June 2 was moving day at Old Tent City. Signs warned that it might be the last opportunity for residents to access the roughly 20-acre wooded encampment around Anthes Drive where more than 100 people and pets lived in RVs, cars, tents and makeshift structures, some of which had electricity and water systems. Around noon on Monday, fewer than a dozen people remained, including a few residents who learned about that day’s camp closure for the first time that morning when they saw Metro police and city employees touring people’s homesteads.
The closure, which followed a “housing surge” led by Metro’s Office of Homeless Services, comes as the city’s relationships with providers — including nonprofits and charities — is suffering from dysfunction and a deep lack of trust. OHS has not housed everyone at the camp, nor all those who want housing; it has moved more than 80 people into temporary housing, primarily relying on rooms at the Rodeway Inn, a converted motel near the airport.
Multiple providers spoke with the Scene, criticizing the city’s methods of addressing homelessness as well as an institutional lack of information sharing, poor communication, perceived favoritism, sensitivity to feedback, and even retaliation for public comments critical of OHS. Metro disburses millions of dollars in grants to local homeless service providers, much of which comes with clauses prohibiting recipients from speaking to the media about relevant work.
Residents plan for next steps as police and social workers manage a 60-day countdown at large downtown encampment
Philosophical differences, practical concerns and personal tensions have all contributed to the general rift between the city and homeless service providers. This “chilling effect,” as one provider termed it, has led to bad-faith assumptions between parties and discouraged teamwork necessary to more efficiently address the needs of Nashville’s unhoused residents.
“Overall our goal is to continue to improve community alignment,” says Demetris Chaney, OHS’ public information coordinator, when asked about tensions building between the city and partner organizations. “Everyone is very passionate about housing unhoused individuals. We want to make sure we’re pulling in the same direction. I think we can always stand to make sure we’re all moving in the same direction. We all want what’s best for people living outside. I don’t want to add specifics, because I think we’re more aligned than we’re different.”
But the situation has apparently become dire enough that one provider, Open Table Nashville, requested mediation with the city, according to an email thread between Metro councilmembers and OHS director April Calvin that was shared with the Scene.
Old Tent City, June 2, 2025
“In addition to the need for community mediation, we continue to see ongoing problems with accountability and transparency from your office,” wrote Open Table co-founder and advocacy director Lindsey Krinks in a May 20 email. “There are also a number of things we’re not aligned on which is apparent from our questions and your responses. We can talk more about these at another time, but they include our approach and engagement with encampments and the residents who live there, what Housing First looks like in practice, and how we speak about people who are unhoused, especially in public.”
The Scene spoke with other providers who declined to comment on the record, citing media clauses and fear of retaliation, particularly referencing OHS’ control of grant money. Open Table Nashville does not receive funding from OHS. Taxpayer purse strings give OHS the power to shape the services landscape, a responsibility that often requires working cohesively with providers. After a failed partnership with OHS, for example, affordable housing developer Holladay Ventures is now in the process of returning more than $2 million to the city granted to finance 14 units of permanent supportive housing.
Various nonprofits, churches, businesses and private citizens aim to alleviate harsh living conditions for those without a stable or affordable place to live. Metro’s Office of Homeless Services is perceived as the natural leader of these citywide efforts, both because of its government perch and the money, people and resources allocated to the city department. Former Mayor John Cooper appointed April Calvin as the first OHS director upon the department’s inception in 2023, months before Freddie O’Connell was elected as mayor.
Campers being towed from Old Tent City, June 2, 2025
A recent episode of podcast City Cast Nashville brought together Homelessness Planning Council Chair Kennetha Patterson and former Metro employee Mike Lacy to discuss the tense situation between OHS and homeless providers. On his Substack, Lacy penned a thorough — and very critical — analysis of OHS’ “doublespeak” around camp closures and housing strategies. It squared with a 2024 broadside from The Contributor director Will Connelly, who formerly led the city’s Homeless Commission. Patterson, who has lived unhoused, chairs the city’s Curriculum of Care Homelessness Planning Council, a sort of steering board for coordination between providers and the city formed in July 2018.
“It feels like, to be honest, April Calvin has been operating as the chair of the Homeless Planning Council,” Patterson told CityCast. “The tension of, ‘We don’t want to relinquish power to lived expertise.’ So we are being stripped of that power by what is taking place in the background and bureaucracy.”
When the Scene asked whether O’Connell still has confidence in Calvin’s leadership, the mayor pointed to recent housing-related accomplishments by the city.
“We’ve seen huge steps forward on things I was working on even before becoming mayor,” O’Connell said last week. “We finally, after several administrations, have Strobel House open as the first public permanent supportive housing facility. We have made huge strides in the expansion of our homeless management information system. The recent acquisition from the Housing Division of our Unified Housing Strategy is informing our budget decisions this year.”
