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The Road Home Campaign is focused on addressing the primary cause of homelessness, that is, the lack of affordable housing for the lowest income individuals and families. The goal of this campaign is the creation of thousands of new housing units for homeless and low-income people between 2007 and 2015. The campaign’s focus is on decision makers at the local, state and federal levels, and their efforts to re-prioritize housing in Nashville. Download this campaign one pager |
BACKGROUND: A primary cause of homelessness is the lack of housing that is affordable to the lowest-income individuals and families. Since 1978 the federal budget for affrodable housing has been cut by $52 billion per year, while homelessness steeply increased into the early 1980's. Rather than housing, the government's and community's response to homelessness was soup kitchens and too few emergency shelters' homelessness was believed to be a temporary issue due to the hard economic times. the federal, philanthropic, and faith-based-aids intended for transitory homelessness could not and has not been effective in bringing an end to homelessness.
Federal funding for affordable housing since 1980. See this report by the Western Regional Advocacy Decades of Federal Housing Cutbacks, Massive Homelessness, and Policy Failures! |
In Nashville, there are over 3,500 homeless individuals, 2,000 families on the Section 8 Voucher Waiting List, and over 12,000 families living in poverty and spending over 30% of their income on housing. Simultaneously, Nashville is experiencing an “urban renewal” for the high-income, real estate market; skyscrapers, hotels, a convention center, and large scale condominiums are being developed at a pace that is leading the country. This development is making existing low-income housing more vulnerable everyday, and putting many low-income renters and owners at risk of becoming homeless. At the same time, development of low-income and affordable housing is slowing down as scarcity results in very expensive land lots. Taken together, all of these trends are creating a true housing crisis in Nashville. The Nashville Homeless Power Project is working hard to develop relationships with decision-makers in a position to address the causes of this housing crisis at the local, state, and federal levels. |
LOCAL LEVEL
I. METRO’S COMMISSION TO END CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS The City of Nashville committed to building 1,800 new housing units for homeless families and individuals by 2015. The Nashville Homeless Power Project goal is to ensure that city follows through on their commitment. Background: With the passage of the 2008 budget on June 30th, 2007, the city has committed to funding 84 housing units for homeless people and families: 34 units in 2007 budget year and 50 for the 2008 budget year. This leaves Metro with 7 more budget cycles to provide partial funding (matching funds) for the remaining 1,616 housing units, or 231 units for each of the next 7 years. The Nashville Homeless Power Project has been a primary force in helping the city to direct at least $600,000 toward 50 of these 84 units, and has been a secondary force for other related funding. The Nashville Homeless Power Project has deeply engaged all six candidates for Mayor: Briley, Clement, Dean, Dozier, Eaton, and Gentry. Briley, Dean, Dozier and Gentry all participated in the NHPP Urban Plunge, an overnight in the streets of Nashville. Briley, Dean, and Gentry committed to generating at least 200 new housing units a year. The September 11th, 2007 election will bring Nashville either former US Congressman Bob Clement, or former-Director of Law and Nashville Public Defender Karl Dean to the Mayor’s office. At that point, NHPP will engage the next phase of the Housing Campaign with the new mayor. |
To demnostrate the need for affordable housing for the homeless, In March 2007, 150 homeless, students, ministers and others decided to camp out in front of city hall, to demonstrate the human need for the city to follow through on its own plan to build 200 affordable housing units this year. It became the largest homeless demonstration in Nashville’s History. 150 homeless camped out, 16 were arrested, 50 chanted in welcome the next morning to “let our people go!” after the arrests were ruled unconstitutional and thrown out by the judge. Several homeless leaders from the Power Project guided a 4 mayoral candidates on ˜The Urban Plunge” spending the night on the streets. National Spokesperson of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, Cheri Honkala participated bringing award winning independent Big Noise Films who produced a 20 minute documentary film click here to purchase. Photo above by Lawrence Boothby for more pictures see here |
With the unprecedented growth of downtown Nashville, the NHPP is engaging with the developers of major new developments such as Signature Towers, Crown Plaza Towers, and the Westin Hotel to ensure their participation in and contribution to the Nashville community, including our most vulnerable members.
III. THE NASHVILLE HOUSING TRUST FUND CAMPAIGN
Since 2005, the Nashville Homeless Power Project has worked with the Organization for Affordable Rentals, and many other groups and individuals in the campaign to develop a recurring fund for low-income housing in Davidson County. This fund, recently named the “Barnes Fund” after Civil Rights Leader Reverend Bill Barnes, will focus on housing for a broad spectrum of low-income Nashvillians, including the homeless, low-income elderly, and people with mental illness and disabilities. There is a lot of work to be done in 2008 to make this recurring fund a reality.
STATE LEVEL
The NHPP is researching effective engagements to address housing issues at the state level. The Interagency Council to End Chronic Homelessness has remained relatively dormant since its birth in 2006, thus we are directing some efforts at its revitalization.
NATIONAL LEVEL
The Campaign for a National Housing Trust Fund seeks to return several billion dollars into the federal budget that has been lost over the last 30 years. The Nashville Homeless Power Project will be organizing its members and allies to meet with and educate our US Senators and Representative: Bob Corker, Lamar Alexander and Jim Cooper.
615-733-0633 | 42 The Arcade Nashville TN 37219 | Info@HomelessPower.Org