Metro begins to push outreach and faith groups to obtain permits to serve food on Parks’ property
On the afternoon of Aug. 20, seasoned volunteers with nonprofit Colby’s Army showed up at Richland Park in West Nashville as they have done so weekly for over a decade.
The local nonprofit has provided street outreach services to people experiencing homelessness in West Nashville, Bellevue, and Cheatham County for the past 14 years. Now, they also provide peer support services to Nashville residents after they move into permanent housing.
This particular Tuesday was different, however, as the group was approached by Metro Parks police upon arrival to their usual spot. Before they could open their trucks to begin preparing to hand out their usual food, clothing, and hygiene supplies they were met with an unexpected request. Police informed volunteers that unless they had a special events permit in order to serve food in a Metro Park, they would need to leave. If they refused, they would risk up to a $1,500 fine.
Upon further investigation, what Colby’s Army experienced in late August wasn’t the first of such instances this summer. All For Him Ministries, which also provides food, supplies, recovery resources, as well as church services has been navigating Metro Nashville Police Department’s insistence beginning in July that they too need a permit in order to provide Sunday services at Old Tent City — which lies on land now owned by Metro Parks. After much time and effort, All For Him was able to obtain an event permit that allows them to provide food at Old Tent City on Sunday mornings for precisely one hour and 15 minutes.
Likewise, Allen G., a current resident at Old Tent City also reports he has witnessed yet another group of members from a local church get run off by the police for serving food on the weekends to encampment residents for not having a permit to do so.
Why does this matter?
Many community members, outreach providers, and faith leaders are concerned about both the intent and implications behind this recent push for groups to obtain permits in order to serve food on Metro Parks’ property.
Many groups do not solely hand out food and then leave; often, they are simultaneously connecting people experiencing homelessness with vital mental health resources, ensuring folks are staying connected with their housing navigators, making referrals to recovery services, providing harm reduction supplies, conducting wellness checks, in addition to providing compassion, care, and connection. As a result, the situation is about far more than food.
There is concern that adding the additional requirement of obtaining a permit in order to serve on park property may act as a barrier to some, making it more difficult, timely, and costly to do so. Some fear enforcement of the permitting process may also intimidate people and groups from serving altogether. As Executive Director of Colby’s Army, Lisa Wyscoky, said in a press release, “This all seems extremely unreasonable and will absolutely inhibit Metro’s plan to get people housed, and implement trauma-informed care. If outreach workers cannot meet their clients where they are, the homeless population in parks will grow, and homelessness overall will grow, rather than decrease.”
There’s also concern that this permitting process encroaches on protected constitutional rights. In 2018, Southern Legal Counsel filed suit on behalf of Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs in Food Not Bombs v. Fort Lauderdale after the Florida city implemented an ordinance prohibiting outdoor food sharing as a social service and arrested multiple people for sharing food in public places with people experiencing homelessness.
Southern Legal Counsel reflected that, “In a twist on the criminalization of homelessness, local governments are now arresting and citing people who wish to help unhoused people, using laws that restrict the use of public space through permit requirements or force groups to comply with food safety requirements. Due to [our efforts], food sharing is now considered protected expression in the 11th Circuit, and governments restricting expressivef food sharing activities are subject to First Amendment scrutiny.”
Lack of clarity results in uncertainty
In response to questions about enforcement, Metro Parks has cited section 3000.40 of the Metro Parks and Recreation Policy Manual (approved March 6, 2007), which outlines that, “Public food distribution in Metro Parks is permissible: A. at events permitted by the Metro Parks; B. when such distribution is sponsored or co-sponsored by a department or agency of the Metropolitan Government or C. by permit issued by the Director of Metro Parks.”
Still, many questions remain. For example, there is no event permit application available online that appears to be intentionally designed for groups intending to serve people experiencing homelessness on a routine basis. There has also been confusion over the cost to obtain a permit intended for this specific purpose.
At the Metro Parks Board meeting on Sept. 3, the board voted unanimously to approve Colby’s Army’s permit application to serve in Richland Park on Tuesdays moving forward. The group did not have to pay for this permit. All For Him Ministries, however, had to pay $85 to obtain their permit. Will they have to pay this fee each Sunday they serve food at Old Tent City? Why would one group have to pay while others do not?
There are a handful of additional groups who also distribute food and provide services at Old Tent City, again which is on land now owned by Metro Parks. To my knowledge, they have not had to obtain permits to do so thus far. How will Metro Parks uniformly enforce this seemingly new application of a now seventeen year old Parks policy that, until now, went unenforced? How many people can someone serve food to without needing a permit? What happens when an outreach provider needs to access an individual or even a group of people experiencing homelessness in a park on a date that is not pre-planned? What happens when we experience extreme weather and people emergently need life-sustaining items like water, food, and camping supplies?
Many questions remain, as outreach providers, faith-based groups, and concerned community members will undoubtedly continue to push Parks for clarity on this matter in the months ahead.
As this situation unfolds, Nashville needs to decide where it stands in regards to the “twist” on the criminalization of homelessness that Southern Legal Counsel warns of: Do we want to be known as the city who penalizes those who simply want to help?
India Pungarcher is the Associate Director of Advocacy at Open Table Nashville. She spoke at the Sept. 3 Metro Parks Board meeting on behalf of the outreach and advocacy organization founded in 2010. Through her role at OTN, she has been involved in documenting instances of and obtaining information related to Metro Nashville entities’ interactions with both people experiencing homelessness and people serving on public property.