City’s first permanent supportive housing facility opens in Nashville

A historic 90-unit, $35 million permanent supportive housing (PSH) facility called the Strobel House opened in Nashville on July 18. It is the first permanent supportive housing facility owned and operated by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (Metro).

April Calvin, director of the Office of Homeless Services (OHS) in Nashville, said she is excited to have been a part of Strobel House’s development and opening. 

“For me, housing is a human right,” Calvin told State of Reform. “Housing is healthcare. Housing is [a] social determinant of health. We know that people’s life spans expand when they live indoors rather than living unsheltered. So for me, it’s exciting to be part of such a large initiative.”

Calvin said Strobel House is a state-of-the-art, trauma-informed facility. Unlike temporary shelters, the facility has one-bedroom units that have full kitchens and private bathrooms. All of the bathrooms are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and 20 of the units are wheelchair accessible. Half of the units are dedicated to unhoused veterans, young adults, and LGBTQ+ people.

Strobel House is located in downtown Nashville, Calvin said, unlike many similar facilities which are tucked away in suburban areas. The facility’s location is near the vicinity of a large population of individuals experiencing homelessness, and a downtown location provides residents with better access to needed support services located in the area.

Calvin said OHS has a list of the metro area’s most vulnerable people classified by demographic (individuals, families, veterans, youths, etc.), which is the list they use to refer people to Strobel House. All of this information comes through the Homeless Management Information System and the Metro’s coordinated entry process.

“The coordinated entry process is how people are connected to housing opportunities, supportive services, and other things they may need,” Calvin said.  

Strobel House residents will be connected to services including medical and behavioral healthcare, addiction treatment, and career support.

While Calvin is excited about the opening of Strobel House, more work needs to be done, she said.

“That’s 90 units, and that’s a lot; but we need a couple more Strobel Houses along the way,” Calvin said.

In addition to Strobel House, Calvin said OHS has been working on many other initiatives to help get people into housing, and provide them with ongoing supportive services. OHS celebrated its one-year anniversary in July, and Calvin said the office has managed to do a lot of work in that time.

The office’s coordinated entry line for families, for example, averages about 400 calls per month. OHS is working on scaling up its ability to help all the people who need it, Calvin said. The office is also focusing on its cold-weather housing initiative to help shelter people from extreme winter temperatures.

Additionally, OHS developed an encampment strategy to help connect people experiencing chronic homelessness to housing as quickly as possible, Calvin said. The people housed through this encampment strategy are some of Nashville’s most vulnerable. 

“In one year we closed four encampments, housing 189 people, and having only an 11 percent recidivism back into homelessness rate. What that tells me is people are hungry for housing. People do not want to stay outside. It is not safe for them, whether it’s the elements or the predators.”

— Calvin

Calvin said the office’s encampment strategy follows best practices outlined by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness on how to address encampments effectively and humanely. 

OHS also has a Landlord Engagement Team, which partners with landlords of all sorts of properties—from small buildings to large complexes—to help remove housing application barriers for unsheltered or housing insecure people. Barriers include large, upfront deposits and strict qualifications that applicants must meet, which prevents many people from being approved and entering secure housing.

“You and I—if we are going to apply for one of these properties—would have to make three times the income,” Calvin said. “You and I, if we were to apply for one of these properties, would have to have a clean criminal record. You and I would probably have to have a really good credit score as well. But we’ve worked out a partnership through collaboration with these property managers by ensuring that their units are filled.”

The program now has 195 different locations that have removed barriers in an effort to help get people into housing. Calvin said OHS’ engagement team works with landlords on ironing out any issues or concerns, and there is a sign-on bonus for each property that participates in the program. 

Through all its efforts, Calvin said OHS has managed to help house 1,919 individuals across Nashville and Davidson county over the past year. She added that more funding will be needed to continue to develop and deploy services, and she wants more people to become actively involved in the housing space.

Readers can learn more about housing and other social determinants of health during the 2024 Tennessee State of Reform Health Policy Conference, which will be held on Nov. 6 at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Those interested can register here.