Homeless shelter no longer in plans for City of Jackson

Amy McDonald is the director of Tennessee Homeless Solutions and was present at Jackson City Council's agenda review meeting on Jan. 2.

She was also present for the City Council meeting on Jan. 7.

She spoke during public comments to get a simple message across to the City Council and all who were present for the meeting.

As the temperature stayed below freezing for the second day in a row, THS was working with Regional Inter-faith Association and Area Relief Ministries to ensure people had somewhere to go and get warm during the day.

During the night, they had somewhere to go too. For men, it was a temporary shelter at First United Methodist Church.

"First United Methodist Church has been kind enough to open their doors to the homeless men of Jackson once again and lend their space for a shelter and warming center," McDonald said.

When asked about capacity at FUMC, McDonald said the availability is for about 30 men.

The previous Thursday, McDonald's message for the members of the council was a little less urgent, but equally important.

For much of 2024, the City of Jackson worked to build a homeless shelter on the western edge of Downtown Jackson before public outcry from business owners in Downtown convinced City leadership to reconsider and enter into negotiations to possibly purchase the Airways Motel at the corner of Airways Boulevard and the Highway 45 Bypass and renovate that into a shelter.

The City has since pulled out of that process after going through a three-month due diligence period with the owners of the motel. Jackson Mayor Scott Conger confirmed after the City Council meeting on Tuesday that the City is no longer involved in negotiations to purchase or build a homeless shelter, leaving THS to start looking again for a place.

When McDonald was speaking with the City Council, one question she was asked was to explain the exact mission of THS.

It's not to feed the homeless. Nor is it to give them shelter.

"We do those things, but that's not our end goal," McDonald said. "What we want to do is put together a system that enables men and women who want to get out of the cycle of being homeless that opportunity and decrease the number of unhoused individuals in the area."

McDonald said it's a three step process.

The first step is outreach, where THS lets people know about its services and where people who need THS' services sign up for them.

The third step is a set of programs through which people go through to set themselves up for success, whether it be job training or training for the interview process or something else. The programs are designed to help the person find steady income to support their own housing, food and other bills.

The second step is the important one because it's the bridge from signing the people who need help up for the services and connecting them to the programs that would hopefully set them on the course to lead productive lives in which they contribute to society.

"We are able to do this second part, but a shelter is a key part of that process because without the shelter, there's nowhere for these people to stay before they get here," McDonald said, pointing to the spot on a diagram she drew on the board in the City Council Board Room, referencing when they're able to leave the THS system and go out on their own. "Without the shelter, these people are still on the street.

"So we can train them, but they're going to job interviews, and in some of the more successful stories, they're going to work for the first few weeks from wherever they live on the streets. A shelter would be a big help for a lot of people going through this."

McDonald said THS is doing what it can and will continue to do so while partnering with other agencies to help the homeless of Jackson and West Tennessee, but a shelter is still a large need.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news