Housing for All Tennessee brought more than 60 people, many of whom have experienced homelessness, to the Tennessee State Capitol on Tuesday for meetings with lawmakers about this year’s legislative session. The coalition — a combined effort from five nonprofit groups, including Open Table Nashville — focused advocacy on five current bills amid its long-term goal of securing housing for all Tennesseans.
Organizers and volunteers from across the state prepared for their legislative meetings with breakfast and trainings on the ground floor of Nashville First Baptist Church, a few hundred yards from the legislature.
“I finally got the keys to my home in September,” Chasidy Harris tells the Scene at First Baptist Church. “Prior to that, me and my kids were living from hotel to hotel, or whatever friends or family opened up their door. I even found myself sleeping behind my son's day care.”
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Harris and her three children were homeless in Memphis for more than 1,000 days between 2020 to 2024. She was counting.
“ It’s picking and choosing between between bills," says Harris. "Putting food in the fridge because you have mouths to feed. Those are the positions that single mothers are facing. I want to tell the legislators, even just for five minutes, go home tonight and sit in your car. Let the temperature drop and close your eyes. This is what people are going through. Balancing work, bills, your children, transportation — it is impossible at times.”
The median Tennessee home price has risen more than 50 percent since 2020 according to Zillow. Urban housing markets in Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis and Chattanooga routinely make news for sharp property value, while formerly affordable suburbs like Hendersonville, Mt. Juliet and Farragut show double-digit price increases. In rural areas, out-of-state buyers have acquired substantial stakes in the housing stock, residents say, while the state lags behind in homebuilding.
“Tennessee’s economy is booming and the state is growing, adding hundreds of thousands of jobs and residents over the past decade,” reads a housing policy brief released Tuesday by nonpartisan think tank ThinkTennessee. “With this growth, we face an increased demand for housing that communities across the state are struggling to meet. The shortage contributes to rising housing costs that are becoming increasingly unaffordable for Tennessee families.”
Restrictive zoning, alleged rent fixing and a low minimum wage have all squeezed Tennesseans struggling to find an affordable place to live. Advocates see an urgent economic and humanitarian crisis for legislators, demonstrated by increasing urban and rural homelessness. In the past year, law enforcement has shown an increased interest in forcibly clearing homeless encampments.
Development has become concentrated along corridors and in low-income areas
“ The housing crisis is deepening in a lot of rural areas, and it's the least reported about,” says Jack Willey, an organizer with Housing for All. "You have McMinnville, Tullahoma, the Tri Cities — they've had a major increase in population growth and lots of displacement. A number of investment firms, mainly from coastal cities, are gobbling up property. They clearly see housing as a way to make a fast buck, and they have a stranglehold on most of the apartment complexes there.”
The Greater Memphis Housing Justice Project, Memphis Tenants’ Union, Open Table Nashville, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) and Tennessee Renters United founded the Housing for All Coalition to push state policies that “focus on affordable housing, tenant rights and ending homelessness in Tennessee.” On Tuesday, members met with legislators to advocate for three current bills.
The first, a “Free ID” bill, requires the Tennessee Department of Transportation to issue free photo identification if someone legally does not have any government identification. Lack of proper documentation can critically hinder efforts to secure housing and employment. The second — HB 955/SB 961, sponsored by Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) and Rep. Shaundelle Brooks (D-Nashville) — paves the way for local governments to pass rent control and other tenant protections. The legislation also creates financing tools to enable first-time homebuyers and affordable housing developers. The third bill establishes a rental property registry to centralize and facilitate the process of finding housing.
Housing advocates gather at Housing for All's Feb. 18 meeting at Nashville First Baptist Church
Housing for All has also criticized two bills they say would further worsen the state’s housing crunch. The first increases the felony punishment for obstructing certain passages, like highways and sidewalks, further criminalizing survival for unhoused people. The second forces the Tennessee Department of Transportation to forcibly clear anything considered a “homeless encampment,” and seize related personal belongings, within 30 days of a citizen complaint.
“ I'm still here fighting for this because I want homelessness and the high rent to stop,” Johnnie Walden of Tullahoma tells the Scene before meeting with lawmakers. “I have been homeless, I know how they feel, and it just kills me to see somebody homeless. I give them food or the last dime in my pocket. It’s time for these rich people to get off their butt and do something about it."
