The Nashville Office of Emergency Management and the Metro Nashville Public Health Department are installing 25 Emergency Temporary Overflow Shelter Pods on the parking lot of Nashville Rescue Mission located at 639 Lafayette Street, Nashville, TN 37203 to assist the Mission in quarantine efforts of positive COVID cases.
Each individual emergency temporary shelter pod can house up to two people. Each pod is equipped with electricity, heating and air conditioning, and access to medical care on-site.
Funding for the emergency temporary shelter pods is provided from Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases Funds (ELC).
“The Health Department and the Office of Emergency Management have partnered with Nashville Rescue Mission during the COVID-19 pandemic on a housing solution that will protect those experiencing homelessness,” said Dr. Gill C Wright, III, Director of Health of Nashville/Davidson County. “I am grateful for the federal ELC funds that provided the financial support needed for the temporary shelters.”
The emergency temporary shelter pods will be staffed by Certified Nursing Assistants and 24-Hour Security paid for by the ELC funds.
“We sincerely appreciate OEM and Metro Public Health working with us to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by installing these temporary shelter pods,” said Glenn Cranfield, president and CEO of Nashville Rescue Mission. “These pods will allow us to isolate those testing positive for COVID while they need to quarantine. It’s a great blessing to us, our guests, staff, and volunteers.”
The installation of these emergency temporary shelter pods is a new project being put in place following the July 1 closing of the temporary shelter at the Fairgrounds to continue to support the Mission’s goals of serving the homeless community during the pandemic while also protecting the public health of everyone in the community.
The temporary shelter pods will provide overflow sheltering to Nashville Rescue Mission to allow for positive cases and people awaiting COVID-19 test results to have a safe place to stay.
“We thank Nashville Rescue Mission for providing space on their campus for OEM and MPHD to place these emergency temporary shelter pods,” Director Chief William Swann said. “We are committed to providing safe alternatives to our homeless community as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our community.”
Mission guests staying in the emergency temporary shelter pods will have access to restrooms, showers, meals, and recreation areas.
Installation of the emergency temporary shelter pods continues. OEM will announce when they are complete and ready for occupancy in the coming weeks.
You can find more information about Metro Nashville Davidson County’s COVID-19 Response at Covid19.Nashville.Gov.
Metro agencies continue to formulate a long-term sustainable plan to house the homeless population who have COVID-19 or need to isolate while awaiting test results.
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