| Name | Ann-Marie |
|---|---|
| Last Name | Fitzsimmons |
| Home Address | 125 Hilldale Drive Chattanooga, TN 37411 United States |
| Organization Name | Help Right Here |
| Describe Your Role In The Organization | I am the co-founder of the 501c3 Help Right Here, a homeless support organization in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We are a grassroots organization that began on the streets and homeless camps in downtown Chattanooga, distributing donated goods (sleeping bags, clothes, tents, shoes, etc.) to people in need. In addition, we have evolved into now helping to furnish apartments when “our” people do find stable housing. My partner, Niki Keck, and I are HCDE full-time teachers who started this entity because we felt called to make a difference - here in downtown Chattanooga where real solutions to homelessness have been slow to emerge. We share all responsibilities which consist of outreach at camps and on the streets, collection and storage of donated goods, providing furnishings and basic household needs to those who have been recently housed, grant writing, fundraising, managing a homeless art group (Artists in Transition), and hosting special “giving days” where we provide emergency relief items to people on the streets of Chattanooga. The exponential rise in homelessness due to the pandemic began in March 2020. The two of us were on the streets meeting needs, as best we could, and in the only ways we knew how - providing emergency items like those previously noted. We are still here; but we’ve grown professionally by studying the most effective strategies to ending homelessness in other cities in the country - most notably Seattle, WA. Our drive to attempt to end homelessness in the city of Chattanooga has led to a possible partnership with the City of Chattanooga and Help Right Here. We have been actively fundraising to construct the city’s first “homeless village” - a transitionary “Pallet Shelter" community where a homeless person may experience safety, security, and a sense of dignity all while receiving wrap-around services to support their journey towards living in a stable home and finding meaningful, sustainable work. |
| Organization Address | 603 Texas Avenue Signal Mountain, TN 37377 United States |
| Website | https://helprightherechattanooga.org |
| Best Phone Number To Reach You | 423-227-9343 |
| Alternate Phone Number | 423-505-8049 |
| Email Address | helprightherechattanooga@gmail.com |
| Alternate Email Address | volunteersone@gmail.com |
| Please Describe Your Project In Detail | We are determined to create the first larger-scale, transitional supportive homeless Village in Chattanooga. Residents at this village will be welcomed into a safe, stable, non-violent environment. Within this environment, case workers will help residents obtain all necessary paperwork and identification to take the appropriate next steps. Case workers will also work with village residents to locate acceptable next-stage housing and employment. Case workers will also assist the residents obtain needed medications and health care. The goal is for all residents to have permanent employment and supportive housing within 3 months. There will be a project manager to run the camp Mondays through Fridays. Security will be a priority to avoid ingress by bad actors and un-invited guests. Our goal is to create a relationship centered environment where trust between management and the residents is imperative to positive outcomes and lasting change. Along the way, we will gather data, both empirical and observational, to support necessary strategic adjustments to the process. As educators, we know and understand the value of lessons learned. |
| Please explain how your project meets the requirements of the American Rescue Plan | According to Wendy Winters, Executive Director of the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition (CRHC), the homeless population has risen by at least 80% in the last year. There are more people living on the streets than we have ever seen before as a result of layoffs, evictions, migration and other factors. Some live in cars underneath interstate overpasses, some overnight, exposed, underneath overpasses; camps pop up in every wooded part of town. Each of these scenarios increases social issues that the city and police departments are asked to manage. We know many of these homeless people; we are in contact with them and they trust us to provide some form of assistance. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provides $5 Billion to help cities and rural areas deal with issues related to affordable housing, rent assistance, eviction mitigation and to agencies that aid the homeless. Homelessness is a complex and vast issue. Our project is designed to steadily reduce the number of homeless people on the streets of Chattanooga while supporting them to reach a better place in life when they are housed. The most integral part of our Village is to provide the supportive housing needed to help these citizens gain their stability and ultimately to recognize their full potential. Recognizing that the Covid-19 Pandemic is a major contributor to our current rise in homelessness, as a matter of internal and external safety protocols our Village(s) will require all residents and employees to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing for COVID during their time with us. |
| Where would your project take place? | We are unsure right now. |
| How much will your project cost in total? | 1100000 |
| Do you have any matching funding sources from other local governments, private entities, non-profits, or philanthropic entities for your project? | No |
| Please describe the source and list amounts of any other funding. | |
| What portion of the project are you asking the city to fund? | |
| If funded, when would your project start? | October 1, 2022 |
| How long would your project take to complete? | 09/30/2023 |
| What milestones would you use to measure your project’s progress? | Milestone one is the construction of the first village. Homelessness is complex. Many people living on the streets have no forms of identification such as a Social Security card, a driver’s license, a formal address to complete a job application. They may be addled by malnutrition, lack of appropriate clothing, inability to acquire needed prescriptions or theft or loss of any and all possessions. In this regard, once a person enters our village we can attend to any and all of these needs in coordination with other agencies. We consider that stabilization a major milestone in the future of the individual. The next step is to provide the tools and help needed to find employment. We will help with writing a resume and finding nice clothing for an interview or presentation. The ultimate goal is for each person to find her or his way into a permanent, supportive home and feel safe and confident in the world around them. Certain steps must be taken -which is part of our village’s process. Transitioning people out of the village with the ability to make it on their own is our ultimate goal. Once we see that this process works (or make the needed adjustments so that it does work), we will have built the momentum sought for another village. We also envision a cleaner, friendlier Chattanooga free of the obvious signs of pervasive homelessness. This effort starts with the individuals we seek to help but does not conclude until Chattanooga is recognized as one of the most successful cities to address homelessness. |
| How would you ensure accountability and transparency throughout the project lifecycle? | As a 501(c)3 public charity, our finances are open to the public. With the City of Chattanooga as our partner in this effort, we will statistically track entries and exits. Because we have the present support of private foundations, grant reports and updates are always required and available for others upon request. We receive a significant portion of our operational funding through small donations sourced through social media and through our loyal base of supporters. To that end, we continue to update our webpage and social media pages. We will welcome any reporting measures required to ensure the funding is used in a fiscally responsible manner. |
| If successful, how would your project benefit the community? | This project will get people and their belongings off the streets and by doing so, the city will have less trash and cleaner streets. There will be less violence between homeless people, the public, and fewer police interactions. With residents in our supportive village, it will be easier to help with their health and housing needs. This will be a great interim step before supportive permanent housing. It will be cost effective; fewer dollars spent on bulldozing camps, cleaning up trash on the streets, and less reliance on the police department to solve behavioral incidents. Ultimately, village residents would also learn how to successfully re-enter the community. We call ourselves the “Scenic City”. With a mushrooming homeless population comes unsightly waste and an overall image (to residents and visitors) that we are not living up to our city’s potential as the best mid-sized city in the country. Our village addresses the root causes and provides solutions in a streamlined manner. |
| How will you attract community buy-in for your project? | Our pilot project of 25 shelters should provide both the data and the comfort level to satisfy some of the NIMBY issues. Our goal is to be open for operations starting in the Summer of 2022. Our current base of financial backing is made up of a small and growing list of private foundations and smaller dollar online donations. The very nature of helping homeless people live in a contained, transitionary community should be welcomed by all but we know that outreach and education for some will be necessary. We are professional educators with successful social platforms. The work we do generates media support and optimism. We will welcome citizens to come for tours and to see our model and its results. Ours is a very compelling story for an issue that has repeatedly been pushed out of sight for too many years. We will meet with the city council-person in the area selected for the first village, canvas and meet concerned neighbors, and coordinate with media outlets to share our vision and story. We also plan to make a documentary of the pilot to visualize its success and create momentum for the next village. |
| Name | Niki Keck |
| Contact Information | 423-505-8049 |
| Is there anything else you would like us to know about your project? | We are wickedly passionate about this work and making a difference. In the past two years we have evolved to the point where we have received grants and other funding to travel to Seattle, WA to learn from organizations there who have shown us a streamlined process for helping to get people off the streets and stay off the streets. We want to recreate a similar streamline process in Chattanooga. This year, we have spent countless hours of time and energy focused on figuring out a process of keeping people successfully housed. We met with organizations who helped manage resident run, city sanctioned, and non-profit run, tent encampments. We spent an afternoon at Pallet Homes in Evergreen, WA examining their small housing units for a fit in Chattanooga. A Pallet Home is a home in a kit. It is very durable and most importantly, lockable and thus secure. “Pallet” is the product we plan to use for our Village. We met with a non-profit group called Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI). They began, much as we did, just over 30 years ago. They now managed 16 supportive tiny home villages and 65 supportive permanent housing units. Chattanooga’s issues are smaller in scale and therefore, we envision, more manageable in time. This project has the possibility of changing Chattanooga quickly and dramatically for the better. This Village will hopefully force the issue and necessity for permanent supportive housing in Chattanooga and help with a beautiful, humane and much needed, permanent change. We raised funds to bring a single model Pallet Shelter to our office at 621 E. 11th Street. It should be constructed by the end of February and available to “witness” the possibilities. We adhere to an enduring social scientist’s principles. People cannot heal and become the best versions of themselves if they do not feel safe and do not feel cared for. This is the essence of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. According to the Masterclass website, “Maslow’s theory presents his hierarchy of needs in a pyramid shape, with basic needs at the bottom of the pyramid and more high-level, intangible needs at the top. A person can only move on to address the higher-level needs when their basic needs are adequately fulfilled.” We cannot expect people to go suddenly from the street to living and working on their own. There is a supportive, loving process that must come first to ensure long-term success. The Hierarchy of Needs is listed below. It is our goal to have our residents at stages 3-4 by the time they exit their time at the Village. Please read on: 1. Physiological needs: The first of the id-driven lower needs on Maslow's hierarchy are physiological needs. These most basic human survival needs include food and water, sufficient rest, clothing and shelter, overall health, and reproduction. Maslow states that these basic physiological needs must be addressed before humans move on to the next level of fulfillment. 2. Safety needs: Next among the lower-level needs is safety. Safety needs include protection from violence and theft, emotional stability and well-being, health security, and financial security. 3. Love and belonging needs: The social needs on the third level of Maslow’s hierarchy relate to human interaction and are the last of the so-called lower needs. Among these needs are friendships and family bonds—both with biological family (parents, siblings, children) and chosen family (spouses and partners). Physical and emotional intimacy ranging from sexual relationships to intimate emotional bonds are important to achieving a feeling of elevated kinship. Additionally, membership in social groups contributes to meeting this need, from belonging to a team of coworkers to forging an identity in a union, club, or group of hobbyists. 4. Esteem needs: The higher needs, beginning with esteem, are ego-driven needs. The primary elements of esteem are self-respect (the belief that you are valuable and deserving of dignity) and self-esteem (confidence in your potential for personal growth and accomplishments). Maslow specifically notes that self-esteem can be broken into two types: esteem which is based on respect and acknowledgment from others, and esteem which is based on your own self-assessment. Self-confidence and independence stem from this latter type of self-esteem. 5. Self-actualization needs: Self-actualization describes the fulfillment of your full potential as a person. Sometimes called self-fulfillment needs, self-actualization needs occupy the highest spot on Maslow's pyramid. Self-actualization needs include education, skill development—the refining of talents in areas such as music, athletics, design, cooking, and gardening—caring for others, and broader goals like learning a new language, traveling to new places, and winning awards. |