Q&A: Paula Foster

New Open Table Director talks next steps and finding peace in the chaos

By Hannah Herner

In October 2020, Open Table Nashville celebrated 10 years of service, and named a new executive director, Paula Foster.

Foster has spent decades in social work, serving those with HIV/AIDS, the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities. A common thread throughout her years of service has been serving those who experience homelessness, she says.

Foster went from her small hometown in Louisiana to New York City for 13 years and then to Nashville for the last 20 years. In those 20 years, she taught social work at area colleges, and served on a number of boards, including Saddle Up!, the TN Disability Coalition, Women’s Political Collaborative and Nashville Pride. She’s coming to Open Table from her most recent job as executive director of the Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare, a statewide advocacy and training organization, and is currently the chair of the Nashville Continuum of Care Homeless Planning Council.

Former executive director Ingrid McIntyre will now be heading up The Village at Glencliff, which will provide medical respite and operate independently, though in partnership with Open Table.

While settling into her new role, Foster shared with The Contributor her vision of the organization, and what keeps her going in the field of social work.

Do you have a memory of the first interaction you had with Open Table?

It was probably in 2015. There was one night when it was really, really cold. My wife works for Nashville Cares and she had met Ingrid (McIntyre). And she said that Open Table was doing this warming shelter and needed someone to help prepare a meal. We prepared a meal and took it over to the warming shelter, and that’s the first time I ever met Ingrid. And then from there I continued to support Open Table through different things. I actually ran for city council and I did an event for folks to bring stuff for Open Table, and so we did a whole big drive where we got stuff for their welcome home kits.

I even had my Amazon smile donation thing set for Open Table. So I’d been doing those things for several years before I had the opportunity to actually come on board with them. So it was amazing.

BY HANNAH HERNER

What do you see as Open Table’s role in ending homelessness in Nashville?

One of the things that is unique about Open Table is that we recognize that homelessness is not a problem that you can fix overnight, even if you just put someone into a home or an apartment. The support that is needed is tremendous for folks who’ve been chronically homeless. Our philosophy is to walk with folks through their journey.

They don’t trust and I don’t blame them. They’ve been kind of shut out of things for so long. We at Open Table feel like it’s incredibly important to help folks get to where they need to be at their own pace. We don’t push people into housing, we develop relationships with them, we make sure that they know that they can trust that we’re going to be there for them.

So while I believe in the housing first model, part of what I think is difficult here in Nashville is that we can put people in the housing, but we don’t always have the follow up services people need to help keep them in housing.

What sparked your interest in social work?

I did some church work in the summers when I was in high school and spent some time in Houston, Texas, doing some interesting ministry. That really opened my eyes to poverty. And I think that’s where my mission, my calling — whatever you want to say — to become a social worker was born. Because at that point, I had never experienced that kind of abject poverty.

What are your goals for Open Table?

Being so new, I don’t know that I can answer that completely at this point. My first goal for us, as an organization, to do is a new strategic plan. Because we’ve been around for ten years now. We need to take a look at who we are and what we do and how we do it, and kind of reevaluate whether or not it is the most effective way that we can serve the people that we want to serve.

With input from all of our constituencies — the people we serve, the people who serve our organization, volunteers, staff — we all have a part in figuring out who we are and where we go from here. And so I think that’s my biggest goal for us right now. And I don’t know exactly where that will lead us. Because again, it’s not my plan for the organization. It’s a collaborative plan. And I think that’s incredibly important for who we are.

What keeps you from burning out after so much time in the nonprofit field?

I think I’ve figured out ways, over my lifetime, to balance what I do with my personal life. I understand that there’s a need to disconnect from work. I am a social worker, I don’t just do social work. It is who I am. But I recognize that, you know, I’m driving down the street, I see someone standing on the corner, I can’t stop and help everyone. What I do in my work life is the best I can do to serve as many people as possible. And I understand that I am not going to be able to save everyone and help everyone and I have to be able to be at peace with that.

When I left graduate school, I was so tired of reading academic journals and articles that I started reading trashy detective novels. I still love that because I lose myself in those sometimes. When I really feel like I just need to disconnect and find my balance again I find a really stupid mystery novel and read it. And that’s how I rejuvenate. Everybody’s got to find their thing that helps them do that.

If people want to help out the organization, what’s a good way to do that?

We’re spending a lot of money this year on canisters of propane. Because folks who are living outside need to be able to keep warm, and one of those little camp stove canisters of propane, when you put it on to a buddy heater — only lasts for about three hours. It takes two or three of those a night for folks to be able to stay warm. So we’re going through a lot of propane. So quite frankly, if someone wanted to donate money for us to buy propane, that’s one of the best things that we can get right now.

Anything else you’d like to add?

These folks [on staff at Open Table] are incredible — their commitment to the people who live outside and trying to find places for people to live. It is an incredibly difficult job and the resources are scarce. The need is tremendous. And I am just thankful for who they are. I’m incredibly thankful to be able to help lead the team and provide the service to the folks who really, truly, need it the most.