Thank you to everyone who came out to our 2012 Run for the Homeless on Saturday, May 12, and helped us make this a great event.
The Run for the Homeless benefits Housing First, which offers chronically homeless individuals housing plus case management. One of our Housing First participants got this year's race started.
Our top prizes included four round-trip airline tickets from Southwest Airlines.
We are pleased to say that our first Junior Races were great fun. We actually had kids who ran the race and then joined us in the Junior Races, which included sack hopping and stick horse racing.
Thank you to our more than 70 service providers that made this year's Project Homeless Connect on Wednesday, March 28, at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds a great success.
Our utmost thank you goes out to the more than 500 volunteers who came out to help. We assisted close to 800 guests who are homeless or on the brink of homelessness this year.
We also could not have done it without our sponsors:
The Boulevard Bolt;
Wells Fargo;
AkzoNobel;
Metro Social Services:
Strong Tower Bible Church;
Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency;
Eckman/Freeman & Associates;
Littler Employment and Labor Law Solutions Worldwide; and
For sponsorship opportunities call 862-6401. We have year-round sponsorship opportunities and will work with you to individualize your sponsorship package.
Go Teach Mentoring Program
Helping the most vulnerable chronically homeless individuals move into and maintain housing is not easy. We have found over the past four years that the key to success is Housing First, which is permanent housing coupled with intensive wrap-around case management. Case management is provided by a master’s level social worker with a case ratio of about 10 clients per social worker.
The Key Alliance has created a mentoring program called Go Teach and targets congregations to come together and form a mentoring team.
We believe that additional mentoring will create a social network that supports case managers and Housing First participants. The goal is to help participants maintain their housing and move towards self-sufficiency.
Here is what we ask congregations to bring to the table:
The first key to the Go Teach campaign is a MENTORING PROGRAM set up by participating congregations. We suggest that five congregation members commit to be a part of a mentoring team for one year. The Mentoring Program involves in-depth training with our housing coordinator to educate team members on how to reach out and maintain nurturing relationships with our Housing First participants.
The second key is an ADOPT A UNIT initiative. Under this component of the Go Teach program, congregations help us set up the household for a Housing First participant. It may be achieved through a household item and furnishing drive that includes your entire congregation. A handful of members in your congregation may provide furnishings and other household items. It is up to you to choose the best approach for your congregation. Once the household goods are delivered, the commitment of the congregation is fulfilled. You can choose to participate with another housing unit or revisit the Adopt a Unit initiative at another time.
And the final, third key is the FUNDING of the program. Housing First costs $17,000 per person per year; this breaks down to $6,000 for housing and $9,000-$11,000 for intensive case management. We ask congregations to help us identify creative ways that will make this program possible. Maybe you have a member in your congregation who is willing to donate an apartment for one year? Or you may want to partner with another congregation to participate financially in the program. We will work with you to find creative solutions because we want you to be a part of the Go Teach program.
Congregations can do any or all of the three components. They can pick and choose what they are comfortable with.
The Go Teach program is offered to congregations because we believe that congregations have the structure and support within their organization to fulfill their commitments to Go Teach.
The Key Alliance, in partnership with the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission, is focused on solutions to homelessness. Go Teach is a program that lends support to solutions to homelessness such as Housing First.
A congregation interested in adopting a unit or participating in our mentoring program should:
1. Contact our Housing Coordinator, Carolyn Grossley at The Key Alliance,
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or 615-880-2293 for information.
2. Form a dedicated committee.
3. Set up a meeting with Carolyn, so your group can ask questions, talk about Housing First, the Go Teach mentoring program and what the Adopt A Unit initiative entails.
We, at The Key Alliance, believe that when Nashville comes together as a community, we can end chronic homelessness and reduce overall homelessness in our city. How is it done? Simply by housing one person at a time.
Mayor Karl Dean and record-setting, all pro running back Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans have partnered with The Key Alliance in a Public Service Announcement asking Nashville to join The Key Alliance. In the PSA, Mayor Dean says, "Everyone wants to do something to help, but no one can do it alone."Chris Johnson adds, "Just like in football, it takes a great team effort to win."Then Mayor Dean says, "That’s why people like Chris and I join The Key Alliance to support permanent solutions to homelessness.” The Key Alliance thanks Chris Johnson and Mayor Dean for their support. We also thank Chris Johnson for his support of Project Homeless Connect on Dec. 9, 2010, when 1,500 individuals including children who were homeless or on the brink of homelessness received more than 10,000 services from 75 service providers.
Mayor Dean is a long-time supporter of ours and has asked us to implement the Adopt A Meter program here in Nashville. Any one can join The Key Alliance simply by clicking on the blue "Join The Key Alliance" button in the upper right-hand corner on this Website. For a minimum, tax-deductible donation of $25 per year, you will become a Key Supporter. We will include you in our mailing lists, keep you informed about our programs, update you on our events including volunteer and sponsorship opportunities, and send you issue briefs on the state of homelessness in Nashville. We believe that together as a community, we can find and implement permanent solutions to end chronic homelessness and reduce overall homelessness in Nashville. Thank you for your support.
Housing First is The Key
The Key Alliance promotes Housing First, a best-practice model that offers permanent housing coupled with intense case management to the most vulnerable homeless individuals in our community.
Housing First is a cost-effective and proven solution to chronic homelessness that is being implemented across the United States. Housing First can be accomplished without building new housing stock. Nashville has enough existing housing inventory which allows us to partner with property managers, developers and landlords to lease low-income rental units.
The Housing First model has three significant components:
Access to permanent housing;
Intensive and comprehensive case management by a team of master’s level social workers who are available to the client 24/7; and
Acceptance of homeless clients who have been rejected by other programs.
To watch a video explaining Housing First, click here. (there is one commercial prior to the actual report on Housing First)
Project Coat Connect receives great community support from Grammy Award Winner LeAnn Rimes, Author Diana Joy of the Unseen Child Foundation and Allison Steel of the band 2Steel Girls. Click here to read our blog.
The Key Alliance is supporting The Cookery, a nonprofit program by LambsCroft that will provide job training and employment opportunities for homeless individuals. The goal is to launch a Catering Service that will teach homeless men in the culinary arts. The ultimate goal is to open a restaurant where Nashvillians can enjoy a great meal while supporting The Cookery's mission. To learn more, click here.
The Housing First model is a proven solution to chronic homelessness. As with other things concerning homelessness, placing people into housing alone does not solve the underlying issues that cause homelessness. It is important that as homeless individuals move into permanent housing units, they have access to and receive the necessary support services. That’s why The Key Alliance, the nonprofit partner of the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission, is promoting Housing First, an approach that offers permanent supportive housing coupled with intensive case management. To read our recent blog on Housing First, click here.
On any given night, about 107,000 former service men and women were homeless in 2009 in the United States, according to an estimate by the Veterans Administration.
If – as we assume to be the case – 20-25 percent of all homeless individuals in Nashville are veterans, then we can deduct that about 800-1,000 of these veterans are living right here in our community. This number is based on our estimate that on any given night 4,000 individuals are homeless in Nashville. The face of homelessness is diverse and includes families with children, youth, runaways, domestic violence victims, veterans, chronically homeless individuals, kids aging out of foster care, and people re-entering communities from the penal system.
To donate online, click on the "Join The Key Alliance" button.
The Key Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that partners with the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission to bring together the community to collaborate around permanent solutions to homelessness in Nashville.
NEWSTICKER
Upcoming Events:
End Homelessness Eraselets The Key Alliance together with the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission is utilizing a new marketing tool called Eraselets, which are wristbands that also serve as erasers. The message on the Eraselets is End Homelessness. Eraselet inventor Bryan Ricci became homeless at the age of 15. Currently he is trying to get his product into Wal-Mart.
Operation Stand Down The 20th Annual Operation Stand Down Event has been scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 12, 13 and 14, 2012 at the old TN Preparatory School (TPS) Gymnasium Please note this is a return to our regular weekend format! The address is 1164 Foster Avenue, Nashville, TN 37210.
Community Calendar The Key Alliance hosts a new feature on its Website: A Community Calendar (view tab on the left). Service providers are invited to email details of their events and happenings they would like to be listed on our Community Calendar to
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.
The Contributor goes to twice monthly On Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, The Contributor, Nashville's successful street newspaper, will publish two issues per month. "In a time when print media is on the decline, street newspapers all around the world have seen major increases in distribution. The Contributor, now the highest-distributing street newspaper in North America, is a leader in the global street newspaper movement’s success. Thanks to the hard work and determination of its vendors and staff, as well as the generosity of its donors, The Contributor has grown exponentially over the last two years, enabling approximately one-third of the paper’s vendors to earn enough money to obtain housing." - Andrew Krinks, The Contributor's editor, in a recent press release.
Volunteer Award The Key Alliance is proud to announce that our volunteer, Ben Morton, was honored with the Phyllis M. Frank Volunteer Award by the Nashville Coaltion for the Homeless for his outstanding efforts to help the local homeless community. Read the press release here.
Adopt A Unit The Key Alliance, in partnership with the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission, has launched a new program called Adopt A Unit that invites congregations to help formerly homeless individuals establish a household. For more information, click here.
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The next MHC meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 2, 2012, at 9:30 a.m. in the Sonny West Conference Room of the Howard Office Building (Fulton Complex), 700 Second Ave. South.
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A Summary Report of the Committee on Police/Homeless Issues of the MHC is posted here.
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Adopt A Meter Program
The Key Alliance has partnered with NashVitality to promote its Adopt A Meter program. The program places refurbished "parking" meters in high foot traffic areas Downtown. All change collected will benefit homeless outreach with the goal to place people into Housing First. For a $1,000 sponsorship, contact Clifton Harris at 862-6401 or email him at
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.
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The Key Alliance launched a Speaker's Bureau program. We are available to speak to groups larger than 10 members including businesses, neighborhood associations, civic groups and congregations.
Contact Judy Tackett at
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to set up YOUR meeting.
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To date the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission and MDHA have been able to connect 37 homeless individuals who lost everything in the May floods with Section 8 Housing vouchers. The Homelessness Commission has closed the program. All Section 8 Voucher applicants have to go through MDHA's Secion 8 Office at 620 Dew Street.
********************************** If you would like to be included on our volunteer e-mail list for special events and other opportunities, or sign up for our newsletter, please contact Judy Tackett at
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For media inquiries call Judy Tackett at 517-7000.
Helping the most vulnerable chronically homeless individuals move into and maintain housing is not easy. We have found over the past four years that the key to success is 
