An estimated one out of eight families in greater Nashville will face a time when, because of some extraordinary circumstance, they will have to choose between buying basic groceries and paying their rent, a utility bill or a medical expense. Davidson County spans roughly 500 square miles. It has almost 30 food banks, but each has its own schedule of limited hours, and each requires pickup at its location. What about people who don’t have transportation, are in poor health, are elderly or afraid to leave the house? For over 20 years Charis has addressed this need by mobilizing volunteers to take essential food supplies to those who call for help. In 2020 it delivered 532 boxes of food to serve over 1,000 people, half of them under age 18 or over 64. 

More than 26,000 people are incarcerated in Tennessee’s prisons. FRC recognizes that families of the incarcerated are “forgotten victims of crime” and seeks to provide radical hospitality to those who need it at a vulnerable time. It is the only hospitality house in Nashville that provides free home-stays for family members visiting incarcerated loved ones. The all-volunteer organization was founded in 1984. In 2019 over 119 guests from 18 states stayed at FRC, receiving housing as well as Saturday community meals, breakfasts, and toiletries as needed. In 2020 prison visits were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but FRC began scheduling visits again in May 2021 and is now booked weeks in advance.

Don Paul Gross and his division of InterVarsity campus ministry seeks to encourage university faculty members and mentor graduate students who will be future leaders in their fields. Don Paul is Regional Director for 19 states, with a staff of 52 that serves on 38 private and public campuses. These include the University of Texas, Vanderbilt, Duke, the University of North Carolina, Morehouse School of Medicine, Clark Atlanta University and the University of Miami. There are over 2,300 graduate students and faculty involved in Don Paul’s division, with 138 small groups meeting regularly. They are a diverse group of scholars: Caucasian Americans represent about 40% of the community. 

In 2019 an estimated 20,000 people were unhoused in Davidson County. Open Table is an interfaith homeless outreach nonprofit that disrupts cycles of poverty, journeys with the marginalized, and provides education about issues of homelessness. OTN believes homelessness results when there is a lack of community around someone who is suffering. OTN provides that community again, helping friends journey toward wholeness and rebuild around themselves the community they need. It avoids government funding and helps people find ways to meet their own unique needs for food, shelter and community. OTN has placed over 800 people in permanent housing since its creation in 2011.

In 2005 the U.S. housing market collapsed, triggering the Great Recession as well as a sharp increase in pleas for rental assistance at congregations across Nashville. St. Bartholomew’s was one of 15 congregations that met to determine if there was a way to work together to meet the increased needs by pooling funds and sharing information. Rooftop Nashville was born the following year. Today it partners with over 50 congregations as well as foundations and businesses to interrupt the eviction cycle for Davidson County residents who have sustainable living situations but whose housing stability has been threatened by an unexpected financial hardship. In 2020-2021 Rooftop stabilized over 1,000 households impacted by natural disasters, COVID-19 and other crises.

RITI has provided essential services to unhoused Nashvillians since 1985. St. B's financial support helps fund RITI’s Hope University at its downtown campus, which offers guests access to shower and laundry facilities, a safe place to store essential documents, a mailing address for receiving important mail, assistance filling out government and job applications, art classes, and on-site job training. RITI also partners with almost 190 congregations during winter months to provide emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness. St. B’s was one of the first twelve congregations to welcome RITI guests overnight and hasn’t missed an opportunity to host Saturday-night guests since that first season in 1986.

Founded in 2009 by Nathan Lee, SMTP uses music to share the language of hope, healing and restoration with people in prison. It has witnessed transformation in people’s lives through its live concerts in maximum-security facilities around the country, songwriting workshops, school for women in prison, and special outreach to those on death row and in hospice care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, outreach has continued through letters, phone calls, and pre-recorded live content that is streamed on prison networks around the country.

Founded in 2016, ShowerUp’s mission is to build relationships, restore hope and dignity, and reflect the love of God by providing shower services and personal-care items to those who need them (primarily unhoused people, some of whom have jobs and some don’t). Its mobile-shower unit serves six days a week in the Nashville area alongside other nonprofits to maximize its outreach. In 2021 it provided an estimated 3,000 showers and an uncounted number of underwear and pairs of socks.

Siloam is a faith-based medical clinic that has provided healthcare for uninsured, underserved and culturally marginalized people in Middle Tennessee for 30 years. Today one in seven of Nashville/Davidson County residents are foreign-born and thousands of them have no access to health insurance. More than 90% of Siloam’s patients were born outside the U.S., represent 86 homelands and speak 59 languages. In June 2020 Siloam opened a satellite walk-in clinic in Antioch, Nashville’s most diverse community and home for many of its essential workers in industries such as construction and food-processing. During the pandemic Siloam has partnered with the Metro Public Health Department to provide vaccinations, education and care in underserved immigrant communities.

Founded in 1913, St. Luke’s provides an array of services focusing on early child development, adult education, senior assistance, crisis support and financial literacy instruction. These benefit low-income, working families, seniors and individuals living primarily in West Nashville. St. B’s financial support and in-kind gifts provide mobile meals, emergency assistance, holiday programs and other services. Volunteers from St. B’s and other churches operate a popular thrift store that generates significant income for St. Luke’s Preschool—an affordable, high-quality program for low-income, working families. 

TF Residential Program is offered to women survivors of trafficking, prostitution and addiction. Up to 28 residents live together in a therapeutic setting which offers free housing, healthcare, counseling, employment training and transformation through mutual trust-building and accountability. After two years in the program the women become candidates for graduation, a much-anticipated time of celebration that takes place each spring. St. B’s provides thoughtfully curated housewarming baskets and generous gift cards to help graduates start their new lives. 

The Village’s twelve micro-homes give people experiencing chronic homelessness a dignified, loving and safe place to rest after hospitalization. It opened in 2021. The average stay will be about 90 days, during which residents will receive medical assistance, meals provided by The Nashville Food Project, and supportive relationships they can take with them when they leave The Village for supportive long-term housing. Moving from the street immediately into an apartment carries a high risk of individuals feeling isolated, increasing the chance of their giving up housing and returning to familiar faces. The Village’s goal is to provide time for healing as well as intentional community-building, giving residents a toolkit that supports rather than challenges independent living.