Nonprofit Spotlight

STEP UP NASHVILLE PUTS HOUSING FIRST FOR THOSE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS

BY MAY HARTNESS

Step Up is a community agency that believes all people who are struggling with mental health issues and homelessness can be housed. This organization, with sites spanning from Santa Monica, California to Atlanta, Georgia, extends their vision for homelessness alleviation into Music City as they launch their newest branch: Step Up Nashville.

“Housing should be the first thing that we resolve,” says Arthur Murray, Vice President of Step Up Southeast Regions. “Without housing, we can’t begin to work on other challenges.”

The Step Up team works to remove barriers that especially prevent those with mental illness from housing. Through a combination of scattered site housing units and their own Step Up properties, the agency hopes to “give clients opportunities when others won’t,” and provide tailored support to each individual they serve. This support aids members in acquiring long-term housing, and provides them a specialized treatment team. The treatment team could consist of a case manager, peer specialist, and a social worker if the client wants clinical treatment for their mental illness. A peer specialist is someone with their own lived experience of homelessness, mental health issues, or history with substance use. This member is included on the treatment team because of their capacity to relate to the client in a more personal way.

In past three years, the agency has doubled in size, and boasts a 96% housing retention rate after one year for their clients. As a new member of Nashville’s Continuum of Care, Step Up hopes to collaborate with other nonprofits in the area to help the city solve the problem of homelessness for good.

“This agency tries to live out client centeredness,” Murray says. “And that means being okay when clients turn down housing and want to keep looking for something else.” Step Up wants their clients to feel free to speak up about their preferences, and they accomplish this goal through honoring individual voice and choice.