NOT ONE COMMUNITY SHOULD BE LEFT TO ADDRESS HOMELESNESS

On a perfect day, Merri Mai Williamson entertains guests with good food and great conversation at her home on East 10th Street, something she’s become fond of over the years.

Avery, a young boy who goes often to the Chatt Foundation on East 11th Street with his family, plays at the nearby playground with his friends.

With very different life experiences, Williamson and Avery are connected — integral parts of the fabric of a downtown neighborhood.

Hundreds of other Chattanoogans, like Avery and his family, don’t have the privilege of stability — yet — that Williamson has had. They are at risk of being homeless or are experiencing homelessness.

Both are pieces of the quilt that is Chattanooga. And just like with a quilt, every once in awhile the worn-out pieces call for our attention. In this case, it’s the people who experience homelessness in the neighborhoods around downtown and increasingly in other parts of the city.

WORKING TO FIND AN ANSWER

The announcement of the city’s decision to place a 24/7 lowbarrier homeless shelter in a transit building on East 12th Street could be perceived as a good thing, another alternative for people experiencing homelessness to obtain shelter. For background, the city announced plans in July 2022 to use $2.84 million in federal pandemic relief funds to build such a low-barrier homeless shelter.

Williamson’s nearly 20 years as a resident of a home just blocks away from Chatt Foundation gives her perspective on the challenges of building family and neighborhood stability. She is concerned about concentrating too many homeless resources in one area.

“Congregating people of like circumstance in a singular location has not worked throughout the annals of time to transition them to self-sufficiency and an improved way of life,” Williamson said via email on Wednesday. “The proof of this is widespread across our nation and our city — a cautionary tale of what we can expect if homeless service provision is allowed to expand in the Onion Bottom area.”

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly, a resident of Fortwood (about a mile from Chatt Foundation), acknowledges the complexity of homelessness — and the need to address it as more and more people move downtown.

“All I can tell you is that we are committed to making sure that it doesn’t compromise the neighborhoods surrounding (the shelter),” Kelly said in an interview Wednesday. “It may mean increased [public] services.”

For example, he said, public works staff is now monitoring 11th and 12th streets.

The new low-barrier shelter is needed, but Kelly said he understands the concern over concentrating services in one area.

“This is just a low barrier shelter where the designated tent area is,” Kelly said. “I hope and pray that (the low barrier shelter) doesn’t become a beacon to attract more homeless [from] elsewhere who think somehow this is a Ritz Carlton. It’s not.”

The city remains committed to a “housing first model, he noted.

“The condition of homelessness should be brief, rare and non-recurring. It should be a transitional thing,” he said. “The question is do we have the capacity in the pipeline to make sure people are moving through and getting services that they need?”

Kelly emphasizes that every mayor in America is looking for answers to this increasingly contentious issue.

“I think that it’s our moral responsibility to look after our neighbors,” he said. “What I’m not okay with is accepting people [who are] essentially coerced or incentivized into coming here from Atlanta or Nashville.” That doesn’t happen frequently, but it does happen, he said.

Williamson offers a solution she believes will extend the reach of services to those experiencing homelessness.

“Reaching those less fortunate where they are throughout our city by using mobile units staffed with the current service providers is a more effective and efficient way to impact lives in a positive way and promote a ‘housing first’ model with services and support,” she contends.

The mayor should consider other areas of Chattanooga for potential sites of other low barrier shelters and facilities that provide resources, Williamson suggested.

Kevin Roig, senior adviser for public affairs, said the city is finalizing a vendor contract for the Airport Inn off Lee Highway. The goal is to provide supportive housing for homeless individuals at the former motel.

RESPONDING WITH EMPATHY

Homelessness is a unique challenge because it forces people to see how vulnerable members of our community are: their challenges are out in the open for all to see.

For example, on a recent morning on 11th Street, a woman experiencing homelessness was yelling at someone. Another woman in an adjacent parking lot heard the commotion and threatened to call the police. What the woman didn’t seem to understand was that the woman was yelling at an individual who broke her wagon — the means she had to carry her belongings around.

Most people can keep their vulnerable moments private — they have homes. But for those experiencing homelessness, every emotion, every unfortunate circumstance, is public. And they are too often harshly judged as failures, as undeserving of help.

But this is where the city can step in — offering wraparound support and shelter to help people move toward stability in their lives. That’s what Chattanooga can be known for.