Nashville Metro Homelessness Commission Has A Big Responsibility In Front Of Them

March's bimonthly Nashville Metro Commission meeting had, I believe, every Commissioner at the table, which is often a rarity for a couple of reasons, the least of which is the fact that just about all of us have full time + jobs and volunteer our uncompensated time on the Commission.  This of course isn't a reason to treat the position with less commitment than you would a "paid" position, but the Commission does then become the secondary responsibility in one's life when that primary responsibility (spelled J O B) demands your presence. 

Many Commission members (all of whom are uncompensated)
often play integral roles in the annual Project Homeless Connect event,
in addition to their regular duties on the Commission
and their primary jobs

So to have a full table is not only a great thing, it's not often a common thing and we needed a full slate of Commissioners as we discussed the critical need for, and large absence of, street outreach specialists here in the Nashville area.

For this meeting, I led a panel discussion on outreach, with strong support from Park Center's Corey Gephart, who oversee's the famous (made so by Big Willy Connelly) and wildly successful SOAR program and its street outreach component. Also a panelist was Carolyn Grossley (Cooper), who spent more than a decade on the street performing outreach while employed with the Mental Health Cooperative, one of Nashville's largest service providers.  Carolyn now works for the Key Alliance as the Housing Coordinator, and toils (I chose that word carefully) building relationships with local area landlords in order to procure additional housing resources for the city's most vulnerable.

We were slated for 30 minutes but the discussion was so robust and spirited among Commissioners that it went for over an hour; time well spent as far as I'm concerned, since for many on the Commission, the understanding of "street outreach" was vague, at best.

I won't bore you all with the minutae of the discussion but instead can summarize several key points that I think the Commissioners are currently grappling with:

1. Defining what "outreach" actually is and who would appropriately be designated as "outreach workers" within our community
2. Ensuring that street outreach specialists are properly trained and compensated to ensure longevity in the position and long-term success with the population of homeless individuals
3. Recognizing the value of a trained street outreach specialist (moving just one chronically homeless individual from the street into housing, pays for the outreach in terms of salary/benefits for one year, since a chronically homeless individual on average costs the city $40K annually. If that individual is also connected with an income source such as SSDI, the city recognizes an increase in spending and tax revenue once the individual is approved and begins receiving benefits)
4. Coordinating the move from the street into housing
5. Understanding the importance of "wrap-around" services once an individual enters housing
6. Exploring sustainability and funding options for both outreach and affordable housing units AND the longterm need of a housing fund to assist with 0-income candidates for housing

So where do we go from here?

It should be noted loudly and clearly that the Commission really has no authority to enact legislation and/or policy.  We are more a fact-finding body that researches the issues at hand, makes recommendations to the Mayor, provides an opportunity for public comment and input, and attempts to both raise awareness around the complexities of homelessness while working with others to coordinate service delivery around the city. 

We are uncompensated volunteers for these efforts and each of us has our own personal and/or professional reasons for serving the community and the homeless population. We come to the position passionate about ending homelessness and each of us also know that we operate in an environment traditionally either ignorant of, and/or unconcerned with the issue of homelessness.

We know too that there are some who harbor hostility to those experiencing homelessness  ("if they'd just find a job, they wouldn't be homeless," "They all oughta just pull themselves up by the bootstraps," "they want to be homeless," "they deserve to be homeless," "don't put that shelter/soup kitchen/housing complex/service agency in my back yard," etc, etc, etc) and we are occasionally castigated - and at times vehemently disliked - by a fractional cadre of individuals within the homeless community.

Most folks with any sense don't typically stick around long when doing work few care about or approve of and those suffering from the impact the work addresses think they can do better. Nowhere is this more true than in working to end homelessness. But as each person arrives at the table with his/her own personal reasons for serving, the commitment to serve stands as a testament to the passion each of us brings to the role of Commissioner, as it is often a thankless job filled with a variety of folks who work to find fault with whatever you may be proposing, suggesting, or hoping to implement/create. Because of this, I often say during training's that "if a person has been in this field longer than six months and is still employed and passionate about the work, they ain't here for the money."

One of the more interesting and insightful aspects of serving on the commission is listening to the public comments towards the end of the meetings.  These sessions provide an opportunity for citizens of the community to present their own views, ideas, comments, and complaints about a host of issues related to homelessness and life in the city while living homeless.

Over the years that I have been attending Commission meetings, I have heard from a wide variety of individuals on an even wider variety of topics.  But I would say that the vast majority of individuals who comment are people experiencing homelessness or who are formerly homeless.  Many of these individuals come angry, frustrated, and disheartened by their perceived lack of progress the Commission is making in executing the ten year plan for the city.

I feel their pain, and have since I began attending the meetings back in 2008.  I also know that for many who comment, the three-minute time limit is not enough for them to share what they want to say, and typically what ends up happening is that...well, here, let me share a post I placed here back in November as an explanation.  I think understanding why some of the folks feel discounted and/or ignored by some members of the Commission will be enhanced as a  result of a quick perusal of this post.

I can tell you that whatever some folks may feel, their comments are valued and respected.  Most of us realize that folks living day to day on the streets have some immediate need that, when goes unmet, causes tremendous frustration, hopelessness and anger.  For a very long time, folks battling against the scourge of homelessness have been ignored, marginalized....invisible.  That someone might actually be listening to them as they speak provides perhaps the greatest opportunity to be heard they've had in a very very long time, and there is a lot they would like to say.

Trying to summarize a longterm traumatic event like homelessness is akin to asking a war veteran to explain his/her experience of an extended tour of duty in a combat zone in three minutes or less. It's almost insulting.  And usually, by the time an individual actually makes it to a Commission meeting, the blood is near boiling, since just their trip to a meeting is far different, and much more challenging, than those of us on the other side of the table.

I think Commissioners on the whole understand all this, and don't take personally some of the personal attacks that occur to them by frustrated individuals during those public comments. They take in stride calls for the resignation of some members, the disbanding of the Commission, the occasional scorn and derision that comes in some of those comments, because they know that folks are suffering, and lashing out is a symptom of the condition, rather than a personal attack on any one of the members.  They also know that it is because of the Commission that folks even have a place to come complain, for without the Commission, the most marginalized and vulnerable among us would fade back into total obscurity, and would have no public voice, anywhere.

Returning to the question "where do we go from here," I believe the answer hinges on the next meeting, which will hopefully have some recommendations around a potential city-wide outreach training being considered here in Nashville, as well as some additional discussion around the lack of housing and ways in which we as Commissioners are able to positively influence a major increase in availability and funding to help those on the street access it.

This is our overarching goal and I think at times we get sidetracked by acute and transitory issues, arising often from public comments that alert us all to egregious conduct and/or conditions facing those experiencing homelessness. Nothing wrong with wanting to help mitigate some of the more pressing problems facing folks, but if we want to end homelessness instead of managing it, we've simply got to provide housing.

Perhaps our litmus test for new business for the Commission should be whether, at the conclusion of the intervention/assistance/effort, we have created new housing opportunities for folks.  If the answer is no, then maybe we ought to try and pass the particular issue on to another group, organization or committee that can provide assistance so that we are able to return to our primary focus, housing. It is my humble opinion that this should always be our bottom line and we should always be laser-focused on providing safe, affordable housing - lots of it.

Hope you'll join us at the next Commission meeting, occurring the first Friday in May, and beginning at 9am at the Howard School in downtown Nashville.  We need your input, your support, and your physical presence to help impress upon those still on the streets that we as a community care about everyone in our community.

When penalties for laying down bedding on state property are greater than or equal to penalties for assault, driving under the influence...our criminal justice system is not upholding justice — it is creating criminals.

Many thanks to friend and colleague Lindsey Krinks for a well constructed and thoughtful opinion on HB 2638/SB 2508.  This law was clearly constructed and enacted to thwart the efforts of community members who, sick of being powerless in a government that is supposedly "governed" by "We the People," stood together and demanded accountability and responsibility from their legislators and policy makers.

However, with this new legislation in effect, police and community "leaders" have yet another way in which to criminalize the behavior of those who are simply trying to find a place to lay their heads at night without fear of attack or exposure to the natural elements.  This law will have serious repercussions across the state, and you can believe that it will be used with scalpel-like precision against those experiencing homelessness to persecute them further in the hopes of either driving them farther out of the city or locking them up; either way reducing the perception of homelessness upon our city streets.

This "band aid" solution, crafted as a knee jerk response to rid the glaring spotlight shined by Occupiers onto the reality of the poverty they experience as a direct result of the mismanagement, complicity, ignorance and arrogance by government officials on both sides of the aisle, will suffer from the law of unintended consequences.  As these results begin to materialize, anyone who has suffered a conviction for "sleeping" on state property (the absurdity of this is beyond comprehension) will find the path off the street that much more difficult, now saddled with a misdemeanor.

In a city continually touted as the Buckle of the Bible Belt, there appears to be some mighty unchristianlike behavior happening at the hands of local legislators and public servants.

Kudos to Governor Haslam, who this morning stated that he wanted police to act only in "flagrant violations" of the law.  Unfortunately, one thing I've learned about police is that when they are given an inch, they often take a mile, and become very creative in how they interpret the laws. While many police act honorably and compassionately when conditions warrant, many also do not.  Those cops are the ones I'm most concerned with as they patrol with yet another way to harass and badger those least able to defend themselves against police misconduct.

I hope that state legislators recognize the error of their ways, but it's always easier to put a law on the books than to remove one.  I'm afraid the stage has been set, time will tell how the actors will interpret their new lines...

New legislation criminalizes homelessness

1:19 AM, Mar. 12, 2012 

Written by

Lindsey Krinks

On March 2, Gov. Bill Haslam signed HB 2638/SB 2508 into law, making camping, sleeping and cooking on state property a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and a $2,500 fine. While this law was targeted at Occupy Nashville, it has devastating consequences for our unhoused neighbors — the thousands of men, women and children across Tennessee who are left to live and die on our streets.

Many are unable to find refuge because on any given night, there are not enough shelter beds or affordable housing units to accommodate everyone in need. They have nowhere else to go but the streets and public spaces, yet this law further victimizes them for doing so. With the passage of this law, the state of Tennessee is criminalizing the right to exist as a human being.  This law is not only unconstitutional and disproportionate — it is morally unacceptable.

When penalties for laying down bedding on state property are greater than or equal to penalties for assault, driving under the influence, trespassing on private property, destruction of private property, leaving the scene of an accident, shoplifting, reckless driving and many other crimes that have real victims, our criminal justice system is not upholding justice — it is creating criminals.

We stand with the American Bar Association, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, the Interagency Council on Homelessness, the National Coalition for the Homeless, National Health Care for the Homeless, the Western Regional Advocacy Project and many others who oppose the enactment of laws that punish people experiencing homelessness for carrying out non-criminal life-sustaining acts in public spaces like sleeping, eating or camping when no alternative private spaces are available.

 Instead of criminalizing homelessness, local governments and law enforcement officials should work with service providers, advocates and those who are unhoused to prevent, lessen and end homelessness. To address street homelessness, our state should dedicate more resources to creating more affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, emergency shelters, outreach programs and mental health and addiction services.

Homelessness and human suffering cannot be swept under the rug with legislation. We cannot lock people away — out of sight, out of mind — and declare success. Criminalization is not the answer.

We, the undersigned, call for this law to be repealed immediately before it has a chilling effect on our most vulnerable citizens and creates a greater cost burden on our local governments:
Charles Strobel; John Lozier, National Health Care for the Homeless; the Rev. Don Beisswenger; Lindsey Krinks, Autumn Dennis, Lauren Plummer, Jennifer Ward and Ingrid McIntyre, all of Open Table Nashville; Andrew Krinks, The Contributor; Father Bill Dennler; Bill Friskics-Warren, United Neighborhood Health Services; Rusty Lawrence, Urban Housing Solutions; Laurie Green, Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare; Dr. Beth Shinn, Vanderbilt University; Paul Boden, Western Regional Advocacy Project; Steve Reiter, Committee on Police/Homeless Issues; Darria Hudson, Matt Frierdich and Greg Gardener, all of Vanderbilt Divinity School; Brett Flener, Lipscomb’s Institute for Law, Justice, and Society; Katie Knies, Vanderbilt University Law School; Clemmie Greenlee, Nashville Peacemakers; Matt Preston, Urban Housing Solutions; Jeannie Alexander; Randy Goodman; Keith Caldwell; Megan Macaraeg; Ben Morton; Sarah Wilson; David Wilson; Michael Custer; Alesandra Bellos; Rachel Davies; Darlene Neal; Dr. Dana Carpenter, Preston Shipp, Megan Inman, De’Yuna Bailey, Michelle Sanchez, Andrea E. Yancey, Sequina Caro, Jill Schiely, Kayleigh Butterfield, Eric Heath, Tyler M. Conger, Timothy Wills and Tim Talley, all of Lipscomb University; Cecil Burnley, Michael Mooney and Grant Winter, all of Lipscomb University and Room in the Inn.

Oprah Winfrey Takes On Tent City

The long awaited flick, commissioned by Nashville native Oprah Winfrey and done last year around the lives of the residents of Tent City, has finally been set to air.

I'm pleased to say that if the trailer is any indication, the documentary ought to have a powerful impact on folks around the country.  Of course, it's almost certainly going to stir some controversy, as well, since the ignorance around the complexities of homelessness is rampant - still.

Tent City U.S.A. - Trailer

Due primarily to the economic recession, a growing number of people are finding themselves in a position they never imagined: homeless. Tent City U.S.A. explores a community in Nashville, Tennessee of nearly 100 homeless people who live under a downtown bridge. They work to stay together after a devastating flood destroys their land and forces them to evacuate.

Tent City U.S.A. premieres Thursday, April 5th at 9/8c only on OWN.

I do hope folks will watch with an open mind and a realization that they almost certainly will be coming at this video with their own ethnocentric baggage.  You've got to suspend that when you enter this "world," just like you would when you enter any 3rd world country, because people, when forced to survive in abject, grinding poverty, often do things that the "well to do" would find not only distasteful but at times shocking.  

Living conditions can also shock the conscience, as it should, but it should not in any way color the way you see the fellow human beings in this film, who are struggling at the very bottom of our society. Think of them in the context that, if the socioeconomic strata were spaced across rungs on a ladder, the folks in the camp aren't even within sight of the bottom rung.  

Worse, those situated along the rungs don't often have a lot of sympathy for most folks languishing on the ground below them, and those that do are usually not in any position to be of much help, since they are struggling themselves to keep from falling to the ground with them.  The folks in the camps, on the streets, living in dumpsters, doghouses, and under the viaducts of our country are similar in many ways I think, to India's "Untouchables" caste class (although India's Constitution was changed to eliminate this Caste ranking, change and acceptance has been extremely slow to occur), and extricating themselves from this social status in America is no easy task.  

In any event, I hope that the documentary helps increase the knowledge around homelessness and helps people understand the critical need of the community support that folks in the camps get and give to each other.

This aspect I think is the most important lesson one can take away from any homeless encampment, and it drives home the critical importance of Peer support as individuals transition out of camps and into "standardized" housing.  Without that peer support and wrap around help from the rest of us, the chances that folks will succeed in this transition decline considerably.

Thanks to Oprah for having the ovaries to shine a light on America's "Untouchables," the folks who shot the video, and those who worked tirelessly with members of the camp to help when the rest of the city was at their heels trying to shut them down.

But the biggest "Thanks" by far goes to the residents of the camp, many who I consider my friends to this day, for their willingness to allow the rest of the world to see them at some of their lowest points in life.  It takes tremendous courage to allow a spotlight to be shined upon you when your life is in complete disarray and you're living in the depths of poverty most of us can't even begin to imagine.

Frankly, to let strangers come in and record some of the most challenging and at times devastating moments of your life is beyond courageous, and each and every member of the camp should be applauded for the strength and fortitude they exhibited by allowing the rest of us to catch a glimpse of what life is like for them.