The Downtown Partnership (DTP) has long been demonized by many on the streets here in Nashville for doing exactly what they are charged with doing - advocating for local area businesses and residents.
Coming from a job in Reno in which I was the Corporate Relations Coordinator for another non-profit, I couldn't understand why, since I knew from my previous experiences working with businesses and corporations that this was one of the best sources of financial and in-kind assistance around. I also knew that our current government was not going to step fully up to the plate, no matter how much we whined, screamed, cursed or yelled at them to do so.
This view has of course now been validated by the majority of our homelessness commission, including former Chairman Howard Gentry, who has gone on to the Chamber of Commerce in order to build the very relationships I believed should have been established long ago to help alleviate the suffering and end homelessness in Nashville, period.
What was most surprising to me when I began working here was that this was a resource that wasn't being tapped by those charged with caring for the well-being of those experiencing homelessness in Nashville.
I soon discovered that a small but vocal number of the homeless advocacy community had so thoroughly poisoned this well with toxic behavior, blatant lies and propaganda that the DTP was every bit as suspicious of those in the Homeless community as the homeless community was of them, and who could blame them? It works both ways, dontchaknow.
Now let me be clear here. The DTP and I don't always see eye to eye, but that is primarily because they have different interests and a constituency they must answer to. However, their end-goal is essentially the same as ours; getting people off the street.
Does it really matter if their rationales are different than ours for wanting this accomplished? My job is to make sure that we present effective, humane and compassionate ways of reducing the number of homeless people on the street in Nashville. When I am successful at this, the DTP, the business community, downtown residents and generally compassionate and concerned citizens all sit up and takes notice.
They also take out their checkbooks, and we need all the help we can get in ending homelessness in our community.
I continue to view the DTP as just another resource that should be used whenever possible by advocates in order to further our own effort at ending homelessness. To shun this potential funding powerhouse simply because you don't like some of their ideas for solutions is not only counter-productive but ignorant as well.
They don't care what works, they just want something to work, and when it does, they'll get behind it, side by side with the staunchest of homeless advocates.....
A concerted effort is needed on this issue | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean
Coming from a job in Reno in which I was the Corporate Relations Coordinator for another non-profit, I couldn't understand why, since I knew from my previous experiences working with businesses and corporations that this was one of the best sources of financial and in-kind assistance around. I also knew that our current government was not going to step fully up to the plate, no matter how much we whined, screamed, cursed or yelled at them to do so.
This view has of course now been validated by the majority of our homelessness commission, including former Chairman Howard Gentry, who has gone on to the Chamber of Commerce in order to build the very relationships I believed should have been established long ago to help alleviate the suffering and end homelessness in Nashville, period.
What was most surprising to me when I began working here was that this was a resource that wasn't being tapped by those charged with caring for the well-being of those experiencing homelessness in Nashville.
I soon discovered that a small but vocal number of the homeless advocacy community had so thoroughly poisoned this well with toxic behavior, blatant lies and propaganda that the DTP was every bit as suspicious of those in the Homeless community as the homeless community was of them, and who could blame them? It works both ways, dontchaknow.
Now let me be clear here. The DTP and I don't always see eye to eye, but that is primarily because they have different interests and a constituency they must answer to. However, their end-goal is essentially the same as ours; getting people off the street.
Does it really matter if their rationales are different than ours for wanting this accomplished? My job is to make sure that we present effective, humane and compassionate ways of reducing the number of homeless people on the street in Nashville. When I am successful at this, the DTP, the business community, downtown residents and generally compassionate and concerned citizens all sit up and takes notice.
They also take out their checkbooks, and we need all the help we can get in ending homelessness in our community.
I continue to view the DTP as just another resource that should be used whenever possible by advocates in order to further our own effort at ending homelessness. To shun this potential funding powerhouse simply because you don't like some of their ideas for solutions is not only counter-productive but ignorant as well.
They don't care what works, they just want something to work, and when it does, they'll get behind it, side by side with the staunchest of homeless advocates.....
A concerted effort is needed on this issue | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean
A concerted effort is needed on this issue
By TOM TURNER • July 28, 2008
Today's uncertain economic climate is contributing to an increase in homelessness throughout the country. Nashville is no exception.
While realizing that the causes of homelessness are complex, most agree some causes are unemployment, underemployment, alcohol and drug abuse and mental-health issues. Solutions are often complex and varied, but occasionally very simple.
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Much attention was recently given to efforts by Metro Central Precinct Commander Damian Huggins. He identified several homeless individuals downtown who simply needed a bus ticket to improve their situation. One went to family in California for a job, one to work with family in Iowa, one to his mother in Maryland and another to California for better access to mental-health treatment. Three of them had no criminal record, and none had outstanding warrants. The Nashville Downtown Partnership bought the bus tickets — and removed an immediate barrier.
Many successful programs
The Metro Development and Housing Agency and the Metro Homelessness Commission (MHC) coordinate several larger-scale programs. Our community has many programs run by compassionate and creative people who are making a difference. These include Park Center's Will Connelly and Steve Samra, who connect homeless clients who have physical or mental disabilities to Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance. More than 100 people (a 98 percent success rate) are now receiving a steady income and health benefits because of this program. Urban Housing Solutions modeled their Academy on San Francisco's Delancey Street program. Seventeen people have been accepted into this self-help residential program for former addicts, convicts or chronically homeless. They will spend the next few years developing skills and transforming their lives.
Additional creative strategies and housing options are necessary. Affordable, permanent supportive housing offers the best chance (near 85 percent success rates) for a long-term solution. A University of Pennsylvania study documents that permanent supportive housing costs less than half of what service delivery alone would cost. By offering food and blankets to homeless people, faith-based groups and well-meaning individuals may keep them from going to shelters where experienced professionals offer help to those with mental illness or addictions. Also, homelessness is not seasonal. Churches that participate in the outstanding Room in the Inn program in cold-weather months need to be involved year-round.
Nashville needs a major cooperative effort involving social service agencies, judicial system, hospitals and faith-based groups to address the complex issue of homelessness. For example, health-care providers who now bear the financial brunt of providing this uninsured population with medical services could invest in less costly front-end solutions.
While the needed programs and services are costly, research indicates that the cost of ignoring homelessness is far greater. This far greater cost impacts social service organizations, the justice system, health-care providers — and especially those who are homeless.
Tom Turner is executive director of the Nashville Downtown Partnership and is a member of the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission.
