The Contributor (https://thecontributor.org/tag/cover-story/page/2/)
Wendell Segroves, a skilled craftsman and a former member of the Metro Homelessness Commission and Homelessness Planning Council, moved to Old Tent City in 2004. Wendell and his dogs. Photo by Steve Samra
“There were only five people there and I had to be invited in,” he said. “It was Nashville’s best kept secret.”
In those days, the camps were spread out. “We kept to ourselves,” explained Wendell.
… this land had served as a sanctuary for unhoused residents for over 40 years. It was never just a camp.
Darla the dog came to visit us in the fall of 2008. It was when we lived in that little duplex right by the train tracks with car-glass and graffiti in the backyard.
What we didn’t expect was to be so touched and ultimately impressed by the stories that were shared.
If you were to drive one mile south of downtown and hang a left on Anthes Drive which snakes down to the Cumberland River, you would find over 20 acres of land that are now fenced off and flanked with barbed wire and “no trespassing” signs. Over the past 40 years, thousands of unhoused Nashvillians have called this land home. Before it was closed by city officials in June of 2025, the area was endearingly, and somewhat notoriously, known as Old Tent City. On my first visit to the camp in September of 2008, thick morning fog held around trees, emanating from the riverbank. I walked the well-worn footpath with other outreach workers past the Music City Star tracks along an old chain-link fence.
The Salas Family Builds Businesses, Dreams and Community in Nashville
When you walk into LB Auto Repair in South Nashville, there’s a good chance you’ll be greeted not only by the smell of motor oil and the sight of cars in various stages of repair, but also by a four-year-old with big dreams. Her name is Lucy, and though she’s not even in Kindergarten yet, she’s already claiming her spot in the family business world. “She says she sells houses,” laughs her uncle, Jesus Salas Balcazar. “She’s our little CEO.”
That entrepreneurial spark runs through the entire family. Between Jesus, his sisters Perla and Ingrid, and their father, the family operates multiple small businesses in Nashville: LB Auto Repair, Perla’s beauty salon, and Ingrid’s real estate work and her husband’s business J. Any Fix, LLC. Together, they represent not only their own dedication and hustle but also the growing strength of Hispanic-owned, family-run businesses in Middle Tennessee.
Cooking Up Community: How Cynthia and Marcio Florez of Limo Restaurant are Building their Dream in Nashville
