As I make my way across Nashville, I notice something that is somewhat troubling to me. That is TRASH. All kinds in all places. Cans, bottles, cardboard, food trays, clothes and cups.
What is upsetting to me is the amount of trash that I see in doorways, bus stops, alleyways and on business stoops and around our places of worship. We all are aware that our unhoused community is responsible for some of the trash found in the areas I just mentioned. I see bags of trash near places where The Contributor is sold.
With the onset of The Contributor getting started and 18 years later, I feel great strides have been made with the general public on who we are and what we represent. Folks who used to lock their doors and roll up their windows when encountering us now extend warm hands of fellowship when engaging our vendors in the public and private spaces in our city.
I believe it is our responsibility to look out for each other and to encourage our fellow vendors and unhoused friends to keep our areas neat and clean and engage our customers in a polite respectful manner. After all, as we begin to transition into permanent housing we would hope our homes would be a place to be proud of, so likewise we should leave our work spots in a like condition.
We have been given the wonderful gift of The Contributor and in these uncertain times with cuts of all kinds in social programs, grants and tariffs being levied, we should all work together to preserve what we have for this who come after us. At least that’s this vendor’s view. How about you?