NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After burning the midnight oil at Metro Council, a series of resolutions passed giving Nashville Mayor John Cooper the funding he requested to address homelessness in Nashville.
"Now, homelessness has plagued our city for decades," said Mayor Cooper, during a Wednesday morning bill signing.
Using federal pandemic money, Metro's $50 million dollar plan addresses temporary and permanent housing for those experiencing homelessness.
"A plan that meets the magnitude of the problem — and I’m proud to say today that we have that plan," said Cooper.
$25 million goes towards building affordable homes through low-cost loans. The city would also reach out to existing construction projects and offer incentives to set aside units for low-income renters.
"It creates fast and effective avenues to build permanent and supportive housing so we can move people into more long-term, stable housing units," said Cooper.
$9 million will be used to build seven additional mobile housing centers, like those already in place at Bellevue United Methodist Church.
"It ramps up our capacity for temporary housing to get folks off the street as soon as possible," said the Mayor.
$7 million will go to incentivize landlords to ease renting restrictions. Examples include a sober requirement or blocking those with criminal records.
Another $9 million will be spent on caseworkers and resources to help keep people in stable housing.
"It provides critical services like physical and mental health care, addiction housing, case management and support to keep residents, to keep residents in safe housing and off the streets," said Cooper.
But not everyone was thrilled about the city's plan. Rebecca Lowe is the founder of Reclaim Brookmeade Park, an organization fighting to disband a homeless encampment that has overtaken a greenway trailhead in West Nashville.
"We’re happy about the $50 million being allocated toward homelessness, obviously that’s huge, but we still have a park and greenway that still can’t be used by the public, and that’s a problem," said Lowe.
She's worried that the plan won't actually address their concerns.
"How are we going to deal with the elephant in the room, which is those few folks who just choose not to leave? Where are they going to go and how do we deal with that in a humane way?" asked Lowe.
While the Mayor's office never directly mentioned Brookmeade, they hope success in other cities that adopted similar practices will be reflected here.
"Milwaukee has reduced their homeless count by 92%; Austin, Texas has seen great reductions — as did Mobile, Alabama; Columbus, Ohio; San Diego, California and New Orleans, Louisiana," said Mayor Cooper.
