Vendor Writing

What A Day

BY GAIL D., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

Easter Sunday is typically a happy time for most as they reflect on our savior Jesus Christ. Children too are equally giddy as their tummies are filled with all that yummy candy they’ve received.

However, this past Easter on my corner, was anything but typical.

Consider the following examples.

As I chatted with my friend Latricia, a young man approached. He didn’t say a word despite our multiple attempts to speak to him.

When my first customer stopped, Latricia ran the paper to them for me because I wasn’t sure I could get there before the light changed, and they in turn, gave me $5.

Still standing there, not saying a word, the young man watched as I put the money in my bag.

His attitude and demeanor was making me nervous so we moved to a different location to continue our conversation and keep an eye on him where I was still able to see both him and my chair clearly.

I reached out to Mallory to let her know what was going on. Living close by, she offered to come up there if necessary even though it was a holiday. She also encouraged me to call the police if I felt threatened or if the situation escalated.

Meanwhile, Latricia took a picture of the man as he continued to move ever closer to the stuff I’d left behind at my original spot.

Latricia stayed with me until she had to be at work at 4 p.m.

The man eventually left the area but later returned AFTER Latricia had left, just as Angel whipped into the parking lot and asked if she could pray for me. I said, "Absolutely, after all you can NEVER get to many of those!"

She asked if there was anything specific I needed/wanted. I responded with the typical concerns: family, health, etc., but I also explained what had happened earlier that day and pointed out that the man had returned, and was now watching from the second floor of the strip mall. In her prayer she said in part, "Lord, put a hedge of protection around this woman and keep her safe from harm," and the man disappeared!

Later that same day, Roscoe stopped by for a visit. He and his wife Leona are regular customers of mine.

As we were standing there talking, a different young man appeared walking along the road almost pacing back and forth, this one dragging a LONG metal pipe.

With eyes wide open in a state of disbelief as to what I was seeing, I looked at Roscoe and asked, "Who walks up and down the road with a metal pipe?"

He patted me on the shoulder and said, "It’s just an intimidation tactic." I said, "Well sir, IT’S WORKING!"

He put his arm around me and asked if I trusted him. I said yes, and told him as I had before that he reminded me of my grandpa. (There is no higher compliment.) He was a good ol’ country boy who was ALWAYS VERY protective of me!

Roscoe then told me not to worry, that he had pepper spray in the front pocket of his overalls. In an attempt to provide more reassurance, he told me he also had a knife, and if the guy was to try to do something and those don’t work, he ALWAYS carried a pistol!

All the while he kept assuring me he wasn’t going to let ANYTHING happen to me because he and his wife loved me, he then asked, "Feel better now?" I nodded yes.

He continued on saying, "Now we’re just gonna stand here and have us a nice little chat like we always do until I’m sure he’s moved on, ok?"

That was fine with me! He stayed with me for another 30-45 minutes, maybe longer. I tend to lose track of time talking to my customers.

Later after hearing what had went on that day at my corner, Daniel (a guest at at a hotel turned studio apartments nearby), gave me his phone number and said if I ever needed help to call and he was just around the corner — literally!

It’s SO nice to feel the love of those in the community I serve, and know that many of them have got my back no matter what!

It may sound crazy but it often feels as if they’ve been sent to watch over me!

After all this excitement, all I can say is:

What a day!

You Have Been Unhoused

BY LISA A., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

So you have recently bought a house in Nashville. Or perhaps you own a few other properties around the country.

But if you were in the majority, you own just one home. Because we are each so focused on our individual and family goals, we often lose sight of what is happening in the bigger picture.

On Dec. 15, 2021, three brilliant journalists at The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists found that offshore investors and property managers were snapping up properties — average family homes — all over the nation. Nashville was particularly hard hit.

The percentage of homes in Nashville owned by individuals shrunk to less than 60 percent, according to a recent Fox 17 investigation. Black and poor white neighborhoods were hard hit, resulting in close to zero homes available for first time buyers.

The not so hidden cost lies in outrageous rents set by offshore investors who created the crisis in the first place. People making $17 dollars an hour are paying up to 75 percent of their income on rent — yet they earn too much to qualify for food stamps or other government aid. Needless to mention that the “marketplace homes,” available to moderate income folks, are in short supply.

The next homeless person you see may trigger a few judgments, such as: “They must be a drug addict or mentally ill.”

Let us put aside the question of why we can’t seem to house drug addicts and mentally ill people for a moment. There is the question of whether they had these problems before they were homeless. The answer is… usually not. Then there is the fact that many homeless people are neither addicts nor mentally ill. They lack a strong or wealthy family support network. Really the best way to start understanding the homeless crisis is to get to know one of us. Why not start with your local Contributor vendor?

You might be in for a surprise. Wouldn’t the homeless people be to blame for their situation? They must not have worked “hard enough.” So, start listening and see what you learn.

Just as the millions of people who are living paycheck to paycheck to paycheck in an attempt to pay their now escalated rents, homeless people are struggling just to stay safe. Stay presentable. Be employable.

So, with so many people on the edge, how did the rents jump so high so quickly? The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists discovered that offshore investors have been snapping up our residential homes ever since 2008. A former Goldman Sachs executive had seen the housing crash coming (dare we say helped engineer it?), but definitely saw it coming, and snapped up a lot of properties that people had been in the midst of buying. And by, “a lot of properties” I don’t mean what you or I would think of as a lot of properties, but tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of properties.

For anyone who has bought a home in Nashville, this reality should give them pause. What would it take to have your home removed from you suddenly? If your equity is low, it could be any number of things.

What if it were an offshore company that had its eye on your neighborhood? How secure is your home? What would happen to the quality of your neighborhood if your neighbors suddenly couldn’t afford to hang on to their homes? What happens to your home value when you are suddenly surrounded by renters who must choose between paying rent and maintaining their car? What happens to your home value when a property management company purposefully lets values slide so they can continue in the game of real estate short sells? Should we allow predatory behaviors like this to continue to suck the juice out of our quality of life?

And is that low income or homeless person on the corner selling you a paper or a deeper perspective on how to fight back against the insecurity we all face, embodied in our homeless neighbors.

Hello Again Dear Friends

BY WALTER D., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

First off, let me say that I am truly sorry that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye and thank you all for helping me get on my feet. With your support, I was able to get around and hunt for a job!

I ended up getting a job at a motel in Goodlettsville Tenn., as a maintenance man. They gave me a room there to live in and paid me good every week, but after being there about six months things just didn’t seem right. One day the cops came in to question staff about what we knew about the front desk renting rooms out by the hour. The cops said that if they found out we had anything to do with it, we could get charged!

So, I told the police that I was quitting right now and going to my room to pack all my stuff, which I did! Sure, it was a good job and a place to lay my head instead of sleeping in my van, but I’d rather sleep in van instead of a jail cell.

I spent another couple of days here in Nashville thinking about what to do, and I know I could have gotten back with The Contributor

Y’all know I am really from Columbia, S.C., so I called home and found out again about some family problems so I just up and took off back home.

I got there and helped out family and I got my old job back at a motel which I worked at for seven years previously. This time that job only lasted eight months because too much illegal stuff was going on and the boss knew about it and didn’t stop it even when people told him. So here I am back in Nashville and back at The Contributor !

OK you might be wondering why I came back here instead of picking a different state to start over. Please bear with me and let me try to explain, but please don’t laugh cause they say when a voice keeps talking to you take time to listen. I thought about it and for three days Nashville kept coming up and the true friends I left!

Since I’ve been back, I’ve been doing really good, plus I’ve gotten to see some old friends. I want to say thank you so much and just to be honest with y’all I am sleeping in my van, but instead of buying an air mattress every week, I broke down and found me a full-size mattress which I am sleeping on like a big old ugly baby. Haha!

Please feel free when you see me selling the paper to stop and ask me any questions you want because I will do my very best to answer them. Even though I quit school in the 9th grade I tell people that I spoke to the Lord and he told me that they are not ready for me to join them up there because I am really too mean and too ugly.

Oh yeah, next month y’all can call me an old billy goat because I turn 67 years old. Guess it’s time to close and say I will see y’all on the corner. Love you all!