Get Involved

“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” – Lilla Watson (Aboriginal educator, artist, and activist)

Hobson House
Hobson House is a house of hospitality for former Tent City residents and others experiencing homelessness in the parsonage of Hobson United Methodist Church in East Nashville. We currently need volunteers who are willing to:

- Stay overnight as “Inn Keepers” each day to help provide a sense of community and accountability to the residents (which involves getting to the house sometime around/after dinner, spending time with the residents, sleeping on the cots provided in the living room, and then leaving sometime the next day);
- Provide dinner for about 12 people;
- Help transport residents to appointments;
- Help with moving people into housing and delivering furniture.

To sign up for one of these volunteer opportunities, please email ingrid@opentablenashville.org.

Open Table Nashville

Open Table Nashville (OTN) is a growing inter-faith non-profit in Nashville that is active in  homeless outreach, runs transitional housing communities with the homeless (like Hobson House), and is creating an alternative staffing agency to provide holistic employment alternatives to day-labor pools. OTN also provides educational materials and facilitates outreach trainings and discussions about issues of homelessness. If you’d like to have someone speak to your congregation/class/agency/group about OTN, homelessness, and ways your group can get involved, please e-mail ingrid@opentablenashville.org or visit  http://www.opentablenashville.org/.

*Other Places in Nashville to Plug in:

The Contributor
The Contributor is Nashville’s street paper on homelessness. If you are interested in learning how you can volunteer or get involved, visit their website at www.thecontributor.org or e-mail the staff at info@thecontributor.org.

Room In The Inn’s Campus for Human Development
The Campus has a ton of wonderful volunteer opportunities that include teaching classes, helping with the foot clinic, helping with Room in the Inn (from November–March), and a million other things. Visit www.roomintheinn.org for more information.

Park Center’s Homeless Outreach Program
Park Center is a mental health agency with a stellar street outreach program in Nashville. They always need help sorting donations in their clothing closet. Visit http://www.parkcenternashville.org/programs/homeless-outreach for more information.

Oasis Center
Oasis serves at risk youth as well as individuals under the age of 21 who are experiencing homelessness. They have a number of great volunteer opportunities as well as a great street outreach program. Visit http://www.oasiscenter.org for more information.