We Can Fix This

‘CONTRIBUTOR’ VENDOR VICKY BATCHER JOINS HOMELESSNESS PLANNING COUNCIL

BY MAY HARTNESS

Contributor vendor Vicky Batcher has been selected to become a member of the Continuum of Care Homelessness Planning Council.

Batcher, a vendor who writes often for the paper, says she is honored to serve the homelessness community in her role as a member.

“Homelessness shouldn’t be a way of life,” Batcher says. “We can fix this. Make homelessness a thing of the past for future generations.”

Batcher believes that her lived experience of homelessness will bring a new perspective to the council. She hopes to help others “get back up on their feet” in shorter amounts of time, eventually finding a home they love just as much as she loves her new apartment.

“My kitchen floor is on a down slope.” Batcher says. “But I don’t mind it too much. I wake up every morning and I get goose bumps. I think, “‘Wow, I’m still here.’”

In October of 2019, seven months after submitting her application for housing, Batcher received word that she was next on the waitlist for an apartment in Hadley Park Towers. By November of that same year, she moved out of the RV she had lived in for the past 18 months. She now had a new place to call her own. Although she’s been at Hadley Park for several months now, Batcher recently made the decision to unpack the rest of her belongings and begin decorating the walls in her own style.

“It’s like I’ve been waiting for the curse,” Batcher says. “For years my boys and I would move somewhere, only to get evicted whenever we really started to feel at home. It was like as soon as we would put something on the walls, we would have to leave.”

Batcher says she was hesitant — waiting to hear the all-too-familiar heavy knock at the door, signaling that it was time for her to move on.

But no one’s come knocking. And, because of her work at The Contributor, Batcher’s rent is paid up through the beginning of spring, and her internet and cell phone bill are paid up, too.

“The Contributor has opened so many doors,” Batcher says. “And they even helped me get unemployment when the tornado hit and the coronavirus started. But I didn’t want to spend the money I got from unemployment. I wanted to use it to pay up on things so I would have security, knowing there wouldn’t be a knock on my door anytime soon.”

At Hadley Park, residents pay rent based on their financial situation, with some paying $25 if that’s what correlates to their income.

Batcher thinks this personalized system makes sense, and she wishes people knew that Nashville needs more affordable housing. She wishes people knew that increased wages would help the city prosper.

For her, Nashville is home, and she wants to see this city become the best version of itself. When asked what her favorite thing about Nashville is, she answered, “The people,” without hesitation.

“These people don’t wait; when they see a problem they get in there and fix it themselves. We saw that in the 2010 flood and I’ve seen that in my personal life.”

The people of Nashville keep Batcher motivated and inspired to work and write, and she can’t wait for life to get back to normal again.

She looks forward to showing others her new home, decorated exactly how she and her dog, Faith, like it. She hopes that guests can come over for the holidays to taste her famous Christmas candy and cookies, and she excitedly anticipates the day when her home is filled with friends and baked goods, even if they were made on a slightly sloped kitchen floor.