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Task Force unveils new ideas for helping homeless
Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 12:01am
After meeting for the better part of this year, the Downtown Quality of Life Task Force has come up with a list of goals to make Nashville’s downtown cleaner, safer and more livable — most of them aimed at helping the city’s homeless population.
The proposals include a pilot program through the court system to connect homeless people with proper resources they need, as well as setting up a “day center” to provide care not usually found at night in shelters.
Several of the goals could be lumped under what task force member and District 7 Councilman Erik Cole called setting up a one-stop shop for dealing with the many issues facing homeless people in Nashville.
The task force recommended expanding the existing work of General Sessions Judge Dan Eisenstein into a pilot program that could direct homeless people who regularly come through his court to the proper resources they need to get help.
Cole said such a program does not exist and could help a homeless individual find access to a wide-ranging list of Metro and nonprofit services available. Cole pointed out that many homeless people deal with the same issues like substance abuse, emotional disorders and medical problems.
“We really felt a lot of synergy between the judge’s office, the police, the nonprofits and the Homeless Commission,” Cole said. “We’re all finding there is a core population of homeless people and a lot of them have the same three or four issues. But to sort through the tangled web of their lives, it would help if we could converge and work together in some way.”
The task force was formed earlier this year after a controversial bill to curb chronic panhandling downtown became bogged down in Metro Council. To that end, homelessness was the centerpiece of the task force’s recommendations, with various goals listed for how to deal with the issue.
Many of the issues are already being tackled by Metro Council legislation like cutting down on noise from clubs downtown, crimes emanating from after-hours clubs and single-sale beer.
Councilman Mike Jameson has begun the process to expand the Metro noise ordinance to downtown, Councilwoman Anna Page is leading the charge on regulating after-hours clubs and Councilwoman Erica Gilmore said she intends to file legislation dealing with single-item beer sales.
Cole said he was committed to working toward introducing legislation to help the task force achieve its goals.
“I’m certainly committed to it, but we have to take it piece by piece and we have to involve all the interested groups,” Cole said.
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Filed under: City News
First of all there is absolutely NO safe government housing in Nashville.This will not end the problem unless they plan on locking them into their apartments.This appears to be just another scam for tax payers to bail out another bogus project Metro has put together.The Department of Housing is already in trouble for scamming mortgage money and they will soon be in trouble for housing felons illegally for more federal funds.Isn't most crime in Nashville around public housing neighborhoods???
The only thing you need to do for the homeless is to build an inexpensive building with heat for winter and fans for summer. Equip it with male & female showers & restrooms. Make sure that it can be washed down daily. Then every time a homeless person is caught panhandling or defecating on the street have him or her sent to this facility for 36 hours. Within a few months these pitful vile creatures will leave the city. The one thing they cannot stand is to not be mobile or have access to their vice.
Send them to that dark pit of hell know as..........Memphis.
Gee Frank, could you be any more inhumane? Look, homelessness is not always a choice. Look at the fires in CA and think about 1000 homes burning to the ground all at once, or think about the sunamis or earthquakes. The people are also somewhat mentally ill and since the liberal gov'ment decided to close them out of the mental facilities they are now faced to be on the street. Every culture has down trodden people. Maybe if you all volunteer more and bitch less, there'd be a better solution. I'm all for people getting jobs and being self-sufficient, but some times it's not possible.
"Volunteer more and bitch less" -- I like it! Good solution to a lot of problems.
Maybe if the Mayor and councilmen, spent one more night on the street with the homeless, the answer would come to them.
We have a probelm with homeless people defecating on the streets? Ick.
As of December the first my family and I will be homeless. My husband lost his job 2 years ago. I work and make all of about 500 a month. We have been applying for emergency help (none to be had) section 8 housing and housing vouchers. It is a 3 months to 3 year wait. If we are on the streets, sorry if we offend you. Our "vice" will be trying to live until help comes through. Oh, family help? None to be had. My 16 year old is a student at a magnet high school. We were buying a house.The ironic thing is that if we were alcoholics or drug addicts, we could get more help.Glad to know that there are such kind people in Nashville as you Frank, you just made my day so much better.Bitter? you betcha.