Nashville Homeless

[beebee233]

I ran into a lady who is involved with a ministry to the homeless.

She told me there are lot's of encampments around town and many are ex-military. According to her, there is a camp of 60 people out in front of a store  that I frequent nearby. I have seen a few of them walking from the corner where they beg to the woods where they bed down. She said their biggest challenge right now is surviving the cold temps. When I asked her about the level of survival skills in these camps, she seem to think there wasn't any. I kind of find that hard to believe with former soldiers in the mix, but have given some thought to introducing  some basic survival training/supplies. How to build a lean-to, start a fire etc. I'm no survivalist and wasn't even a great boy scout but I think I could survive these relatively mild winters if faced with the challenge.

Anybody here have any interest in visiting one of these camps? Just to see what really is going on? Maybe teaching some of these guys/gals how to fend for themselves would give them a little motivation/self esteem. This could either be outside of the lady's mission or coincide with it.

She said some of them work 10-15 hours a week when they can find jobs and that some appear to be easily employable but cannot provide an address which is almost always fatal in the job application process.

Anybody?

[gregintenn]

Mental illness and/or drug abuse are the main issues that plague most homeless people. I am not equipped to help people deal with either. I understand The Nashville Rescue Mission is a worthy cause to donate and/or volunteer if one is so inclined.

 

https://nashvillerescuemission.org/

Edited January 26, 2019 by gregintenn

[beebee233]

Yeah, I think the vets are ptsd. I would also guess that homelessness begets mental illness if it isn't already the driver.

[RED333]

Greg is right, Go to the Mission to help.

3 hours ago, gregintenn said:

Mental illness and/or drug abuse are the main issues that plague most homeless people. I am not equipped to help people deal with either. I understand The Nashville Rescue Mission is a worthy cause to donate and/or volunteer if one is so inclined.

 

https://nashvillerescuemission.org/

 

[hipower]

The Nashville Rescue Mission is one of a few groups I support, and have been for about 15 years. 

I became aware of them while a road salesman who got bored with about every station. I discovered 99.7 and have been hooked ever since.

I really like that the station management and air personalities give of themselves to support the Mission as well. 

[RED333]

3 minutes ago, hipower said:

I discovered 99.7

Ha, I knew there was something about you I liked! 99.7 is one of 3 I listen to, 650 AM and 105.9 are the other 2. Uncle Phil is a hoot on my way home.

[hipower]

I don't listen as much since I retired, but I did manage to get my wife listening. lol

She loved Ralph Bristol, dislikes Michael D., and I swear she is rabid over Phil.

Is Phil no longer nationwide?  

[MacGyver]

No one has to stay on the street in Nashville.  

Plenty do. There are a lot of reasons for that.

Over 180 churches participate in Room In the Inn, feeding and housing the homeless in their churches overnight.  

We do it once a week, and I stay overnight about once a month. It will change how you think about things when you sit down and share a meal with these folks.  My kids go with me, make beds, serve food, and eat with our guests.  

There are some great advocacy organizations here in middle Tennessee.  We really struggle with affordable housing. 

But programs like RITI make it a lot more tolerable. 

If anyone is ever interested in seeing what it’s about, if you’re interested in staying overnight, or think your church might want to be involved, shoot me a note.  

It will change you. 

If you’re interested in donating/getting involved, here are some great organizations:

Room in the Inn - overnight shelter and a variety of services

Nashville Rescue Mission

Open Table - advocacy and helping get people housed

Safe Haven - our only family shelter

 

[gregintenn]

You are the man, Mac!

[TrickyNicky]

I’ll just mention Second Harvest in east Nashville as another very cool, very worthy organization that is always looking for food, canned or fresh, blankets, clothes, etc. 

 

they work at being as self sustaining as possible with big gardens, chicken coops and the like. It was my pleasure to provide a few materials for their gardens a few years ago and was there when they were putting in the coops. If you’ve never seen a 50 year old, one armed, malnourished man work a sledge hammer to break up asphalt, it was an inspiring sight to say the least.

[Ruprect2]

Many of the homeless are better outfitted than REI.  

I’d go with what others have suggested and hook up with the Mission or Room at the Inn.  These folks can always use help in money supplies and volunteers.

I’d caution against going into the camps alone or otherwise.  The majority of these folks are super nice and good people, but there are others that are downright dangerous.

Here is an example of one camp of many around Nashville.  This one is behind the the Lowe’s at Charlotte Pike and River Rd.

[beebee233]

8 minutes ago, Ruprect2 said:

Many of the homeless are better outfitted than REI.  

I’d go with what others have suggested and hook up with the Mission or Room at the Inn.  These folks can always use help in money supplies and volunteers.

I’d caution against going into the camps alone or otherwise.  The majority of these folks are super nice and good people, but there are others that are downright dangerous.

Here is an example of one camp of many around Nashville.  This one is behind the the Lowe’s at Charlotte Pike and River Rd.

Thanks. If the above picture is representative of the homeless communities across America, there are more important things I can worry about.

[Raoul]

We've had 2 catastrophic house fires in my neighborhood. Both were vacant and the fires have been connected to homeless individuals.

[MacGyver]

I forgot to mention above that here in the middle Tennessee area, Operation Stand Down Is an amazing organization focused on helping veterans transition back.  A big focus of their operation focuses on housing.  

If you’re looking for a place to volunteer or give - these guys do great work. 

[Ruprect2]

18 hours ago, beebee233 said:

Thanks. If the above picture is representative of the homeless communities across America, there are more important things I can worry about.

Sorry, I didn’t mean I discourage you in general.  I was thinking more from the side of going directly into the camps.

There is no shortage of homeless and temporary homeless that are working hard to get on their feet, but physical and mental illness, rediculous cost of living here now and lack of resources are always working against them.

I’d echo what everyone else has said about hooking up with the Mission, Room at the Inn, ect...

[beebee233]

1 hour ago, Ruprect2 said:

Sorry, I didn’t mean I discourage you in general.  I was thinking more from the side of going directly into the camps.

There is no shortage of homeless and temporary homeless that are working hard to get on their feet, but physical and mental illness, rediculous cost of living here now and lack of resources are always working against them.

I’d echo what everyone else has said about hooking up with the Mission, Room at the Inn, ect...

This is not some passion I have to help humanity. The picture the lady painted was of a bunch of people lying face down in the mud, being eaten by rats and raccoons and I was willing to look further into it but wasn't about to go down there with just her. The reason for the post here and elsewhere was to recruit a suitable sized contingent to safely visit their compound and see the conditions first hand. Obviously, from the replies and the pics, the lady is painting the wrong picture and others have already gone ahead of me into these camps. The pic above shows organizational command structure and resources. They don't need me.

[MacGyver]

8 minutes ago, beebee233 said:

This is not some passion I have to help humanity. The picture the lady painted was of a bunch of people lying face down in the mud, being eaten by rats and raccoons and I was willing to look further into it but wasn't about to go down there with just her. The reason for the post here and elsewhere was to recruit a suitable sized contingent to safely visit their compound and see the conditions first hand. Obviously, from the replies and the pics, the lady is painting the wrong picture and others have already gone ahead of me into these camps. The pic above shows organizational command structure and resources. They don't need me.

For folks choosing to live in a ‘homeless camp’ - by and large - they’re there by choice - a lot of mentalities and conditions contribute to that.  But, at least in middle Tennessee, if they’re staying in a camp as opposed to taking advantage of some of the resources available, they’re in a place that’s known to authorities and aid workers, they’re trying to stay out of trouble, and they’re not particularly interested in doing something else (at least right now.)

Their survival skills are probably more well developed than most of ours ever will be. Couple that with really not welcoming unknown outsiders into their community, and you would probably feel that your time was wasted.  

That’s not to discourage you from getting involved.  There are a ton of places to plug in your desire to help in ways that really are meaningful.

Happy to help you find one if you like.  

[owejia]

Hobo's did the same thing back in the day, hitching rides on freight trains, camping by the tracks. Homeless people are nothing new, just gets more attention than in the past. During the meltdown at the end of Bush and beginning of Obama there were a lot of small tent camps everywhere. I remember seeing tents under interstate bridges.

[beebee233]

1 hour ago, MacGyver said:

 

Their survival skills are probably more well developed than most of ours ever will be.

Yes, quite discernible from the pic above. Reminds me a little of Colonel Kurtz's hamlet in Cambodia.

[MacGyver]

4 minutes ago, beebee233 said:

Yes, quite discernible from the pic above. Reminds me a little of Colonel Kurtz's hamlet in Cambodia.

That said, items that make cold weather outside more tolerable are always appreciated.  

Socks.  Chemical hand-warmers. Small propane refills. Protein shakes.  

This stuff will always be accepted with gladness.  And, if you’re concerned with handing people money - this alleviates that risk.  

[Alleycat72]

I've been around the homeless in Nashville for 20 years.  They don't want help.  All they want is a handout so they can get beer or mouthwash. I depends on how much money they have that day. You're not going to make them change. I love stepping on hypodermic needles on my way to get my job done. 

[GlockSpock]

I agree that for a large majority of homeless people that live the way they do, they are homeless because of their choosing. For some, it's essentially their "safe space". 

I must have "sucker" written in pretty legible ink on my forehead; I've thrown a fiver their way more times than I can count. How many times have I bought beer or cigarettes (or worse, potentially) for someone like that? Probably at least 50% of those times, I hope not more than 75%.

Here are my general rules. If someone says they need food, I try to always make time to buy them food. A quick five minutes to buy someone a warm burger could make someone's day. However, sometimes when suggesting that you buy them food, they'll reject. They just want cash,  and I think we all know why. I'll insist that all I can do is swipe my card and buy them food, I cannot give them cash. Sometimes they'll concede, other times not.

I used to be pretty open to buying gift cards and handing out. But one time this guy in Chattanooga told me about how he needed money for food, "His disability check was just a week away". I went into Chili's with him and purchased him a $10.00 gift card there and told him to enjoy his meal. I walked outside and then as I'm driving away (downtown), he passes me in front of me! No doubt he was going to probably sell the $10.00 gift card for $5.00. With the right sob story, he could probably sell it for the full $10.00 or even more.

I haven't got around to it, but I've been thinking that in cold months it'd be neat to assemble a "cold weather kit" such as a decent jacket, socks, etc. Likewise, in hot weather, a water bottle, hat, etc could help someone be more comfortable. 

I care for people in these situations. But I don't know how many of them could be helped. Offer $500 to "help someone get on their feet" and it'd likely be wasted away quicker than I'd find something to spend that money on. Offer most of these people a steady job and they wouldn't/couldn't keep it a week.

I do wish it were easier to separate these people into two groups. For the ones that genuinely want to get back on their feet and improve their lives, I'd gladly dig deep into my pockets to help them. But for the people that either have more serious issues (mentally or socially) and are "lifelong homeless", I'm not sure how to "help them" other than just be kind to them and offer them food if they are hungry.

I do wish I were in a position to offer a career to people in need, along the lines of The Pursuit of Happiness. Sadly, in today's world knowingly doing such a thing would generally be considered too risky in terms of liability to even be allowed to do such a thing.

For the ones that honestly want jobs, I wish there were systems in place to make it easier. As stated before, not having a mailing address will typically disqualify you from most any job. I wonder if there could be some sort of "homeless post office" setup by charity where qualified individuals could get a "PO Box" at a location similar to a homeless shelter but just for mail. It'd have to be charity funded and theoretically the boxes could be established for something like three months or so. Essentially, give people a mailing address for a job application. It may or may not be feasible, and plus your hiring managers would recognize the address after it was founded.

[GlockSpock]

Just saw this:

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/39863238/chattanooga-reacts-to-loss-of-sandy-the-flower-man

I remember meeting this guy once. My Wife and I were out for dinner and he came walking around the restaurant. I told him I'd buy a flower or two for my Wife so he handed them to her. Upon pulling out my wallet I was mortified to see no cash. I sincerely apologized and explained to him that I thought I had some cash. He told me it was ok and told her to keep them and then wished us both well before continuing on for the night.

I didn't know his backstory but that article really struck home.

Edited January 28, 2019 by GlockSpock

[Defender]

23 hours ago, MacGyver said:

I forgot to mention above that here in the middle Tennessee area, Operation Stand Down Is an amazing organization focused on helping veterans transition back.  A big focus of their operation focuses on housing.  

If you’re looking for a place to volunteer or give - these guys do great work. 

Not going to judge here the homeless or the whys, though i have my opinions too.  I used to work pretty closely with Operation StandDown Nashville, now they are Operation Stand Down Tennessee.  I still donate to them via payroll deduction at http://osdtn.org/  They do good work and try to help the vets more than just with a handout, though they do some of  that too.  The Nashville Mission is another good one that serves them well.    I'd recommend staying out of the camps unless you have to go...

[Raoul]

1 hour ago, GlockSpock said:

Just saw this:

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/39863238/chattanooga-reacts-to-loss-of-sandy-the-flower-man

I remember meeting this guy once. My Wife and I were out for dinner and he came walking around the restaurant. I told him I'd buy a flower or two for my Wife so he handed them to her. Upon pulling out my wallet I was mortified to see no cash. I sincerely apologized and explained to him that I thought I had some cash. He told me it was ok and told her to keep them and then wished us both well before continuing on for the night.

I didn't know his backstory but that article really struck home.

I had the opportunity of running into this fella several times over the years.

He always was upbeat and had a kind word.