Room In The Inn and several agencies in the city have partnered together to better serve the homeless population when temperatures get extremely cold.
From January 3 until March 31, Room In The Inn will loosen its restrictions and open its doors between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. when temperatures fall to 32 degrees or below.
It's part of a pilot program called Level 1.5 within Metro's cold weather community response plan.
Multiple agencies including the Nashville Rescue Mission, Metro Nashville Police Department, and Metro Social Services have been involved.
A new pilot program starting next month will loosen restrictions at Room In The Inn to better serve the homeless during winter months. @NC5pic.twitter.com/dKckWM9Bbw
— Matthew Torres (@NC5_MTorres) December 11, 2017
Room In The Inn Executive Director Rachel Hester has called the program Night Center at Room In The Inn, which would offer drinks, a safe space, sanitized blankets, orientations to daytime services and winter shelter programs, bathrooms, cold weather supplies, and meals.
"This is going to be new. I think we're up to the challenge, and I'm excited that we get to serve more people and really finding out what their needs are. Think of it like an airport or a bus station. It's not going to be the most ideal, but it is a safe place for people," said Hester.
The Room In The Inn serves an average of 400 homeless men and women on a daily basis.
Currently, the organization's partnership with close to 200 congregations would house the homeless at night and bus them back in the morning.
More than 30,000 beds have been available in those congregations but they get filled up quickly.
Hester said the night center will accommodate those with pets and begin allowing couples to stay together.
Most importantly, the test trial would allow better research before having to re-assess on what needs to change for the next winter season.
"Hopefully at the end of this we can collect some great information, reasons why people weren't coming in to traditional shelters, what some of the barriers are that aren't being met, and hopefully a standard of what we want shelters to be like in our city as we grow," added Hester.
"The trends seem to have remained steady in Nashville based on a one-night census, but we need to do a better job as a community to collect numbers and that's what we're working on," Metro Homelessness Commission Director Judith Tackett told NewsChannel 5.
Room In The Inn has planned on releasing flyers or cards to help spread the word.
Hester said the organization would need donations including blankets and bus passes.
