Nashville nonprofit helping people experiencing homelessness find housing, jobs
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — As Nashville continues to expand and grow, luxury apartments are going up just about everywhere!
Meanwhile, one Nashville nonprofit is helping those who can’t afford an apartment at all.
“The great thing at Entryway is we are able to provide a place to live and a job, and those both happen to be at the exact same place,” Chris Smith, executive director of Entryway Nashville said.
Entryway Nashville is a nonprofit that helps people experiencing homelessness find housing and a job at apartment complexes across the Greater Nashville area.
“Many of our participants don’t have transportation, so to be able to walk across the street, the parking lot to your job really is a great, great advantage,” Smith said.
The nonprofit has helped 500 people nationally over the past decade and a few dozen people in the Nashville area.
One of their clients just moved into the Lucile, the new luxury apartment community off Dickerson Pike. She not only lives at the apartment, but also works in the office.
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“She came to us from a domestic violence shelter and has been employed and living here for the past 3 months. We as Bristol supported, and our partners made up the 80% rent discount that she received,” Lisa Gunderson of Bristol Development Group said.
The Bristol Development Group is the developer of the luxury apartment. Gunderson also chair’s Entryway Nashville.
“I always say which comes first, the address or the employment? So we are providing both for potential candidates,” Gunderson said.
It’s just one way to address the homeless crisis in Nashville.
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“What many people don’t understand of those who are homeless, the significant amount of them is situational homeless; they aren’t always living in an underpass. They are couch surfing, living in a shelter,” Smith said.
The Lucile will be holding their grand opening Thursday night, May 23 after residents started moving in a few months ago.
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