Several pilot projects to combat chronic homelessness in Nashville are moving forward. A project to provide medical and behavioral health as well as job-training and housing, is going to start with it’s first client as early as today.
Tonya Cain is one of the project managers for Eckman Freeman, the organization running the pilot. Called wrap-around services, she says the pilot is designed to get the chronically homeless into homes permanently.
“The beauty is that one case manager will be walking that person through step-by-step and that person will be coordinating all those agencies together so you don’t have a piece over there and a piece over there that don’t know what each other’s doing. This case manager will oversee the whole thing and make sure everything is flowing smoothly.”
Eckman Freeman is getting 55-thousand dollars for the service from the Homeless Commission. Also getting off the ground in the next few weeks is a pilot to help homeless individuals with severe mental illnesses apply for disability benefits, and another to build at least five-units of housing.
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