NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The special reports on Homelessness: Everybody’s Problem touched a nerve. After we aired the story of Anita Richey, a woman who is homeless and living in Portland , we received a number of messages. News 2 spoke with an expert about the best ways to help the homeless.
“We didn’t ask for this life. It chose us. Nobody chooses to be homeless,” said Richey.
PREVIOUS: Even with a job, one Portland woman can only afford a tent to live in When Richey’s story aired, many viewers emailed News 2 heartfelt messages.
- One email: “I read the news article about the lady named Anita living in a tent in Portland, TN and wanted to reach out to get more information .”
- In a second email, the viewer wrote, “We have a shower and a washer and dryer that the community can use. “
- A third emailer wrote,”I’ll admit that I was very much affected by your story as there was a lengthy period in my own life where I also literally just hung on.
“Even a short period of time on the streets would make it very difficult to enter what you and I would consider a normal way of living,” said Steven Young, founder, and executive director, of Home Street Home Ministries .
Young is an expert on homelessness. The founder of Home Street Home Ministries in Nashville, he escaped homelessness himself after five years on the streets and even wrote a book called From Chains to Change: One Man’s Journey from God-Hater to God-Follower .
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He said the first step to helping someone get off the streets is friendship. “They need to trust. And we have to earn that trust, and we have to earn that respect.”
His outreach team looks at each person as an individual and tailors their help accordingly, whether it be a place to live, food, clothing, a job.
Similar to Richey, Young said many unhoused people are not on the streets because of a drug or alcohol addiction; it comes down to money, or lack thereof.
“It’s the number one cause of homelessness. It all boils down to…We live in a money, money, money world. And if you don’t have the money, you’re stuck,” said Young.
Stuck is how Richey feels right now, but she is still hopeful. And, Young said that holding on to hope is key to escaping homelessness, but acceptance is dangerous.
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“When they reach that acceptance, it’s 10 times harder to turn them around and get them going in the other direction,” said Young.
After our story aired, a non-profit in Portland reached out to us saying they just installed a shower, washer, and dryer for the homeless community.
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