Jay Servais
Jay Servais, district chief of the Office of Emergency Management, has been named the interim head of Nashville's Homeless Impact Division. Servais is entering the role following the resignation of Judith Tackett, who had served as director since 2017.
“Chief Servais’s leadership has been instrumental to Metro’s response to multiple crisis in the past two years," says Mayor John Cooper in a press release. "In addition to responding to the tornado and the flood, Chief Servais opened our COVID assessment centers and operated homeless shelters during the pandemic. By experience and training, he is well equipped to step into this role and manage the city’s program addressing these issues pending a more permanent leadership transition.”
Servais does not have the same sort of experience working on homelessness issues as his predecessor, but the OEM was in charge of establishing and running emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic.
Tackett departed the Homeless Impact Division last week. Since then, advocates for unhoused Nashvillians have called for the creation of an independent office of housing and homelessness, and Councilmember Freddie O'Connell has filed legislation to create such an office. The new office would house the Homeless Impact Division, currently located in Metro Social Services.
In response to those calls, Andrea Fanta, a spokesperson for the mayor's office, notes that the city has said the current structure has proven to be "very beneficial," especially during the pandemic. She also points to the city's rapid rehousing numbers over the past year, when hundreds of people were placed into homes.
"Our view is that that structure should remain in place," Fanta tells the Scene.
Fanta also notes that people experiencing homelessness may have concurrent health problems, and access to Metro Social Services helps establish wraparound treatment — that is, a broader availability of care. She also adds that Metro has a housing department — the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency.
Fanta also says the mayor's office thanks Tackett for her service, and commends her passion for helping people.
Servais will oversee ongoing Homeless Impact Division efforts, including the soon-to-launch mobile housing navigation centers, which will provide temporary shelter in certain neighborhoods with the goal of placing them into housing within 90 days.
