by MDHA"

I know the proponent's arguments for this facility and while they indeed have merit, it's a matter of priorities in my mind.

Before we invest in bringing additional people here to share in the joys of a shiny new convention center, maybe we ought to assist those folks who're still wandering around on the streets near the proposed convention center jobless, homeless and penniless.....

Review slams MDHA on Nashville convention center

Agency officials 'astonished' it could lose job

By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • November 26, 2009

Artist's rendering of the proposed Music City Center. 
 



A review of pre-development work on the proposed Nashville convention center found contract problems that could cost the Metro Development and Housing Agency its role in the project, top city officials said.

The review by Kraft CPAs "indicates serious flaws in contracting practices by MDHA. The errors made were in violation of MDHA's policies," Metro Law Director Sue Cain and Finance Director Rich Riebeling wrote Wednesday to Phil Ryan, MDHA's executive director.


"Your response to these questions will allow us to determine whether it is of the Metropolitan Government's best interests to continue working with MDHA on this project."


Ryan and MDHA's board chairman and vice chairman replied in a letter to Cain and Riebeling that they were "frankly astonished" by the prospect that the agency would be taken off the $585 million project.

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"We don't believe your characterization of the report accurately portrays the manner in which MDHA handled the pre-development activities," they wrote.


Cain hired Kraft CPAs after MDHA's work came under intense scrutiny last summer, causing political and public relations problems for Mayor Karl Dean and the convention center, his signature initiative.


The agency's records showed it had been billed for more than $458,000 by public relations firm McNeely Pigott & Fox, which had an initial contract capped at $75,000.


Kraft said it reviewed six procurement processes, 12 contracts and 63 invoices and found several problems, including changes in payment amounts that weren't approved by MDHA's board, a "commitment" for more than $104,000 that the board didn't get a chance to review, and a vendor being paid under terms different from those in its contract.


The review also found no contract for $350,000 spent by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau for the "Blitz Campaign" for the proposed Music City Center. Nor was that expense approved by MDHA's board.


Kraft also discovered 12 billing errors in McNeely Pigott & Fox's invoices and said MDHA had "significantly understated" the need for PR work on the project, resulting in an agreement for $75,000, which the firm billed for in just 11 weeks.

MDHA ultimately settled on a $900,000 PR budget over the life of the project, but the low initial figure may have kept other firms from trying harder to get the job, the auditing firm said.

The letter from Ryan and MDHA board officers Chase Cole and Leigh Walton admitted to "a few non-material examples of improper procedure" but said "errors are inevitable" in such a large project.


In a telephone interview late Wednesday afternoon, Ryan said the auditors interpreted MDHA's policies differently than the agency's staff and board do, and he noted that the review said expenditures were consistent with legal requirements and government agreements.


"We feel we did what we were asked to do and did a good job of it, quickly and efficiently," he said. "The city has gotten a world-class convention center design."

Ryan said the $104,000 "commitment" criticized by Kraft included only $93,500 in contracted work, putting it below the $100,000 threshold for MDHA board approval. Kraft said MDHA should have included more than $11,000 in reimbursable expenses in the total.


"I would simply urge everyone to read the report before jumping to any conclusions," Ryan said.
Asked if the report and the strongly worded letter from Cain and Riebeling might have served a political purpose, Ryan replied, "I don't guess at motives."


MDHA has a long history of working on big Metro projects, including LP Field, the downtown arena and the downtown library. Dean and Riebeling reduced the agency's role on the convention center project after the McNeely Pigott & Fox situation blew up in August.


The administration moved more quickly than it had planned to create a convention center authority, and it hired a senior project manager to oversee the work of MDHA and other parties and report to the authority.


The Metro Council approved the pre-development work but has yet to receive a financing plan for the convention center's construction from Dean. The mayor is expected to submit that plan next week.

For someone asking me to support him in destroying homes, I expected better proof from Metro Police Cmdr. Damian Huggins.

The opening sentence says it all.  Thanks Laurie, for such a wonderful piece....

Guest editorial: Tent City better than alternative

By Laurie Green • November 26, 2009

Other Views

For someone asking me to support him in destroying homes, I expected better proof from Metro Police Cmdr. Damian Huggins.

Regarding a homeless encampment that has existed for more than 20 years, he can only suggest that the homeless living in Tent City may be contributing to crime in the area. I would submit that the crime rate in Tent City pales in comparison to an average block in East, North or South Nashville. In fact, many of my homeless friends report that they would rather stay in a homeless encampment than some other options because they feel safer there.


I've been going to Tent City to help with the pets belonging to homeless folks since 2001. There are dark times in any homeless camp. But for the most part, I have never been afraid. I view the folks living there as my family. And as with any family, I'm sometimes frustrated with them, and they with me. But we care about each other.

There's safety in numbers

The downside of a tent city is pretty obvious. Living conditions can be unhealthy, water sources and trash pick-up are hard to come by, for only a few examples. But we overlook the positives about tent cities:

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• Safety in numbers. The residents in a tent city do look out for each other.


• They share with each other. I cannot tell you how many times I've been down to our own Tent City and asked the name of "that new person," only to be told not only their name but that they now had a tent (someone had an extra), a sleeping bag and enough food to get by for a few days.


• Outreach workers and agencies helping the homeless know where to find them, and vice versa. This is the most important aspect of tent cities. So often homeless folks simply don't know about the agencies around town that can help them. This is the simple reason why so many flock to tent cities, because they want out of their current homeless situation and a helping hand is the ladder they need to climb out of homelessness.


While cities struggling to help their homeless differ in specifics, many have embraced tent cities as the first step in taking folks off the street and back into housing.


Cmdr. Huggins has stated that he still intends to ask for the closure of our Tent City. Before he takes such a step, I call upon him to destroy my home. Then he'll need to follow me to Tent City. There he can arrest me and many others acting in civil disobedience, because we will not allow him to destroy the homes of our family.


More positive changes have come to Tent City in the past year than in all the years I've been down there. But change takes time. If I ever become homeless, I know the path that I would wander down, and it would be to Tent City. I know the camps there that would take me in. I know the outreach workers that would help me get back on my feet. I know why Tent City would be my destination and why the city should not destroy that destination. Cmdr. Huggins, do I really know that much more than you?


Laurie Green is a volunteer homeless outreach worker. In addition, she is founder of The Southern Alliance for Animal Welfare, whose mission is to help homeless pet owners and their pets.

Nashville's homeless population numbers not in the dozens, but in the thousands.

Big Denis Huey will be down at the camp today frying turkeys for the men and women at the site, and the food and camaraderie will be plentiful.  

I feel for the rest of the folks on the street today who won't have even the simplest pleasures that the good peeps of Tent City will enjoy today; a decent meal, friends that care and a place to sleep off the meal without fear of attack, arrest or hypothermia. 

Maybe 2010 will be the year we shift priorities; I'm not holding my breath, mind you, but one can hope.  Meanwhile, life goes on for thousands on the street who will struggle each day simply to survive another day....

Tent City homeless camp has vital purpose in absence of larger plan

November 26, 2009

Our View

It's Thanksgiving, and if you are like many Americans, your biggest worry will be whether the L-tryptophan in the turkey will knock you out before the end of the football game on TV.

There's nothing wrong with that scenario; who doesn't need the escape from stress and routine? Still, take a moment today to consider the very different experience of Thanksgiving for the people living in Nashville's "Tent City,' population 50 — give or take a few, depending on the weather.

Consider, too, the fate of the people who live there, as Metro officials ponder how to close this homeless camp on the banks of the Cumberland River. Fortunately, advocates for the homeless now are being included in that conversation. But it's a tense situation that needs careful monitoring.


Less than two months ago, police Cmdr. Damian Huggins told the Metro Homelessness Commission that the camp needed to be shut down. He suggested that increased crime downtown and safety concerns raised by the public pointed to Tent City. That led to an outcry from advocates who explained that the camp is a positive stop for the homeless who are trying to get off the streets and to get services. It's a place where advocates can find them, as much as it is a place to sleep.

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Since that meeting, Huggins has restated his message, saying, "I don't want to shut a place down and send someone away without getting help.'' That is good to hear, but it still is disconcerting that the Police Department wants to keep a list of names of who is staying at the camp. Such a list should not be used for anything other than to help get services to those who need it.


Tent City has its own council, which has drawn up rules to help keep the camp orderly and free of troublemakers. The council asked for police help to enforce those rules, and that's the better protocol for this community within a community.


The council also has received help from volunteer civil engineers in drawing up campsites on the tract. Such steps are not to make Tent City permanent, but to make it cleaner, safer and more orderly until the time when a Tent City is no longer needed.

 That time clearly has not arrived. Nashville's homeless population numbers not in the dozens, but in the thousands. And in this economy, the number is likely to grow. Families and individuals who have never been without a roof over their heads before are finding themselves on the streets or sleeping in their cars. For them, especially, there is a need for Tent City.

However, the chronically homeless need assistance, too. Few of them are the criminals that critics of assistance claim. Many more are elderly, struggle with mental illness and substance abuse, or have just given up hope of getting back their formerly stable lives. From time to time, such an individual is found on the street, having succumbed to the cold, disease or hunger, and it's difficult even to learn whether they have any next of kin.


Who would wish that kind of anonymity on themselves or anyone? That is one reason for a place such as Tent City — because it is a brief stop for people who desperately want to avoid that fate. Shelters can keep homeless individuals for only so long. Until the city of Nashville comes up with a comprehensive plan to help its homeless, the camp serves a purpose.

"their fees can skyrocket, and they can become unaffordable. Then they can kick you out for nonpayment."

And these folks are in no condition to suddenly have to start fending for themselves under bridges around our fair city, let me tell you.  I just assisted a 76 year old man who'd had four toes on his right foot amputated.  He is in a wheelchair and homeless, thanks to the costs of his former residence increasing to such a point that he was unable to afford the cost any longer. 

While this man didn't come from a retirement community, the difficulties he presents with are easily extrapolated to those who may be coming out of failing retirement housing.  Health issues, fixed incomes, lack of family and additional resources can all conspire to put these people suddenly and damned near permanently into harm's way.....

Bankruptcies Hit Retirement Communities

Elderly residents who thought they'd secured their futures are finding their homes and savings at risk.

 

PHOTOS

Kicked Out

As the foreclosure crisis escalates, more homeowners and renters are finding themselves facing eviction. A look at how the country's real estate crisis is turning into a national tragedy.

Photos: The Bare Market

Home Health-Care Aides: Strangers in Our Parents' Homes

 

By Linda Stern | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Nov 24, 2009

 

The recession is hitting elderly people where they live, literally. Financial problems have been mounting at a number of assisted-living and continuing-care communities, forcing some facilities into bankruptcies and inflicting new worries on residents and their families who thought their life plans were comfortably set.

In recent weeks, Erickson Retirement Communities, which manages 19 continuing-care retirement communities in 11 states, declared bankruptcy. Sunrise Senior Living Inc. posted a quarterly loss of $82 million and announced plans to sell off 21 of its assisted-living communities.

Nationally, smaller retirement communities are raising their prices, changing the way they operate, selling themselves off to bigger chains, or getting out of the business altogether. Many companies say they can't make a profit—or even succeed on a nonprofit basis—in an environment that combines the high cost of caring for elderly residents, restrictive Medicaid budgets, tight credit markets and fewer residents willing and able to pay top dollar for their care.

When a facility fails, it can have myriad effects on the residents. The good news is that no one gets kicked to the curb–at least not right away. "Nobody has ended up on the street, which is a primal fear when you're dealing with these places," says Jason Frank, an elder-law attorney in Baltimore. "But their fees can skyrocket, and they can become unaffordable. Then they can kick you out for nonpayment." In some cases, residents may find that the sizeable deposits they made to get their apartments in the first place have disappeared. (Continuing-care communities like Erickson's typically charge deposits of $150,000 or more, and assure residents that they can stay on the campus for the rest of their lives regardless of how their needs change, and that the deposits will be refundable to themselves or their heirs when they leave or die. But residents typically also have to pay monthly fees for care, and those fees can continue to increase. Assisted-living facilities like Sunrise generally require no deposits but charge a monthly pay-as-you-go-plan.)

That's what happened to the 170 people who lived in Covenant at South Hills in Lebanon, Pa. Their deposits went up in smoke when their facility was sold in bankruptcy to Concordia Lutheran Ministries, which did not take on that liability. Several are now suing B'nai Brith Housing, the original operator of Covenant.

Erickson executives say that their bankruptcy filing will have no impact on residents. "We've refunded every single deposit in our 26-year history," says Tom Neubauer, the firm's executive vice president of sales. "People moving in are completely unaffected by all this." Erickson's corporate organization is complex, with each community (and that community's deposits) owned by a separate nonprofit entity that is not part of the bankruptcy filing.

But residents could face disruptions. Newer communities that haven't been completely built out yet may not have their assisted-living and nursing-home wings, so residents who need higher levels of care may end up being transferred to other facilities. Should various nonprofits not be able to resell units at the same price as the original buyers paid, those original buyers might not get their deposits back. And residents who run through their personal savings and their deposits paying for ever-higher levels of care will have to depend on an optional "benevolent fund" to cover their expenses.

Erickson has a solid reputation and good track record for keeping residents for the rest of their lives, but anyone shopping for retirement housing now should think thrice about the financial risks of their arrangements. "You've got to keep your eyes open," says Eric Carlson, director of the long-term-care project for the National Senior Citizens Law Center. "If you look at the agreements, sometimes what you're being promised is not that much. The provider may be reserving the right to force you to leave for various reasons." Often there's a generic "can't meet your needs" clause in the contract.

He recommends that refundable deposits be set aside in escrow accounts, and that anyone signing a long-term-care contract run it by an elderlaw attorney first. (They can be found at the National Academy of Elderlaw Attorneys.) His organization also has an online checklist of questions that should be asked before moving into a retirement or assisted-living community.

Carlson also says he generally prefers the financial advantages of the pay-as-you-go models, but even consumers who choose facilities that only charge rent on a monthly basis may not be saving their nest eggs for long. Sunrise has raised prices as it has gone through several quarters of financial trouble. It can cost $6,000 or more a month for quality assisted living, and $9,000 for nursing-home care. At those rates, it's not hard to run through life savings in a hurry, and then not every assisted-living facility will keep you. Many don't take Medicaid or other subsidies, and some facilities that had taken Medicaid have switched to no-Medicaid policies. That leaves those residents who have no assets with no place to live. Nationally, discharge-related complaints about nursing homes and assisted-living facilities have doubled in a decade—to 12,237 in 2008, according to the U.S. Administration on Aging. It's now the second-most-common complaint at nursing homes, behind "failure to respond to requests for assistance." And it's the third-most-common complaint at assisted-living facilities, behind problems with medication administration and disappointment with the food.

Complicated state rules can then force newly impoverished residents to go into nursing homes for at least a month so they can qualify for Medicaid, and then back out into another assisted-living facility, says Beverley Laubert, the long-term-care ombudsman for Ohio and president of the National Association of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs. She and her colleagues are called in when facilities declare bankruptcy or force residents to relocate because of policy changes, but usually they can't force facilities to keep residents. Instead, they spend much of their time helping residents who thought they'd found their final homes look for new places to live in a market where, now, nothing is certain.

Service For Velvet Thunder: Saturday, /28/09 at 1130AM

After Kate's wonderful tribute to Velvet ran this morning in the Tennessean, Woodlawn Memorial Funeral Home donated everything for a burial, including the casket, cemetery plot and chapel services.

Velvet's funeral will be on Saturday, 11/28/09, at 1130AM.  There will be a visitation from 10am until 1130am.  I've been able to get Pastor Clifton Harris to speak and am hoping Father Charlie Strobel will also be willing to stop by, say a few words and bless Velvet in the Catholic tradition.

If you can join us, please come and pay your last respects to Mr. Thunder.

I've also spoken  with the Spaghetti Factory folks today and together we're going to try and set up a plaque or memorial of some sort out front of that establishment that memorializes Velvet in the spot he claimed on 2nd Avenue.  More details as they become available.

Finally, if you see this on Monday, check out Fox news channel 17 tonight; they did a story on Velvet today and I'll post it here when it hits the net.....


 Update: check out John Dunn's piece on Velvet that ran last night on Fox 17 - there's a nice video of the story at the Fox site:

Street Musician was Nashville Icon-John Dunn

FOX 17 News

People downtown are mourning the loss of a music icon who never had a recording contract, but was famous in his own right.

The sidewalks of 2nd Avenue were his stage. It is a place where the rough street matched with a velvet sound.

His name was Elringo De'Angelino, but most just knew him as Velvet Thunder.

"I can not imagine really coming up 2nd Avenue and not hearing that man," says Velvets friend Steve Samra.

For more than 30 years Velvet sang the blues downtown.

Confined to a wheelchair, the 75 year old could often be found in front of The Old Spaghetti Factory.

"Pretty much almost everyday he'd just sit here and just entertain people all day," says Spaghetti Factory manager Jay Misch.

Anybody who has spent any time on 2nd Avenue probably heard him play.

He was known to take requests, and make up songs on the spot.

"He's been here since I was a in middle school. I remember coming down and listening to Velvet with my family. He's just a classic staple," says Misch.

Velvet's life was far from glorious. Diabetes wreaked havoc on his body, and he was homeless for several years.

Velvet had no family and when he died he was broke. A Nashville funeral home heard about that and has now stepped forward to help.

On Monday, Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home donated the service, burial and casket.

"He's entertained a lot of folks, and people appreciated that, and we just felt that it was the right thing to be able to do," says Mike Todd with Woodlawn.

Those who knew him best have set up a fund in his memory, and hope to put a plaque on 2nd Avenue.

"It wasn't that he was trying to earn a huge living, he really wanted to perform," says Samra.

He may not be a celebrity, but downtown, Velvet Thunder was as famous as they come.

Visitation for Velvet Thunder will be held Saturday at 10:30am, and the funeral will follow at 11:30am.

Both will be held at Woodlawn Funeral Home on Thompson Lane. The public is invited to attend.

A memorial fund has been established to reimburse funeral costs. You can make a donation to the Elringo De'Angelino Fund at any Bank of America branch.
Street Musician was Nashville Icon-John Dunn

Posted: Monday, November 23 2009, 08:40 PM CST

"American Medical Association reversed a longtime position and urged the federal government to remove marijuana from Schedule One of the Controlled Substances Act, which equates it with heroin. "

Good grief; it is amazing to me that we're still hassling folks over weeds. Legalize marijuana and invest that money wasted on eradication and law enforcement of pot smokers on something worthwhile, like, oh, I don't know, providing HOUSING TO THE HOMELESS, perhaps, or offering DRUG TREATMENT TO ANYONE WHO WANTS IT. 

Sheesh, what a ridiculous waste of taxpayer dollars.....

Support for legalizing marijuana grows rapidly around U.S.
Approval for medical use expands alongside criticism of prohibition

By Karl Vick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 23, 2009 



The same day they rejected a gay marriage ballot measure, residents of Maine voted overwhelmingly to allow the sale of medical marijuana over the counter at state-licensed dispensaries.

Later in the month, the American Medical Association reversed a longtime position and urged the federal government to remove marijuana from Schedule One of the Controlled Substances Act, which equates it with heroin.

A few days later, advocates for easing marijuana laws left their biannual strategy conference with plans to press ahead on all fronts -- state law, ballot measures, and court -- in a movement that for the first time in decades appeared to be gaining ground.

"This issue is breaking out in a remarkably rapid way now," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Public opinion is changing very, very rapidly."

The shift is widely described as generational. A Gallup poll in October found 44 percent of Americans favor full legalization of marijuana -- a rise of 13 points since 2000. Gallup said that if public support continues growing at a rate of 1 to 2 percent per year, "the majority of Americans could favor legalization of the drug in as little as four years."

A 53 percent majority already does so in the West, according to the survey. The finding heartens advocates collecting signatures to put the question of legalization before California voters in a 2010 initiative.

At last week's International Drug Reform Conference, activists gamed specific proposals for taxing and regulating pot along the lines of cigarettes and alcohol, as a bill pending in the California Legislature would do. The measure is not expected to pass, but in urging its serious debate, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) gave credence to a potential revenue source that the state's tax chief said could raise $1.3 billion in the recession, which advocates describe as a boon.

There were also tips on lobbying state legislatures, where measures decriminalizing possession of small amounts have passed in 14 states. Activists predict half of states will have laws allowing possession for medical purposes in the near future.

Interest in medical marijuana and easing other marijuana laws picked up markedly about 18 months ago, but advocates say the biggest surge came with the election of Barack Obama, the third straight president to acknowledge having smoked marijuana, and the first to regard it with anything like nonchalance.

"As a kid, I inhaled," Barack Obama famously said on the campaign. "That was the whole point."
In office, Obama made good on a promise to halt federal prosecutions of medical marijuana use where permitted by state law. That has recalibrated the federal attitude, which had been consistently hostile to marijuana since the early 1970s, when President Richard Nixon cast aside the recommendations of a presidential commission arguing against lumping pot with hard drugs.

Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he was astonished recently to be invited to contribute thoughts to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Obama's drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, was police chief in Seattle, where voters officially made enforcement of marijuana laws the lowest priority.

"I've been thrown out of the ONDCP many times," St. Pierre said. "Never invited to actually participate."

Anti-drug advocates counter with surveys showing high school students nationwide already are more likely to smoke marijuana than tobacco -- and that the five states with the highest rate of adolescent pot use permit medical marijuana.

"We are in the prevention business," said Arthur Dean, chairman of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America. "Kids are getting the message tobacco's harmful, and they're not getting the message marijuana is."

In Los Angeles, city officials are dealing with elements of public backlash after more than 1,000 medical marijuana dispensaries opened, some employing in-house physicians to dispense legal permission to virtually all comers. The boom town atmosphere brought complaints from some neighbors, but little of the crime associated with underground drug-dealing.

Advocates cite the latter as evidence that, as with alcohol, violence associated with the marijuana trade flows from its prohibition.

"Seriously," said Bruce Merkin, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group based in the District, "there is a reason you don't have Mexican beer cartels planting fields of hops in the California forests."

But the controversy over the dispensaries also has put pressure on advocates who specifically champion access for ailing patients, not just those who champion easing marijuana laws.

"I don't want to say we keep arm's length from the other groups. You end up with all of us in the same room," said Joe Elford, counsel for Americans for Safe Access, which has led the court battle for medical marijuana and is squaring off with the Los Angeles City Council. "It's a very broad-based movement."

The Food Stamp Song.....

A song for the times from my dear friend Tonya Watts....

"there's no disputing that every night he played for spare change, and for Nashville."

Thank you for a great piece, Kate; I'll be posting tomorrow how much money is in the memorial fund and what the cost will be to get him taken care of.  Because I cannot have him cremated, I'm going to have to call around today to get the price of a basic funeral and headstone.  Once I know exactly my target, I'll post it here with a running total.

Also, any money left over after he's buried will be used to start a Homeless Citizen Burial Fund for those unfortunate folks who pass away alone on our streets.  No one should have to be buried in a pauper's grave and no one should be forgotten.....

Iconic Nashville street musician Velvet Thunder dies

Money needed for a sendoff for Second Avenue performer

By Kate Howard • THE TENNESSEAN • November 23, 2009

Velvet Thunder, a Nashville street musician who performed on Second Avenue for nearly three decades, died Nov. 16. (SUBMITTED BY STEVE SAMRA)

TO CONTRIBUTE

A fund has been established for the burial and service for Elringo De’Angelino, also known as street musician Velvet Thunder. Anyone wishing to contribute can make a donation to the Elringo De’Angelino Memorial Fund at any Bank of America branch.

You probably don't know his name, but if you've walked down Second Avenue in the past three decades you likely have heard him.

His real name was Elringo De'Angelino, but few knew that. The man people saw in a wheelchair with his guitar and a change bucket went by the name Velvet Thunder. But his deep, resonating voice has gone silent.


He died Nov. 16, with the people closest to him — homeless advocates and a police lieutenant — by his side in a local hospital.


Steve Samra, a homeless advocate who met Mr. De'Angelino several years ago while trying to get him into housing, is raising money to give him a proper sendoff, and he is trying to decide what that should be. The body will be released to Samra this week. Mr. De'Angelino had no family.


"He's got no money," Samra said. "It breaks my heart that the man who's been around here forever, singing down there, will end up in a pauper's grave."


Mr. De'Angelino will no longer show off the picture he kept in his front pocket of himself with Muhammad Ali and regale tourists with stories of his dreams derailed by illness and homelessness.


Those who knew him are glad that Mr. De'Angelino didn't die outside, alone. He was in his mid-70s, a rare old age for street life despite his health problems. In the last few years, he lost his mobility and couldn't get out of his chair. He was pushed over countless times and robbed. He let someone borrow the van he used to sleep in, and it never came back. He began dozing right there on Second Avenue, in his wheelchair.


That's when Lt. Nicki Swisher stepped in.


"There was a point where we were getting a robbery report from him every week," Swisher said. "I think he knew who did it, but he didn't want to get anyone in trouble."


She had never met someone as old as Mr. De'Angelino on the streets, and certainly not someone who worked every day like he did. She got him into a senior living tower, helped him get settled in and listed herself as his emergency contact. He didn't have anybody else.

Performing was his life

Swisher, who works in the downtown Central Precinct, is a liaison of sorts between the police department and the city's homeless, but her relationship with Velvet Thunder became close. When he was admitted to the hospital, she went to see him and made sure all the nurses — one of whom recognized him from Second Avenue — knew to call him Velvet. She thought that would comfort him.

"He loved people, entertaining people," Swisher said. "He always had a smile. Even when he didn't feel good, he still managed to smile. His eyes sparkle when he smiled."

She saw that it was interaction with people that kept him going. Even after he got an apartment last year, she heard he was still catching a cab on the weekends, needing to feel the pulse of the city. It was partly that need that made it so hard to find him an apartment.


"He never had enough money to stay off the street, and his biggest concern in housing was being close enough to perform," Samra said. "That's what he thrived on, and that's who Velvet Thunder was."


He told stories about his younger years, when he toured this country and Europe making music. His stories changed slightly, his friends said, depending on whom he was talking to. He knew nearly any song he got a request for, and sometimes he said he played for Johnny Cash and other country superstars in his glory years. Other times, it was blues legends and rock singers.


But there's no disputing that every night he played for spare change, and for Nashville.

“There are so many organizations that do work giving money and giving food, but nobody sits down and talks to them,”

Many thanks to the students at MTSU for going out of their way during the holidays to help those struggling on the street.  I would argue however that there is a growing group of folks who do go out and spend a lot of time just "talking" to folks on the street; I know I'm one of them and Denis Huey, Laurie Green, Jeannie Alexander, Tasha French, Cathie Buckner and a host of others are making their presences known every day on the streets and camps around our city. 

Slowly but surely, local advocates are becoming well known among the homeless community as people who not only can help, but also people who care as well....

Students spread holiday warmth, hand out blankets

By Dustin Evans

Assistant Community News Editor

Published: Monday, November 23, 2009

Updated: Monday, November 23, 2009

Students in the MTSU department of speech and theatre are working throughout the holiday season to deliver warmth and wishes to those who are overlooked most on people’s holiday shopping lists – the homeless.

For the rest of the semester, and until Dec. 24, the students are holding a blanket drive and plan to deliver the blankets and hot chocolate directly to homeless individuals on the evenings of the 24th and 25th.

“The general person when they walk by say, ‘Oh here’s a dime,’ or, ‘I don’t have any change,’” said Amanda Walker, senior theatre major who started the blanket drive. “They don’t say, ‘I hope you have a great day,’ or, ‘Is there any way I can help you?’”

Walker said even though many people go out and help the homeless through service projects, many people miss the key interaction she feels is the most valuable part of community service.

“There are so many organizations that do work giving money and giving food, but nobody sits down and talks to them,” Walker said.

Hands On Nashville’s Web site (hon.org), stated that about 3.5 million people are homeless in the U.S. Of that number, 40 percent of homeless men have served in the military, 30 percent suffer with addiction, 23 percent are mentally ill and 39 percent are under 18.

“Of all the homeless people in the Middle Tennessee area, 38 to 39 percent of them are children,” Walker said. “That is incredibly heartbreaking because it is almost half of the homeless in the Middle Tennessee area.”

Walker said that she created the blanket drive last December, but she wants to make it an annual event. She said she has the support of many students and faculty members in the theatre department, but she is always looking for help collecting and passing out the blankets.

Walker said there are drop-off locations for blankets at the Financial Aid office in the Cope Administration Building, Room 218, and at Tucker Theatre. Anyone interested in assisting with the delivery of the blankets can join the MTSU Blanket Drive group on Facebook or contact Walker via e-mail at acw3c@mtsu.edu.

“A lot of people do not realize how easy it is to give – even if it is just your time,” Walker said.

"There must be great care taken in how we transition a person,"

Yeah, "great care," like the way we "cared" for all the folks we dumped onto the street when we deregulated mental health services in the 80s.

Can we be any more ignorant than to try and cut the state budget on the backs of those who are suffering from mental illness?  What is wrong with us???

TN budget cuts could close longtime institution for people with severe disabilities

Nashville's Clover Bottom Development Center shutdown would save the state $36 million a year,

By Chas Sisk • THE TENNESSEAN • November 20, 2009

The only state institution in Middle Tennessee for people with severe intellectual disabilities could be closed under a plan introduced Thursday to cut spending.

The Clover Bottom Development Center, an 86-year-old Donelson institution that at its peak housed more than 1,500 residents, could be targeted for closure in the next fiscal year if Gov. Phil Bredesen were to go forward with plans to slash the state budget by as much as 9 percent.


The closure would save the state $36 million a year, officials from the Division of Intellectual Disabilities Services said. But it would also mean moving the 108 people who still live at the facility on short notice into another state institution in East Tennessee or into private facilities.


"There must be great care taken in how we transition a person," said Debra Payne, the division's director. "I think we've been looking to downsize Clover Bottom, but I don't think the planning process has fully developed a plan."
The plan was revealed on the third day of public hearings in which government officials presented suggestions for how to close a state budget gap that could reach as much as $1.5 billion next year. Previous suggestions have included releasing as many as 4,000 nonviolent felons and curbing benefits for people enrolled in TennCare, the state insurance program for the poor, pregnant women and children.


Bredesen has not yet said which of those proposals he intends to take up, but at Thursday's hearing, he appeared to show some interest in closing Clover Bottom.


"Closing a very old state facility and putting them in another facility … would seem to be a good thing," he said.


Mary Schaffner, an attorney for the Clover Bottom Parent-Guardian Association, said her group would not be opposed to closing Clover Bottom, if its residents were transitioned safely into another state-run facility.
The residents of Clover Bottom have disabilities that are too severe to be placed in group homes, and the care they need is too intensive to be trusted to privately operated facilities, she said.

"With state-run, you always have a system of providing good care," she said. "Private ones go up and down in terms of making money."


The plan would cut about 3.8 percent from the division's budget. Officials offered no other spending cut proposals, so Bredesen asked that they consider renegotiating contracts for other services, pointing out that only three states spend more per patient than Tennessee to care for people with intellectual disabilities.


"I need you to go back and at least tell me if I really have to go there, what do I have to do, he said. "I don't think I'm imposing an impossible challenge."

Related

• TN state parks could cut jobs, close amenities to meet budget reductions
• TN could release 4,000 prisoners to cut costs

Safety cuts discussed

In another hearing, Bredesen also heard officials from the Department of Safety describe possible cuts to that agency.

Officials said they would have to remove 25 troopers from the state's highways, leaving 13 small counties without a trooper assigned to them, if Bredesen were to ask them to cut their budget by the full 9 percent. Safety officials also said they would have to close six driver license offices and cut staffing at others, increasing the expected wait time for a driver license to as long as two hours from the current 45 minutes.

Most Common Myths About Suicides

I recently received an email from Carolyn Friedman, who provided me with a link to a story in her blog about suicide. 

As anyone who works with veteran homeless populations will tell you, suicides are all too common among this group and her information is valuable, not just for folks who work as service providers but for anyone who would like to know a little more about this devastating issue.

Please take a look at her article here, then check out her other efforts right here...

Meet A New Board Member with the Nashville Coalition for the Homeless

Didn't want to say anything until I knew it was official but I was recently contacted by my dear friend and colleague Janet Rosenberg, a top-notch paralegal over at Legal Aid here in Nashville, and invited to serve as a  board member for the Nashville Coalition for the Homeless.

At the Coalition/GAPS meeting yesterday, Scott Orman made the announcements and I was tickled pink, not to mention being both humbled and honored; I am so thrilled to be serving in this capacity and I'll most certainly serve the folks on the street to the best of my ability.

I have tremendous respect for the current and other new members and look forward to working with everyone on the board!   I am going to enjoy immensely the challenges and efforts to end homelessness we'll be making over the next two years and hope we can make some real positive differences in the lives of those who are still struggling on the street.

Thanks to everyone who supported me through the decision-making process; there were many great candidates out there and I'm just so honored they decided to give me a shot at serving.   

My term begins January 2010. 

DONATIONS NEEDED: Help Bury a Nashville Icon

As many of you now know, Velvet Thunder (Elringo De'Angelino) passed away on November 16th.  I have been trying to get him cremated in order to scatter his ashes along 2nd Avenue and during the Homeless Walk, but legally I may not be able to, since I'm not a direct family member.

I still would like to make sure we can get him at the very least a headstone for his grave so I have set up the ELRINGO DE'ANGELINO MEMORIAL FUND at Bank of America

Any contribution you can make to this will be greatly appreciated.  He was an amazing man who deserves better than a pauper's burial after providing Nashvillians with beautiful street music for more than two decades.....

homeless man's death may be connected to another attack eight months ago

Are we hearing this correctly; do we have a homeless serial killer in the making here? 

Just great.  As if folks on the street didn't have enough to worry about....

Police Think Homeless Attacks Related

Edward Matthews Killed In Same Area Another Man Shot In March

POSTED: 4:37 pm CST November 19, 2009

UPDATED: 5:17 pm CST November 19, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Metro police think a homeless man's death may be connected to another attack eight months ago.

Earlier this month, someone shot and killed Edward Matthews, 46, as he slept on a bench at Church Street and 5th Avenue in downtown Nashville.Another homeless man, Albanus Kitaka, was asleep in the same area in March when he was shot in the mouth and survived.

Kitaka, who was 60 years old at the time, said he believes the shooter was a black man.

Police said both crimes happened in the early-morning hours.Officers are now interviewing other homeless people who frequent that area to see if there are common factors in the crimes.

Previous Stories:

• November 4, 2009: Homeless Man Killed; Family Begs For Answers
• November 3, 2009: Homeless Man Found Shot To Death Downtown
• March 10, 2009: Homeless Man Shot In Face

"Eventually, officials hope the pilot project can help them do a better job of providing inmates with services like drug treatment, anger management and job placement"

The impact of incarceration has always been a significant issue for me; I'm pleased to see that Nashville may have some role in changing the way we currently assist those who've done their time and now want a new chance.

I'm going to see if I can speak w Jeff Blum on this further; I'll definitely post some of that conversation should I be fortunate enough to spend some time with him....


Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009
Nashville selected for jail to community study

TRAVIS LOLLER, Associated Press Writer

NASHVILLE — For the next two years, national consultants will be looking closely at how Davidson County jail inmates fare when they leave confinement and how Nashville's sheriff's office prepares inmates to be released.

Eventually, officials hope the pilot project can help them do a better job of providing inmates with services like drug treatment, anger management and job placement that can help keep them from reoffending and eventually make their communities safer.

The U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Corrections and The Urban Institute Justice Policy Center are sponsoring the pilot project. They began their work in Nashville on Tuesday.

Local agencies in California, Michigan and Wisconsin were also selected to participate. Agencies in Colorado and Kansas were selected for the pilot program last year.

Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall said his jail has about 3,200 people behind bars on any given day and releases about 100 a day. The sheer volume of people entering and exiting the system can make intervention difficult, but it also provides a lot of opportunities.

Humphries said one goal is to get social service agencies and community nonprofits to do "in-reach" into the jails, something Davidson County has already begun to do. Those agencies can then continue to work with the offenders after they are released.

Humphries praised Davidson County for the work it has already done, calling it "far advanced over most jurisdictions."

Jail programs director Paul Mulloy said the sheriff's office looked at recidivism rates in 2007 and found that 64 percent of those who did not receive help had returned to jail within a year while only 36 percent of those who received help reoffended in that period.

Since then, he said, the jail has improved its interventions and is redoing its statistical research to see if recidivism rates have also improved.

But intensive intervention requires help from volunteers and nonprofits as well as funding for government programs, all of which is in short supply in a bad economy.

People like restaurant owner Michael King are vital, Hall said. King, who owns the local restaurant chain Monell's, talks to the inmates while they are in jail and helps them with job placement once they are out.

"We need more people like him. People who can help get offenders to AA meetings or take them to job interviews or even hire them," he said.

According to information on the Transition from Jail to Community Initiative from the Urban Institute, "In an average three-week period, local jails have contact with as many people as state and federal prisons do in an entire year."

The think tank cites Bureau of Justice Statistics numbers that indicate 68 percent of jail inmates have drug or alcohol problems, 60 percent do not have a high school diploma or GED, 16 percent have a serious mental illness and 14 percent were homeless at some point in the year before their incarceration.

Because people are often in jail only for days or, at most, months, intervention has to begin right away, Hall said. Inmates' needs are assessed as soon as they enter the system, and, ideally, help continues even after they leave the jail.

Huntsville Tent City Doing Something Right

While down in Huntsville Alabama working on their 3rd annual Operation Stand Down, I did some outreach at a local homeless camp and was really impressed with the way in which the community had set this up. 

Simplistic, easily implemented, doable just about anywhere, and controlled very well, Huntsville's approach is one we ought to really consider here in Nashville.

In a nutshell, potential residents to the camp must first check in with the agency First Stop.  There they will obtain an ID and can then request a campsite.  The agency provides the new resident with a tent if they have one and assisgns the individual a site under a local overpass.

The city police worked out an arrangement with ADOT in order to allow camping under designated overpasses and the local police department has assigned an officer as a community service agent.  He passes through the camp regularly to ensure compliance and keep the peace. 

Every Tuesday, other service providers descend on the area and speak to every person in the camp, offering services and referrals as needed.

As you can see from the pics, no permanent structures are allowed, which I believe lends a sense of credibility to the idea of "transitional - and very temporary - housing" but by designating spots, it also provides a sense of ownership which translates into responsibility for one's site. 

As the pics also show, the area was neat and clean and residents in the camp tell me that while they occasionally have their issues, for the most part everyone respects everyone else and the place is far calmer and much safer than the streets in general.

Not sure why we're still battling with the issues of our own tent city; been going on far too long and the solutions are so simple that it is frankly getting to be embarrassing that we continue trying to figure out which direction to go when the answers have been in front of us for so long.....