Our Place Nashville
Our Place Nashville-Friendship House
Edited Transcript
Marsh Naidoo (00:17):
Hello and welcome to the Raising Kellan podcast. My name is Marsh Naidoo and I blog at www.raisingkellan.org where we curate resources for parents raising children with disabilities. As always, remember, the content on this podcast is for your information only, and if you seek advice for your specific situation always contact a trained professional. In today's episode 102, we chat with Jordan Collins. Jordan is the associate Director at Our Place Nashville, an organization that partners with nonprofits to provide brick-and-mortar housing solutions for persons with disabilities in the Nashville area. As a parent of a child with a disability, I'm interested in learning more about housing options. Check out episode 77, which is a recording with Pete Hixson, as well as episode 85, an interview with Dr. Jerry Karnitzel, which discusses other creative housing solutions that are currently happening in our community. So grab your cup of coffee, put your feet up, and get ready for some awesome conversation.
(01:56):
Welcome to the Raising Kellan Podcast, Jordan, we are just really honored to have you here with us today. Jordan Collins works at Our Place Nashville, Tennessee, and he's joining us today to tell us more about this organization. Jordan, just I would love for you to tell us how you got to Our Place and a little bit more about the organization.
Jordan Collins (02:25):
Absolutely! Thank you so much for having me. This is such a privilege to come to speak with you and your community. Yeah, so it's kind of a fun story. I'm originally, actually also from South Africa. My accent has changed a little bit over the years, but when I was studying in Nashville, I had an acquaintance who was a professor at Vanderbilt and he was also South African and he was starting this amazing thing called a Friendship House, and I didn't know much about it, but I was getting married and was looking for housing. And so he reached out to me one day and he said, I have this idea, we're starting this friendship house. We need somebody to come and live here as a resident director. We would like a young married couple to move in and be the kind of starters of this community. Would you be interested?
(03:15):
He's the type of person who if he has an idea, you run with it because you know it's going to work. And so I said, sure, Dr. Hammond, I'm in, and my wife and I moved in as the first resident directors at the very first friendship house. There were four folks with developmental disabilities, actually three at the time, and then myself and my wife living in one apartment and then some students from Vanderbilt Divinity School. The idea was, and still is to this day, that it's an inclusive community of people with and without disabilities, but the idea is to help people who have developmental disabilities gain independence to live independently within a safe environment and inclusive community. And so we started this kind of experiment in Nashville, and from there, that was back in 2015 when we first moved in, and now we have up to 70 residents with us at a time, and we're growing way beyond that in the next couple of years.
(04:15):
And our goal is to keep housing affordable. We're not a service provider. We don't have anything flashy. We don't have big swimming pools in gymnasiums, but what we do have is a very normal adult experience for you to live independently in your own apartment, in your own space, and to be able to live in a community where all of your neighbors know who you are, they care about you, they want you to thrive, and they want you to succeed in independence. And so what we provide is that kind of social safety structure that allows people with a developmental disability to thrive on their own.
Marsh Naidoo (04:54):
So Jordan, we are going to deconstruct this and go back to the origin story itself and Jaco Hamman.
(04:54):
Jordan Collins (05:05):
Yeah. So he was at a school in Michigan where he was a professor at a seminary in Michigan, and he had some friends with an adult with a disability who wanted to be part of the university. And so the way that it started, the way that Friendship House as a model started with universities was on-campus housing for folks who don't necessarily go to the school but want that on-campus experience. So it was students from the university and what they label as friends, which is what we call somebody with a developmental disability, just so you don't have to say that every single time. The idea was two friends and three students living on campus together, and the friends could enroll in classes, they could go be a part of the sports teams, they could be a part of campus life, and work on campus.
(05:54):
And so this was kind of the concept that Jaco helped develop and was on the board in Michigan. He helped one also open at Duke University, and then he came to Nashville to Vanderbilt and said, how can we do this in Nashville? So he met our current executive director, Carolyn Nafieh, who was a disability nonprofit guru, he was a visionary and had this idea from his experience and wanted to start this with Vanderbilt. And so they put their heads together and they said, how can we do this in Nashville? The difference is we're not on campus and we're our own 5 0 1 (C) 3. And the reason is campus property is really hard to find. A lot of the campuses in Nashville are struggling to even house their residents. And so we had to go out on our own and say, we have to make this work.
(06:47):
No one's going to give us these awesome dorms to make this happen. And so Jaco and Carolyn together partnered through partnerships all through Nashville, have been able to find incredible locations to have these communities. The initial ones, like I said, were apartment-style. So everybody had their one bedroom, one bathroom apartment with a kitchen, little living area, about 500 square feet. And we have about 30 of those apartments. And now our newer model that has come out of that is saying, how can we make this more affordable and more community-oriented? And so what we have started is building a shared living house, which if you imagine it's a really big house, 10 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms. Everybody has their kind of bedroom, bathroom closet where they can have their TV, their little mini fridge. It's kind of like a dorm room style. And then you share a big kitchen, you share a TV room and you share a dining room.
(07:48):
And so that allows people to still have their own apartment space, but to be able to share and live in community with others. So this idea that started with just a few folks and a few spots for housing is now growing at such an exponential level because the model is so easy to replicate and so affordable for people. And that is always what Jaco and Carolyn's goal and his other goal, and I'm sure this would make a lot of your listeners happy, is to create world changers and people in the university system who are studying to be pastors or who're studying to be nonprofit leaders, we have people studying to be doctors or therapists who now are getting an experience of living with somebody with a disability and can take that experience onto what they do in the future and say, how can we de-stigmatize disability and how can we be more inclusive in our communities, whether that be at the church or the hospital or the nonprofit?
(08:47):
How can we be inclusive in the way that we do things that truly let people with disabilities have a seat at the table and don't tokenize? And so that has been special to see our students change their dissertation or change their path of what they want to study or what they want to do with their lives because of their experience interacting with people who are different than them. And so that's our whole mission on both sides. You often start something wanting to help one group of people, and you realize that in doing so, you're changing a lot of lives and other groups as well. So we believe that at our place, there are no helpers and receivers. We're all equal, we're all learning, we're all growing, and we all have a lot to take from that community experience.
Marsh Naidoo (09:39):
Jordan, what is the onboarding process to join the community and source housing at Our Place Nashville?
Jordan Collins (09:53):
So we have a waiting list. Unfortunately, it's about a hundred people right now on the waiting list for folks with developmental disabilities. And we're expecting that to be chipped away at very nicely in the coming years, but we're doing as much as we can to grow as fast as possible. But we get calls from people. I mean, we get calls from people all over the country saying, how do you do affordable housing? How can I get involved? Right now, we're only supporting, we're only able to provide spots for people who live within 50 miles of Nashville. And that is because we rely on the family unit. As I said, we're not a service provider where we facilitate support. So we work with the families, we work with the siblings if they have one or the parents, if they still have their parents. We want to do that.
(10:45):
And so for that reason, we're helping this community in Nashville, and we do hope to grow right now apply on our website, https://www.ourplacenashville.org/ You can go on there. There's an application information form. We kind of do an interview, which is more like a Q&A, with people asking me a lot of questions about how this works. And me asking you some questions about what needs are and what supports are needed. And together we kind of decipher, okay, we think this would be a good move. We realize that we're not for everybody and we're not the magic wand that can just create independence for the whole world. But we do recognize that there are a lot of people who this specific idea of independent living within a safe community is what they need. And so we kind of decipher that together, the family and myself or my coworkers, and we jump on the waiting list and then we wait as fast as we can.
(11:43):
And while we wait, we have life skills classes that people can be a part of if they want to start looking at money management what to do if there's a tornado how to keep your apartment free from mold, or how to have a conversation when your neighbor is too loud. We want people to start thinking about independence before they get there. So we do classes throughout the semester, weekly that help people talk about independent living. We have a family group that does a lot of what you do here in this community, but within Nashville providing resources and ideas, and this is what I struggled with. Do you have any ideas for me? So our families support each other and we do. We have polls together and Christmas parties and whatever, because we want everybody if you live here in three years or a year, we want to move in and already know some people. We want this to be a seamless transition into the community. So that's the process. And I encourage, even if you're outside of that window and you're like, well, maybe we could move within 50 miles of Nashville in the next five years, I suggest just getting the information and making that decision because there is a lot of need and our waiting list is growing all the time.
Marsh Naidoo (13:00):
So you are situated in Nashville, but the other properties that you mentioned, are within a certain radius of Nashville itself? How does that work, Jordan?
Jordan Collins (13:13):
Yeah, so our initial houses were right close to downtown. We were about three minutes from downtown, and Nashville offers a lot of opportunities in terms of jobs, services, and transportation. So we rely on those partnerships inside of Nashville. So everything we build is going to be within the Nashville area. Having said that, Nashville's not that small. So I guess the fourth house that we built is about 20 minutes from downtown towards the south. We'll be building a house that's about 10 or 15 minutes to the north of downtown, and then we'll be building one in Bellevue, which is west. So we are going wherever we can in terms of where we can find property, where our housing partners can manage to put affordable housing, but we are trying to keep within that Nashville Davidson County area, and we realize that as we grow, we would love this to happen all over America. And so we consult with people, we help other nonprofits and try to say, you can do this in your city too. If you're using your local resources, your universities, and your communities that already exist, how can you bring all of those people together in partnership to create this opportunity? So we hope that one day they will be our place, Nashville of every city and every town and every state in the United States. We do believe it's worth it.
Marsh Naidoo (14:39):
That is the whole dilemma right now is trying to find solutions for affordable housing that is accessible to persons with disabilities and how that works. I mean, we hear of group homes for example, or we hear of individuals perhaps living with family, but there is a part of our community that wants or craves that independence with the recognition that there perhaps needs to be some support around that independence. I listened to your guys' presentation at the mega disability conference. It just really spoke to me, and I just really appreciate what you guys are doing.
Jordan Collins (15:29):
Yeah, thank you so much. And you're right. I mean, there are things, if you are very wealthy, there are opportunities that maybe you can afford. If you're very poor, some state options aren't great, but they exist. But there's kind of this middle ground of the average person who's not. You're working as a grocery store bagger and receiving SSDI and you have a small amount of money where in Nashville or anywhere in Tennessee can you afford to live on your own? And a lot of our families, our parents are saying, I'm getting older. I want my son or daughter to have their own life beyond when I'm here, and I don't know how to do that because if you don't have family or people that can just take somebody in, what is the solution? And so we realized that yes, we're helping a very small sliver of people, but there are a lot of people in that small sliver in the community that need this.
(16:25):
And so we're doing our best to roll out as fast as possible. To give you an idea, our rents for a shared house are as low as $325 a month. And then once you add utilities and we have a residence fee, it's around $420 a month. Our new houses might be a hundred dollars a month more than that, but still around that $500 a month zone is affordable for a lot of people and much more affordable than the rest of Nashville. So yeah, we're doing our best. As I said, only half of the apartments are taken by people with developmental disabilities, and we have learned the other half, which we call housemates, could be a student. We have great student housemates who are young and energetic. We have older folk housemates who may have a physical disability or have had a medical problem and need affordable housing, and they're just as fun because they can hang out and they can play cards, and watch movies, they're social and want that interaction as well.
(17:28):
Then we find young professionals who are making tons of money in Nashville and need affordable housing, they can be part of this community. We have people with physical disabilities folks who have mobility issues that maybe they're in a wheelchair, but they're a really great companion to someone with a developmental disability. So we're able to serve so many more people than we ever imagined when we started. And so whether you are somebody who needs affordable housing because of a physical disability or developmental disability or because of your age or because you are divorced or whatever it is, if you need affordable housing, you can join this community that supports people. And so it's an exciting time for us, for sure.
Marsh Naidoo (18:12):
Jordan, we had a little bit of a chat before, and what you explained to me was that Our Place Nashville is about the community. You guys don't necessarily build the houses or you aren't necessarily the service providers. Can you speak more about that? Because I just think that kind of takes more stress off perhaps a parent who is trying to figure out how can I create a housing solution in our area now I'm going to have to try and raise funds. I mean, accrue land, get a mortgage, and all those steps. But the way you broke it down, I would love for you to explain that to the listeners.
Jordan Collins (19:03):
Absolutely. So yeah, we believe that it takes a village. It takes a circle of support to help any of us. I need a lot of people in my life who help me thrive as I'm sure you do. And so we have to rely on each other. And so the way that as an organization that pans out is we have our affordable housing partner. And so their job is to do affordable housing. They're doing this anyway, and they partner with us. And so when they build a bunch of houses, they'll say, all right, our place, you can have these. And we step in and we are the software we make. We find the people, we get them in touch, we get them to get their lease signing. We help the community once people move in, we may help get donations for furniture if they don't have it.
(19:49):
So we are the people side of things. We help when there are roommate disputes or when there's someone's bored and wants to hang out and doesn't have a community, who can we find to help them get a little bit more comfortable in that community? So we're doing all the people side of things in terms of the Living Now services. Now, let's say you need an employment specialist. We don't have employment specialists. So what can you do? Well through the ECF program, we help you get applied onto ECF, help you get connected to a service provider here in Nashville, and that person can come into the house and provide that support for you. We have people who get support cooking and cleaning. Someone comes in and helps them grocery shop for the week and plan their meals. That will be somebody from ECF. We have people who get employment support or anything else that ECF provides, transportation, financial support, all of that stuff.
(20:50):
They're part of that circle. If you're somebody who needs therapy, your therapist isn't on this, and we're able to communicate with them and say, okay, what does this person need? How are they doing? Are we meeting their needs as a community? And so that's why I say for a parent, I mean, I have kids and I know that you're always thinking of all the different things that they need, and you hope that one day you won't have to do that, but in some cases you will always have to do that. And so understanding that who are the people in this community in the circle of supports that can help my loved one become more independent? And sometimes hearing it, hearing the same thing from a life coach, they might do it and not do it when their parent tells 'em to do it because they want that independence.
(21:40):
They want a peer to help them along as opposed to their parents. So by letting them go a little bit at a time to the community and to the folks that are there to support them, they're able to kind of stand on their own two feet more and more. And so yeah, we don't do everything. We've never been a, we are not a catch-all, but we can say, this is what we do well, we can provide affordable homes in the community where you feel loved and supported and cared for. So what can we do? Okay, let's say your light bulb goes out and you need somebody to help you switch a light bulb. Who do you call if your parent lives an hour away or if somebody's out of town, right? Okay, you've got 20 neighbors who had a drop of a hat would come over and help you out, or you need to get to the grocery store and the bus, it's raining and you can't catch the bus. Okay, somebody in your neighborhood has a car they can take you. And so the idea is we're kind of going back to before we became some individualized and trying to create communities where people are caring for each other because they can and not because they're paid to, not because they're staff, not because they're a nurse, but because they just want to live in the community. And that's the kind of cold that we're all trying to catch at our place is kindness and caring for one another in human ordinary ways.
Marsh Naidoo (23:03):
So for this to perhaps make more sense to our listeners, I think I would love to unpack the phrase Ubuntu because that's something we are both familiar with. And if you don't mind leading with that Jordan, and also perhaps just telling us a little bit about your background. And I think that would just tie in a really beautiful piece where we can then head into our conclusion.
Jordan Collins (23:39):
Yeah, absolutely. So the idea of Ubuntu is a Zulu word, and you and I are both from KwaZulu Natal which means home of the Zulus. So although my Zulu is still minimal, it's getting worse the longer I spend in the US, but the word Ubuntu is hard to translate, but generally means or is accepted to mean I am because we are. And this idea that I succeed when we succeed and I hurt when we hurt and we need each other. It's this idea that I am most myself when I'm with others, and I am my best self when I'm in the community. And so that philosophy has always been a part of how I see the world and how I see other people. I initially wanted to study to be a pastor. My father is a pastor, my grandfather was a pastor, and I'm like, I want to do this.
(24:39):
And I'm realizing now that in so much of our world, what churches do and have done forever is create community. And that can be done and needs to be done in every space. It needs to be done in schools, it needs to be done in churches, it needs to be done in nonprofits. And so that has always been a part of how I see and understand the world in South Africa. I went and did some nonprofit work there and I have seen, and I've done nonprofit work in the States with refugees, through Catholic charities before moving back home to South Africa. I've done lots of things on different sides of the ocean. And that philosophy always feels, it always comes back to that at the center of it, is that if this organization is about profits or success or about things, it will fail. But when we are more concerned with people and seeing people for who they are, then we will succeed.
(25:40):
And I've also seen how the disability conversation is everywhere, and you'll be working with kids in South Africa and realizing that kids, the schools were not accessible, or you're working with older folks and you're seeing how somebody maybe had an undiagnosed developmental disability and they're in their sixties, their seventies, and now they're seeing for the first time this whole picture that they maybe didn't see throughout their lives. So yeah, I think that what I'm doing now feels like a coming together of a lot of different seasons of my life, having lived in a friendship house, having experienced this on kind of an individual level. Now I live in my own home with my family, but I still get to be part of this Ubuntu of this Our Place Nashville family and help bring others into this community who need the service, but also need that feel and that people. So I do my best to share the spirit of Ubuntu with as many people as I can. So I'm glad you asked, and I'm glad that you assumed I knew what that was because it could have been pretty awkward if I didn't.
Marsh Naidoo (26:49):
So going back to South Africa, I just think that you know what, that was such an essential part that it cut across any demographic that they might have been. It was a real unifying factor in so many ways. And it's amazing to see how people raised in that traditional setting have taken that to other parts of the world. So yes,
Jordan Collins (27:20):
Absolutely. But I hope that we can all carry it with us share it and live it out a little bit. It's not easy. The other side of being with a community and being with people is that it can be really frustrating and really difficult and people can annoy you and people can get on your nerves. It's like family. I mean, when people, I'll get calls from a resident, they'll be like, ah, my neighbor did this, blah, blah, blah. And it's so funny. I'm like, that's the same complaint I would've had about my siblings growing up. It's the same. It's we're experiencing the highs and the lows of family life. And so with that community and with that caring sometimes there are some down moments, but the joy is that everybody is still there. We're still there for each other. We pick each other back up, we grow together and we struggle together. And that's what makes it special.
Marsh Naidoo (28:16):
Jordan, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today and sharing about the work that you guys are doing at Our Place Nashville and listeners, if you would like to learn more, Jordan, what would be the best way for them to contact you all and to learn more about the organization?
Jordan Collins (28:38):
So our website is up to date and is https://www.ourplacenashville.org/. And I would love for you to check it out. We have some videos on there. We have tours of the houses so that you can see what they look like. We have a lot of good content and frequently asked questions, and then if you go under, there are a couple of different pages if you want to apply as a resident friend, you can apply for the waiting list. If you're somebody who's just like, this is a cool vision and I'm a student, or I'm somebody who doesn't make very much money and I want to live there, you can do that too. So there's a page called Housemates that you can look at. If you're a student, there's a student page. We welcome anybody excited or interested in this to jump on board. My email and contact information are on there. And you're welcome to share it as well, marsh. And we love what we do and we're excited to grow our community with all of your listeners as well.
Marsh Naidoo (29:36):
Jordan, you have an awesome rest of your day. Okay.
Jordan Collins (29:40):
Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Marsh Naidoo (29:44):
You are welcome. Thank you so much for listening along on the podcast today. We would appreciate a rate and review of this podcast on your podcast platform as well as a share. If you would like to get in touch with us, you can reach out at Raisingkellan@gmail.com. Please consider helping us get to our goal of a thousand subscribers on YouTube as well as Spotify. This will help us tremendously as a nonprofit. So please guys, hit that subscribe button on YouTube as well as subscribe to our podcast on Spotify until we talk to you all the next time. As always, remember, get to the top of your mountain. This is Marsh Naidoo signing off.
