The Q&A Issue

By Hannah Herner and Amanda Haggard

Photos by David Pineros

Over the last year, we’ve seen almost everyone grapple with some form of loss or struggle. From the top to the bottom, people’s lives have changed. For some people, they knew one big thing like the pandemic would show the cracks. Despite the deepening divide, people scratched and clawed to get good work done and to work with their neighbors in sometimes entirely new ways. For this Q&A edition of The Contributor, we talked with five people in the Middle Tennessee community tackling various issues. Whether it’s newly formed mutual aid groups, churches focusing on social justice, nonprofits folks working within the system to make change, these folks represent the steady drumbeat of activism and hope and education and change that is needed to get the work done.

BETH THIELMAN

Nashville Mutual Aid Collective wants people to dream for a better world

BY AMANDA HAGGARD

Beth Thielman is just one in a collective of people in Nashville working to get the right supplies and resources to the people who need them.

Through Nashville Mutual Aid Collective, she and others have spent the last year trying to find ways for neighbors to help neighbors all while trying to dismantle oppressive systems that often do little to help the people who need it most.

Thielman is a Nashville native, a community organizer, a co-founder of Nashville Disability Justice Collective and a member of the Middle TN chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

These answers were written with collective input and approval from Nashville Mutual Aid Collective.

Tell me a little bit about Nashville Mutual Aid Collective, and more generally about how Mutual Aid works.

The Nashville Mutual Aid Collective was founded in March 2020 as a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the multiple crises Nashville and the world were facing at that time. We are not a nonprofit or a government agency, and we are not a charity organization. We are a grassroots effort in ‘the radical act of caring for each other while working to change the world,’ [a quote from Dean Spade, Mutual Aid organizer and scholar]. We are made up of volunteers: friends, allies and community organizers dedicated to showing up for one another and fighting to dismantle harmful social, political, and economic systems. We always welcome community members who are interested in learning more to join us for our weekly Zoom calls. To get more information, email nashvillemutualaidcollective@gmail.com.

A lot of times Mutual Aid efforts grow in times of crisis. What sorts of things can folks be doing to ensure support is there for people on a regular basis?

Sustainability is a core value for many organizers in Mutual Aid that has its roots in the Disability Justice movement. We’re making an effort to continue offering direct support, political education, organizing, and community care through collective sharing of responsibilities, decision-making, gifts, leadership and skills. We make regular invitations for folks to get involved in new efforts, and we respect the need for breaks, rest, and care. We have every intention of continuing these efforts, even when the COVID-19 crisis is not dominant. People will always need uplifting, support, and care. So we must continue to be there for one another, no matter what’s going on, or who’s in charge of our government.

I’m really into the idea of low-barrier help — we offer low-barrier income opportunities at The Contributor. Do you think the idea of “no questions asked” should be more widely incorporated into aid in general?

Yes. Too often, there is talk of whether or not folks are ‘deserving’ aid and support. Who are we to make that call? It’s a dangerous, false debate at its core, because there is no human being who doesn’t deserve a full life of community participation, play, safety, growth and stability. Our hope is not only to help people find ways to meet their basic needs in a time of crisis, but to dream for a better world, and to be a part of that making that happen in an atmosphere of greater care, safety and community.

What has really worked in Mutual Aid in Nashville? Where do you see the greatest needs?

Our Collective truly has a spirit of mutual care and collaboration. Our greatest strengths are building a sense of connection and community, educating and bringing together passionate people, and finding joy. We are hopeful to have more folks join who are interested in volunteering for some of our partner organizations, learning more about the history of mutual aid, and working toward lasting social change.

Is there anything you would want people to know about the Nashville Mutual Aid Collective that I didn’t ask about?

Mutual aid is multiracial, antiracist, anticapitalist work done with a focus on care, accessibility, and compassion. While our membership is diverse, we make every effort to center and amplify voices of poor people, disabled people, Black people, indigenous people, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people and anyone else pushed to the margins by the oppressive systems in which we live. “Centering” means passing the mic to them, following their lead, acknowledging their legacy, and refusing to let them shoulder the burden of constantly working against harmful systems. We are already seeing fruit from our collective care and organizing efforts, and we hope to be a haven for those who most need one in our community for years to come. We would love to have you join us in this sacred work.

REV. KEVIN RIGGS

In affluent Williamson County, Riggs addresses homelessness head on

BY AMANDA HAGGARD

Rev. Kevin Riggs had long been a pastor at Franklin Community Church when two parked cars across the street from his church’s community center caught his attention.

He learned that two people were living in their car. It set him off on a mission to create an emergency shelter system in Williamson County and to address the inequity in housing in the county. Riggs has several ideas about how to improve things for those without housing in Williamson County and works with the Williamson County Homeless Alliance in many of his endeavors to get people off the streets.

What had you been working on before this year and how did the pandemic alter your plans?

We got a grant to move people from homelessness into permanent housing, and assist them for a period of time. That program is always full now with the waiting lists, but we did have that and were focused on it. We’ve moved about 45 people who were homeless into permanent housing in the last couple of years. And we had churches helping do cold and hot temperature shelters. And when COVID hit, we really had to pivot because all the churches who were helping just closed. So we started placing people in hotels, especially during the initial lockdown shelter in place. We raised money and we put people in hotels for about six weeks. And then we operated like that for under 32 degrees and above 90 as well.

What are some of your goals after this year?

I want to eventually get 31 churches who would agree to house homeless people in their church for one night a month. And then if I had 31 churches who agree to that, we could have shelter options 365 days a year. All [churches] have to commit to is space. We would bring in our own bedding. We would bring in, I would bring in my own monitors to stay with them all night. I would provide the insurance for the churches and we would eat a meal off site in the middle at our community center. And it would be cheaper — just for two organizations in an 11-month period, we spent $200,000 getting people into hotels.

When you’re fundraising in a place like Williamson County for emergency shelter, do you run into having to convince folks that it’s a real issue there?

Yeah, people need to be convinced, but I do think at this point, they’ve probably seen a homeless person in the county, maybe holding a sign up. What they don’t get is that it’s the tip of the iceberg. One thing that came out of the pandemic is that early on in the shelter place, I was able to be on a conference call every day with emergency management that had every political, social, educational, medical leader in the county. There would be 90 some people so there’s not a leader in the county that didn’t hear me outline the problem or report about how many people were homeless in the hotels the previous night. They heard it every day for at least 40 days or more. … People also might think the people they see here that are homeless are coming from other places and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Something like 85 percent of the people homeless here grew up here or have lived here a significant amount of time.

PAULETTE COLEMAN

Longtime housing advocate Coleman is hopeful for the Affordable Housing Task Force

BY HANNAH HERNER

Paulette Coleman advocates for affordable housing — that is housing that costs no more than 30 percent of your income. She knows well that wages haven’t kept up with housing costs, and in a city like Nashville, the right to invest in property and the right for people to have adequate and safe housing collide often.

Coleman now brings her years of advocacy work with NOAH (Nashville Organized for Action and Hope), experience as a chair of Metropolitan Housing and Development Agency, and experience in international development and urban planning as a member of the mayor’s new Affordable Housing Task Force.

Can you tell me about the work you’re doing with the Affordable Housing Task Force?

One is to come up with some recommendations for addressing the affordable housing crisis that can be implemented in one, two or three years. Now, given that the challenges of affordable housing intersect with many, many components, we also have a charge to think longer term. And even if we’ve done these things in one, two or three years, what is the larger, broader ecosystem that needs to exist here in Nashville to mitigate against homelessness, or lack of affordable housing?

I’ve been working on housing issues here in Nashville since 2014. This group perhaps represents the most comprehensive amalgamation of people addressing the problem. So I’m very hopeful about this. The other thing that I think is good is that the work of the committee is timebound, we’re supposed to have our recommendations in April.

What are some of the same old problems that keep coming up over the years working on affordable housing?

Money. NOAH worked very hard to get a commitment from Mayor [Megan] Barry, that we would have at least $10 million a year [in the Barnes Housing Trust Fund]. We need predictable, recurring funding, and that isn’t the level we need, but you have to start somewhere.

The second thing is, most people behave as if the nonprofit sector is the only one responsible for solving the problem. And I think that’s just very, very mistaken and misguided. The for-profit sector has a role, and we need to structure programs and policies that would encourage them to be involved.

Another problem — and this is a problem across the country — people will say that they’re for affordable housing. But then if you talk about increasing density, or allowing multi-unit housing, instead of single family, you get all kinds of protests from law abiding, sometimes progressive people who support affordable housing. The phenomenon of NIMBYism, not in my backyard, is very very real.

What are some of the new issues you’re addressing?

I mediate with the Nashville Conflict Resolution Center, and we got some of the CARES Act money to mitigate people who were behind in their rent. It was a win-win, because the landlords got their money, but people got their rent paid, and it bought them time. I’m concerned about that. The problem is, unless the tenants have some new sources of income, they’re going to be back in the same predicament in a few months.

What inspires you to keep working on affordable housing?

I graduated from college in three years and the fourth year, I went out to Denver, and I was a fellow at The Center for International Race Relations. This would have been in the ’70s. I remember, the general wisdom was that we would not see apartheid end in South Africa in our lifetime. I mean, every scholar, every activist, everybody, that’s what they were saying. Then comes 1996 and it ends. So that’s why I know you have to keep fighting no matter what. Because the victories aren’t gonna come tomorrow, and I might not even live to see them, but you still have to keep advancing the charge.

PASTOR STEPHEN HANDY

Leader of McKendree United Methodist Church talks about the church’s role in social justice

BY HANNAH HERNER

As pastor of McKendree United Methodist Church in Downtown Nashville for 12 years, Stephen Handy is no stranger to working with those experiencing homelessness — but the work is ever-evolving.

In the 80s, the church was an incubator for what became Community Care Fellowship, a day shelter now in East Nashville. To this day, McKendree serves meals and offers a free clothing closet twice a week. A couple years ago, the church took one step further and opened The Foundry, eight living spaces for men transitioning off the streets, located in the basement of the church.

Next, Handy says the church hopes to expand into real estate, to give The Foundry residents an opportunity to switch from transitional housing to homeownership. He sat down with The Contributor to discuss his philosophy with providing for those experiencing homelessness and the church’s role in social justice.

What keeps you going with offering services to people experiencing homelessness?

I’ve realized through the years that I am not here for myself, I’m here to be in partnership with my brothers and sisters, regardless of race, gender, age. And if I have something to share, it is an obligation, is actually a gift that I’m called to share with my brothers and sisters.

It also is a justice issue, right? We can’t have this thriving Downtown community, and we have the poorest of the poor walking the streets. Although I don’t expect government to save the day, I do expect government to do their part. We can leverage the giftedness of government, of other nonprofits, of civic organizations, and faith communities and we can change the course and disrupt homelessness and create an environment where there’s equity.

How do you stay patient with people when the transition from homelessness to housing takes time?

It’s a pilgrimage. And I don’t live for immediate results. This is a long-term process. Because I’m a long-term process, too. I’m getting better at getting better. I need my brothers and sisters to remind me that I could be in that predicament with some decisions, with lack of affordable housing, insignificant and undervalued wages, I could be right there alongside of them. So I’m energized by seeing my brothers and sisters who need help, and I’m in a position to help. I’m in a position to help empower.

I see that McKendree has been active in the Black Lives Matter movement, especially in the last year. How does your faith, and just your own background inform that activism?

It’s part of my DNA. My father walked with Martin Luther King, Jr. — they went to school together. My grandfather was an activist, my great great grandfather was part of the House of Representatives in the state of Mississippi.

When a group of people are devalued, I have to see the need to speak to that injustice, stand for that injustice, and become an activist for that injustice, and I’m able to do that, as a clergy person. Because I don’t report to anyone who can tell me no, that’s not your job.

Part of being a clergy is to be a prophet, also to be a priest, but also to be compassionate, and walk alongside of my brothers and sisters who have been mistreated, murdered, taken advantage of all in the name of privilege. So I get to disrupt that privilege. I get to disrupt white supremacy for the sake of humanity because we’re all made in the image and likeness of God. All means all, there are no exclusions.

MARK DUNKERLEY

Oasis Center CEO says the pandemic drove home the importance of meeting youth where they are

BY AMANDA HAGGARD

Mark Dunkerley didn’t take the most traditional path to leading a nonprofit.

“I started a craft beer business back in 2009 and we gave half the profit to Oasis Center and then started doing street outreach,” Dunkerely says.

At the beginning of 2021, Dunkerley took over as president and CEO of Oasis Center, a nonprofit focused on housing LGBTQI youth — a group that often has difficulty finding housing for a myriad of reasons.

In an interview with The Contributor, Dunkerley outlined the need to meet youth where they are and talked about the importance of giving young people with different backgrounds a shot.

How has the last year been different for Oasis Center? You took over in a very obviously weird time.

I’m fortunate in that I had 10 years of working for the organization, so that makes the transition a little easier than if someone had come in brand new into a virtual environment to try to be our CEO. I think that would have been a daunting task. So it was, it was a little easier for me just because of the relationships and institutional knowledge, but I think any nonprofit CEO, this is likely the most challenging year they’ve had. If you look at our outreach center this year compared to June or July to December of 2019 to July, to December of 2020, we saw 114 percent increase and young people coming to our door. You know, and that’s just off the charts. We were fortunate that we did get a very large federal grant that allowed us to step up during the pandemic. But even with that, it’s just been really, really hard to keep up with the demand for services and the need, you know, as folks are, you know, especially our young people, like a lot of folks that are really struggling with employment and maintaining employment. A lot of our folks that typically would maybe get food service industry jobs or jobs that have been, you know, really, really shut down. So that’s been tough. And then with our age group, a lot of our young people will couch surf and double up and a lot of things that there just haven’t been as many doors open for that this year.

Despite the pandemic, what are some persistent barriers you all have when trying to help youth get into housing?

I usually argue that our young people are the most adversely impacted because we have this crazy housing market. It’s really tight and hard to find a place even if you have the funds. Landlords can be a little pickier and just in general, people don’t really want to rent to an 18 to 24 year old, right. Whether they’re a college grad, college students or whatever or not. Our young people don’t have a parent to cosign on the loan or the lease. The work we’ve done with [this rehousing grant] has allowed us to get our foot in the door with some landlords. But we’re still facing the same issues, maybe with more resources to face them with than before. But affordable housing is the number one barrier. And getting landlords to take a chance on someone.

What do you think folks get wrong about young people?

You know, it’s just, it’s a very formative age. Right. And our young people are still developing. I think there’s just a lot of misnomers that young people are bad or they’re on the streets because they, you know, X, Y, and Z, and that that’s not dissimilar from the other homeless populations. I think it’s really important for people to understand the tremendous trauma and challenges our young people have had at a very early age that has led them to in many cases, flee unsafe environments. There’s also a disproportionate number of young people that identify somewhere in the LGBTQI spectrum, up to 35 to 40 percent. A lot of these young people have overcome some pretty remarkable things. Ultimately, these young people want to live independently and have their own freedom and sense of self worth. They just need the same opportunities that every young person needs.

Mark Dunkerlely didn’t take the most traditional path to leading a nonprofit.