JOHN COOPER

MAYOR

METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY

RENEE PRATT METROPOLITAN SOCIAL SERVICES

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 2ND AVENUE NORTH, SUITE 100
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37201

December 20, 2022

Members of Council –

We are writing in regard to Ordinance no. BL2022-1533 which would accept an easement on property
owned by Lowes Home Centers, Inc. adjacent to Brookmeade park. With the friendly amendment
proposed by Council members Thom Druffel and Gloria Hausser, the easement would allow for placement
of a fence to secure the property, but only after the encampment residents have been offered housing.
Without placement of a fence once the site is vacant, additional encampments will likely return.

Respectfully, we ask Council members not to adopt the proposed Substitute offered by Councilmember
Dave Rosenberg, and instead to approve the ordinance with the previously submitted amendment now
sponsored by Councilmembers Druffel and Hausser.

The underlying ordinance is intended as a life-saving security measure at an encampment that is – by any
measure -- unsafe for residents. Currently, those residing in the encampment remain subject to criminal
acts, predatory behavior, drug activity, and other personal risks – and now record low sub-freezing
temperatures are predicted. (Because of the volatile nature of encampments and residents’ concern with
preserving their belongings, despite our strongest and continuous efforts, we have noted Brookmeade
residents do not choose to participate in our cold weather sheltering program. This puts their lives further
at risk.

In addition to the numerous threats they face, in just the past few weeks, the encampment has witnessed
16 overdoses, 17 fires, 31 EMS calls, and at least one death. Residents’ descriptions of daily life are deeply
distressing if not horrifying. Allowing current conditions to persist is not in any resident’s best interests;
and it is unclear how efforts to address their needs and prevent future dangers became entangled in the
wording of a fence easement.

If we stay the course of implementing the proven Housing First Model and providing critical services
immediately to residents who enter housing, we will save lives. Allow us to repeat: We will save lives.

The Substitute proposed by Councilmember Rosenberg does not align with Housing First Support services,
nor the current capacity of the Metro Homeless Impact Division (MHID). As we look to deploy resources
to additional locations, MHID Outreach cannot staff new requirements to provide direct services long-
term to encampment residents.

The proposed Substitute would preclude implementation of the fence easement until after a variety of
new conditions were met, including entering into separate contract(s) with service provider(s) under the
Keys to Hope, Help and Housing support service program. MHID cannot delay entering agreements with
service providers for Housing First Support Services until February. Sub-freezing temperatures are
predicted, and encampment residents typically do not leave their items for sheltering. Again, “we can
save lives”.
The proposed Substitute would further require that, after encampment residents have been engaged by
partner organizations, offered housing navigation services, and provided a path to permanent supportive
housing, Metro must then wait an additional two (2) weeks thereafter before the fence easement could
become effective. As a result of this new condition, if just one (1) encampment resident refused housing
options provided to him/her, the ordinance could not be implemented.

The proposed Substitute likewise prevents implementation of the easement until after the MHID Director
and Social Services Executive Director confirm in writing that, among other requirements, “all individuals
residing at the Brookmeade Park encampment” are residing in permanent or temporary housing. Again,
if one (1) resident refused housing options, implementation could not proceed. And neither MHID nor
Social Services can or should deny the rights of encampment residents to their own self-determination.

While Metro has and continues to rapidly develop permanent supportive housing units, thanks to the
approvals of Metro Council, there will be limited PSH options in the short term until the Metropolitan
Development and Housing Agency’s $25 million allocation is fully implemented. Moreover, MHID cannot
continue providing services at Brookmeade following encampment closure when it must direct attention
to supporting residents in their new locations, though referrals will be made to partnering outreach
agencies.

In implementing the Council-approved Housing First Model, MHID is adhering to the guidance of the U.S.
Dept of Housing and Urban Development, as well as the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
(USICH). Making housing accessible to the unhoused is a requisite part of efforts to close
encampments. The Ordinance, as amended, effectively applies these principles. We ask that the
Ordinance be adopted as amended, and that the proposed Substitute be disapproved. We can and have
an opportunity to save lives.

Sincerely,

April Calvin
April Calvin
Interim Director
Metropolitan Homeless Impact Division

Renee Pratt
Renee Pratt
Executive Director
Metropolitan Social Services

CC: Stacy Horn Koch