News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The UCHRA will look towards addressing homelessness and opiate drug use in the Upper Cumberland over the next year.
Executive Director Mark Farley said the agency will apply for a Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) to help tackle those issues.
“We’ve traditionally tried to take those monies and spread over a number of different causes that we see in the region,” Farley said. “But because of the two that we’re looking at here – homelessness and the opiate drug issues – we feel like we need to put some special emphasis on that.”
If awarded the grant, the agency would hire a regional coordinator tasked with addressing the region’s two biggest issues.
Farley said helping the homelessness situation in communities across the region is a top priority for the UCHRA.
“It is amazing how many individuals are either at the verge of homelessness or actually experiencing that and living in vehicles or various other places,” Farley said. “We’ve got a great Cookeville Rescue Mission, they are doing wonderful work, But they’re stretched. The need may be bigger than they can even handle.”
Farley said although the Rescue Mission does what they can, the addition of a regional coordinator to the UCHRA would help in areas where the Mission may not be able to access.
“Nothing that we’re looking to do would interfere with their work,” Farley said. “We’re just looking at ways maybe to help tackle that individual that’s on the verge, and maybe if they… aren’t able to make a utility payment and they’re getting evicted out of their home. If there’s ways that we can put a program in place to stop it from happening in the first place, that’s what we would like to do.”
The CSBG is a federal grant awarded through the Tennessee Department of Human Services. The department’s website indicates funding is awarded in an effort to combat issues such as poverty across the state.
