With public tenting a felony, Tennessee homeless seek refuge

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Miranda Atnip lost her residence in the course of the coronavirus pandemic after her boyfriend moved out and she fell behind on payments. Living in a automobile, the 34-year-old worries on daily basis about getting cash for food, finding someplace to bathe, and saving up enough money for an house the place her three children can reside along with her again.

Now she has a new fear: Tennessee is about to develop into the first U.S. state to make it a felony to camp on native public property similar to parks.

“Truthfully, it’s going to be hard,” Atnip said of the law, which takes effect July 1. “I don’t know the place else to go.”

Tennessee already made it a felony in 2020 to camp on most state-owned property. In pushing the enlargement, Sen. Paul Bailey famous that nobody has been convicted under that law and stated he doesn’t count on this one to be enforced much, both. Neither does Luke Eldridge, a man who has worked with homeless people in the city of Cookeville and helps Bailey’s plan — partially because he hopes it will spur individuals who care in regards to the homeless to work with him on long-term options.

The law requires that violators obtain at least 24 hours notice before an arrest. The felony cost is punishable by as much as six years in jail and the lack of voting rights.

“It’s going to be as much as prosecutors ... if they want to situation a felony,” Bailey said. “Nevertheless it’s only going to come to that if folks actually don’t wish to transfer.”

After several years of regular decline, homelessness in the US started rising in 2017. A survey in January 2020 found for the primary time that the number of unsheltered homeless folks exceeded those in shelters. The problem was exacerbated by COVID-19, with shelters limiting capability.

Public strain to do one thing concerning the increasing number of highly seen homeless encampments has pushed even many traditionally liberal cities to clear them. Although camping has usually been regulated by local vagrancy laws, Texas passed a statewide ban final 12 months. Municipalities that fail to enforce the ban danger shedding state funding. A number of other states have introduced related bills, but Tennessee is the only one to make camping a felony.

Bailey’s district contains Cookeville, a metropolis of about 35,000 folks between Nashville and Knoxville, where the native newspaper has chronicled rising concern with the rising variety of homeless individuals. The Herald-Citizen reported final yr that complaints about panhandlers practically doubled between 2019 and 2020, from 157 to 300. In 2021, town installed signs encouraging residents to give to charities as an alternative of panhandlers. And the Metropolis Council twice considered panhandling bans.

The Republican lawmaker acknowledges that complaints from Cookeville received his attention. City council members have informed him that Nashville ships its homeless here, Bailey stated. It’s a rumor many in Cookeville have heard and Bailey appears to consider. When Nashville fenced off a downtown park for renovation just lately, the homeless individuals who frequented it disappeared. “Where did they go?” Bailey requested.

Atnip laughed on the idea of people shipped in from Nashville. She was residing in nearby Monterey when she lost her home and had to ship her children to live along with her mother and father. She has received some authorities help, but not sufficient to get her again on her feet, she mentioned. At one level she received a housing voucher however couldn’t find a landlord who would settle for it. She and her new husband saved sufficient to finance a used automobile and were working as delivery drivers until it broke down. Now she’s afraid they may lose the car and have to maneuver to a tent, although she isn’t sure where they will pitch it.

“It looks as if once one thing goes flawed, it type of snowballs,” Atnip stated. “We were earning money with DoorDash. Our payments had been paid. We were saving. Then the automobile goes kaput and all the things goes unhealthy.”

Eldridge, who has worked with Cookeville’s homeless for a decade, is an unexpected advocate of the camping ban. He mentioned he wants to continue serving to the homeless, however some individuals aren’t motivated to improve their scenario. Some are hooked on drugs, he mentioned, and a few are hiding from legislation enforcement. Eldridge estimates there are about 60 people dwelling outside roughly completely in Cookeville, and he knows them all.

“Most of them have been right here a number of years, and not once have they asked for housing assist,” he mentioned.

Eldridge knows his position is unpopular with different advocates.

“The big downside with this law is that it does nothing to unravel homelessness. In truth, it will make the issue worse,” mentioned Bobby Watts, CEO of the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council. “Having a felony in your report makes it laborious to qualify for some sorts of housing, harder to get a job, tougher to qualify for advantages.”

Not everyone wants to be in a crowded shelter with a curfew, but folks will transfer off the streets given the proper opportunities, Watts said. Homelessness amongst U.S. military veterans, for instance, has been cut nearly in half over the previous decade through a mix of housing subsidies and social providers.

“It’s not magic,” he said. “What works for that inhabitants, works for every population.”

Tina Lomax, who runs Seeds of Hope of Tennessee in nearby Sparta, was as soon as homeless together with her kids. Many people are only one paycheck or one tragedy away from being on the streets, she stated. Even in her neighborhood of 5,000, inexpensive housing may be very onerous to come by.

“If in case you have a felony on your file — holy smokes!” she said.

Eldridge, like Sen. Bailey, said he doesn’t expect many individuals to be prosecuted for sleeping on public property. “I can promise, they’re not going to be out here rounding up homeless people,” he stated of Cookeville legislation enforcement. But he doesn’t know what may happen in other components of the state.

He hopes the new law will spur some of its opponents to work with him on long-term solutions for Cookeville’s homeless. If they all labored collectively it could mean “a number of sources and potential funding sources to assist these in need,” he mentioned.

However other advocates don’t assume threatening individuals with a felony is a good means to help them.

“Criminalizing homelessness simply makes people criminals,” Watts stated.