WELCOME FROM HAYWOOD STREET:
UPDATES:
We’re thrilled to announce that Theirs Is the Kingdom, the film documenting the making of the Haywood Street Fresco has been awarded Best Documentary Feature at the 2021 Knoxville Film Festival! Congratulations to filmmaker Chris Zaluski and everyone involved!
Outdoor Bible Study with Pastor Jody is shifting to Sundays from 11:15-12:30. All are warmly welcomed to attend.
Registration is open for our first “At Home With Miss Mary’s Meatloaf” fundraiser!!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
2. Worship: Wednesdays at 12:30 beneath the big white tent & streaming on our Facebook page.
3. Asheville Street Dog Vet Clinic: September 26, 9:00-noon
4. We are now accepting clothing closet donations 10-12 on BOTH Tuesdays and Thursdays. Biggest needs at the moment are men’s pants, men’s underwear, jackets, sweaters, boots, blankets, and sleeping bags.
5. Robert is seeking donations of Pansies (3 flats). Reach out if you would like to help! (robert@haywoodstreet.org)
COMPANION CORNER:
Sign up to provide a meal for Respite here
Most Urgent Needs:
- Sunday Clothing Closet Companions 8:00am- 11:00am & donations to the clothing closet
- Food attendant Sunday 10:00-12:00, and Wednesday 12:00-2:00. We are in need of one or two companions to help distribute extra meals after the welcome table.
Other Companion Needs:
- Sunday- Clothing Closet Prep and Shopping Attendants 8:00am-11:00am
- Wednesday – Servers, Shopping Attendants, Dish room support
- Sunday-Thursday – Garden/Campus clean up
- Clothing Needs: underwear, jeans, light sweaters, shoes
- Respite Needs: Overnight Companions to provide support to overnight staff. Please contact me if you are interested.
Please remember we are asking folks to wear masks both inside and out while being with the community as a companion. We have masks available if needed.
Additionally, we’re asking all companions to wear name tags while serving. Thanks!
A HAYWOOD STREET HOUSING UPDATE FROM: REV. COMBS
Embroiled in an impossible ethical dilemma, a choice between constructing urgently needed affordable housing or deferring to the community of color displaced and downcast by racist housing policies, Haywood St. Community Development ultimately decided to yield our vision for housing on Ashland Avenue. Filled with grief for the people in poverty, many black and brown-bodied, still waiting for keys to a front door, we ceded to the unknown and started considering other options.
And then something remarkable happened. A site we pursued years prior- one much closer to the sanctuary, one with western facing mountain views, one without adjacent residential neighbors, one without the oppressive history of urban renewal, one within a neighborhood long known for championing affordable housing- became available again. Heartened by the opportunity, we agreed on terms with the seller and recently went under contract at 339 West Haywood Street.
Since Haywood St. Congregation has long welcomed the unhoused community without reservation, many contending with severe mental illness, generational scarcity, institutional isolation, and substance use disorder, one might assume the same intention with Haywood St. Community Development (HSCD) housing. And that would be true if we were attempting to build on campus. However, in this instance, our proposal is not the desperately needed Homeward Bound project at the Days Inn (permanent supportive housing), nor the long-overdue crisis shelter at the Ramada Inn (low barrier), nor abiding AHOPE (homeless day center).
Instead, while still very early in the design process, we are proposing a multi-family development of 45 one, two and, three-bedroom apartments on a podium-style building with an expansive community space. Residents, including adults and single mothers with children, would fall into one of three income brackets as defined by Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The highest earners would make up to $42,000 annually (80% Area Median Income). Think medical laboratory technician, fast food restaurant manager, or delivery driver. Middle-income earners would make up to $30,000 annually (60% AMI). Think hotel clerk, home health aid, childcare worker. And half of the apartments would be reserved for extremely low-income residents with individual housing choice vouchers making up to $15,000 annually (30% AMI). If working, think day laborer, part-time bartender, entry-level manufacturing. If not, citizens on disability.
Wanting to over-communicate our plans beginning today, HSCD, the non-profit pursuing affordable housing, will start a transparency ticker to outline our process, disseminate details, and keep you informed about upcoming dates. For those wanting to learn more, we will be holding a virtual public meeting on September 26 at 3. Please email us at hscd@haywoodstreet.org for the Zoom link.
As always, like in ministry and mission, our intention with housing will be collaborative. To invite disparate groups to the table of conversation and fellowship, trusting that the process of neighborhood engagement among those with permanent addresses and those without will be refining. That in listening carefully to one another, we can co-create community through deeply affordable housing in a dramatically new way together. Please join us.
