It’s hard to believe we have faced yet another set of tragic circumstances in Nashville after a brutal year of a tornado, COVID, a bombing and now floods, which recently took the lives of at least seven people.
The latest of these disasters has us thinking to the early days of The Nashville Food Project’s formation in the aftermath of the 2010 flood. In the midst of it all, the words of Betsy Philips in the Nashville Scene yesterday have us digging deep :
This is, I think, the way forward through yet another tragedy. Do the ritual. Even if we’re burned out and pissed, and even if we feel betrayed by a lot of our neighbors, even if we feel like chumps for helping, help anyway. Help not because you’re feeling it, but because this is what we do in times like this. Help because one of the most important things about Nashville is that we help, and even with everything else that’s changed in the city, we don’t have to be changed into the kinds of people who don’t help.
We can preserve what’s good about Nashville by being good, even when we’re not feeling it.
Today we’re doing our small part by sending out meals alongside Metro Social Services, Open Table Nashville and People Loving People. These organizations have all been tirelessly caring for and advocating for our neighbors without housing who have shouldered the brunt of this latest trauma.
How else can we help those affected by the recent floods? We have collected various calls to action from partners and friends here:
Hands On Nashville is working closely with Nashville's Office of Emergency Management to deploy volunteers in safe ways to areas in need of help.
Community Resource Center has been updating their list of needs on their social media and website such as tarps, rakes, and outdoor trash cans.
Open Table Nashville has been keeping their social media updated with needs for those experiencing homelessness including a current need for Kroger and Walmart gift cards.
Room in the Inn also has listed a need for items like socks, sleeping bags, sleeping mats and more.
Shower the People Nashville will be holding a flood debris clean-up on Thursday, April 1.
People Loving People also serving the unhoused community in Nashville has been updating their social media with needs.
Follow and support our friends at Cul2vate Farms as they work to determine the damage on their property.
Please let us know if you hear of other needs, and we will keep this list updated.