6.18.2010
6.09.2010
Advocates said Tent City can not move back to its location on Hermitage Avenue because flooding contaminated the area, and the land is not safe
I've got a pretty big story on this coming out in Change.org soon and I'll be adding some stuff here as well, but for those of you seeking news on the future of the camp, you're going to almost certainly be disappointed, as I'm focusing more on the involvement of the advocates than the camp's potential.
One thing I can tell you about the camp's future here however, is that I've been informed that plans for establishing a "long term, sanctioned tent city" in Nashville have been scrapped by the local administration. It seems that the good, "pro-development" Mayor would rather not be seen supporting this type of "development" in our fair city, so help from the public sector is about kaput, as I understand it.
I haven't verified this with others close to the matter but I can tell you that this info comes to me from a local journalist working on a story about the camp who has been interviewing selected shotcallers in the matter and this is the info that has been delivered.
Antioch Residents Get Explanation For Tent City Move
Jun 03, 2010 10:42 PM CDT
By Chris Cannon
ANTIOCH, Tenn. - The controversial Tent City was forced to move from the banks of the Cumberland River after the May flood. The homeless camp's new home is on two acres of land in Antioch, along Interstate 24.
Neighbors in that area had no idea it was moving there and they are upset.
Neighbors in that area had no idea it was moving there and they are upset.
"I didn't see any problem with it, and I am terribly sorry if many of you have been upset by it," said property owner Lee Beaman.
Beaman agreed to allow the camp on his property after his church minister asked if they could use it as a temporary home for tent city.
Organizers of the move said Antioch was not their first choice for the camp, but they claim it was their only choice.
"It never occurred to us that for a temporary situation people would be so angry, and I am sorry that you're angry and feel cut out," said Jeannie Alexander, a homeless advocate.
The group offered their apologies to a crowd of several hundred Antioch residents for not notifying them about the move.
"I'm sorry in one sense, and in another sense I'm not because we had to do something, and it was the only thing available," according to Doug Sanders minister at Otter Creek Church in Brentwood.
Even though Metro has ordered Tent City closed on July 5th, residents in the area are still angry about how the situation evolved.
"How dare you think that we will let you do this to our neighborhood," said one concerned citizen.
"Brentwood doesn't want them. Let's just send them to Antioch. We know it's a little Harlem. Let's just sent them out there," said resident Wanda Mascarenas.
Advocates said Tent City can not move back to its location on Hermitage Avenue because flooding contaminated the area, and the land is not safe.
Everyone at the town hall meeting did agree on one thing Thursday night. This situation puts a spotlight on the homeless problem in Nashville and the need for a long-term solution.
email: ccannon@newschannel5.com
6.08.2010
Wandering Through Life, One Person at a Time
I'm really sounding like a broken record here, but so much has been going on in my rl that I've been unable to find time to write.
I have to say that I don't much like that fact, since writing helps me focus, clears my head, organizes my thoughts, and allows me....catharsis from the immense pressures I feel sometimes in the kind of work I do.
The troubles are big; from flood destruction of our local Tent City to the recent report of my old friend Nelson, who's sick as a dog again, lost his housing and is back in Vanderbilt, most likely by this time in the ICU unit, to the very recent news that one of the people I helped into housing when we first had the "get out" orders for Tent City has been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gherig's Disease) and has just months to live.
My work is huge; traveling to Tacoma next week for a SAMHSA training; then off to the National Coalition for Homeless Veteran's 20th annual convention, and in the meantime working my day job supervising and running the Service Center at Operation Stand Down while assisting literally hundreds of veterans every week with some of the most perplexing, challenging issues they face.
Trying to assist the four children and their families I've helped bring into the world; standing next to my wife as she battles her own health issues, and all the while wondering whether I'm actually doing a good enough job to keep me employed by people and companies that I often feel are far beyond my skill, scope and ability to work in - struggling against me own addictive, mentally ill and medicated personality is a full time job in and of itself, dontchakno.
But somehow, I'm managing to do it all, and I think it's because....to me, it's not really work, it's life. It's been my life for...all of my life and about the only difference really is that for the first time in that life of mine, I'm actually able to help others instead of somehow negatively impacting them.
I guess that's what gives me the strength to awaken at 430am, work until 7am on my computer, haul arse to the office and put in 9 hours there, then zip home to crank out the writing tasks I'm committed to for other sites.
It leaves the ol "Station" in the lurch, neglected but never forgotten.
While I do occasionally long for the days when the only place I did any writing was right here, I believe in what I'm doing and think it's important enough that I sacrifice the time I usually spend here for other tasks.
I hope I am not disappointing anyone with my very sparse postings here lately; if for some perverse reason you need more of what I have to say, you can find me elsewhere. It's just that elsewhere I'm constrained by their rules, their topics, their needs.
Here I can be....me. All me, with the freedom to write, say and think what I want.
Love that freedom.
And sure do miss it, too......
I have to say that I don't much like that fact, since writing helps me focus, clears my head, organizes my thoughts, and allows me....catharsis from the immense pressures I feel sometimes in the kind of work I do.
The troubles are big; from flood destruction of our local Tent City to the recent report of my old friend Nelson, who's sick as a dog again, lost his housing and is back in Vanderbilt, most likely by this time in the ICU unit, to the very recent news that one of the people I helped into housing when we first had the "get out" orders for Tent City has been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gherig's Disease) and has just months to live.
My work is huge; traveling to Tacoma next week for a SAMHSA training; then off to the National Coalition for Homeless Veteran's 20th annual convention, and in the meantime working my day job supervising and running the Service Center at Operation Stand Down while assisting literally hundreds of veterans every week with some of the most perplexing, challenging issues they face.
Trying to assist the four children and their families I've helped bring into the world; standing next to my wife as she battles her own health issues, and all the while wondering whether I'm actually doing a good enough job to keep me employed by people and companies that I often feel are far beyond my skill, scope and ability to work in - struggling against me own addictive, mentally ill and medicated personality is a full time job in and of itself, dontchakno.
But somehow, I'm managing to do it all, and I think it's because....to me, it's not really work, it's life. It's been my life for...all of my life and about the only difference really is that for the first time in that life of mine, I'm actually able to help others instead of somehow negatively impacting them.
I guess that's what gives me the strength to awaken at 430am, work until 7am on my computer, haul arse to the office and put in 9 hours there, then zip home to crank out the writing tasks I'm committed to for other sites.
It leaves the ol "Station" in the lurch, neglected but never forgotten.
While I do occasionally long for the days when the only place I did any writing was right here, I believe in what I'm doing and think it's important enough that I sacrifice the time I usually spend here for other tasks.
I hope I am not disappointing anyone with my very sparse postings here lately; if for some perverse reason you need more of what I have to say, you can find me elsewhere. It's just that elsewhere I'm constrained by their rules, their topics, their needs.
Here I can be....me. All me, with the freedom to write, say and think what I want.
Love that freedom.
And sure do miss it, too......
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