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

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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.