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“DONDE OCURREN LOS HECHOS QUE IMPORTAN, SIEMPRE PRIMERO... ANTES”
Negocios, cultura y comunidad: Nashville celebra Mes de la Herencia Hispana
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La Cámara de Comercio Hispana del Área de N a s h v i l l e (NAHCC), en colaboración con la F u n d a c i ó n NAHCC, desarrolla durante un mes su celebración de la Herencia Hispana 2026, con una Por Yuri Cunza amplia agenda de Editor In Chief actividades empre- @LaNoticiaNews sariales, educativas, cívicas, artísticas y culturales en distintos puntos de la ciudad. La programación comenzó oficialmente el martes 15 de septiembre y se extenderá hasta el 15 de octubre. Desde 2005, la NAHCC encabeza una de las celebraciones del Mes de la Herencia Hispana más antiguas, amplias e inclusivas de Tennessee, posible gracias al respaldo de sus miembros, patrocinadores corporativos y aliados comunitarios. El Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana reconoce la historia, cultura, logros y aportes de los estadounidenses con raíces en España, México, el Caribe, Centroamérica y Sudamérica. La conmemoración comenzó en 1968 como una semana nacional y fue ampliada en 1988 al período actual de 31 días, que conecta las fechas de independencia de varios países latinoamericanos y otras conmemoraciones de gran significado. El alcalde de Nashville, Freddie O’Connell, proclamó el período del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre como Mes de la Herencia Hispana en la ciudad. El documento reconoce las contribuciones empresariales, profesionales, cívicas, artísticas y culturales de la comunidad hispana y destaca los esfuerzos encabezados por la NAHCC y la Fundación NAHCC.
A Few Questions
Vendor Writing
Moving Pictures
Alaina Boyer is the senior director of programs at the National Health Care for the Homeless Council.
In this issue vendors write about Dolly, the weather and the hustle of Contributor newspaper vendors.
The Whisper Man sneaks up on Netflix viewers. Find a friend with a Netflix account and stream it this weekend!
Música Blair de Vanderbilt University. Originaria de Veracruz, Lucía combina las tradiciones musicales de México y América Latina con el jazz contemporáneo. Antes del concierto, la NAHCC la reconocerá con el premio “Ganas in Music”, por sus logros artísticos, determinación y orgullo cultural. La celebración previa al concierto incluye una presentación del Ballet Folklórico Mexicano de Vanderbilt, música y baile latino, instrumentos de percusión, comida y actividades culturales. El calendario continuará con seminarios sobre derechos y responsabilidades de los empleadores; la participación de la NAHCC en el Festival de Cine de Nashville; paneles de mujeres empresarias; actividades de arte, narración y tradiciones con estudiantes; conversaciones comunitarias; eventos de networking; y FuturoListo, una nueva iniciativa de capacitación en habilidades digitales desarrollada con el Nashville Business Incubation Center. Durante el mes también se destacarán el crecimiento de la población hispana, su poder adquisitivo, el emprendimiento y su impacto económico. Según la Oficina del Censo de Estados Unidos, la población hispana del país alcanzó 70.1 millones de personas en 2025, equivalente aproximadamente al 21 por ciento de la población nacional. La programación culminará el jueves 15 de octubre con la 22.ª edición de los Premios a la Excelencia Empresarial y Comunitaria de la NAHCC, que reconocerá a empresarios, profesionales, líderes cívicos, artistas y organizaciones cuyas contribuciones fortalecen a Nashville y Middle Tennessee.
La Noticia + The Contributor
El Aeropuerto Internacional de Nashville también marcó el comienzo
de la celebración mediante una publicación en sus redes sociales. BNA invitó al público a consultar el calendario de la NAHCC y anunció actividades culturales en la terminal, entre ellas presentaciones musicales de artistas locales. Además, informó que Volaris iniciará el 15 de octubre sus vuelos directos entre Nashville y Guadalajara, México. La delegación de la NAHCC regresó esta semana de la 47.ª Conferencia Nacional de la Cámara de Comercio Hispana de Estados Unidos, celebrada en Fort Worth, Texas. El encuentro reunió a empresarios, ejecutivos corporativos, funcionarios públicos y líderes de cámaras hispanas de todo el
país para intercambiar ideas, crear conexiones y promover oportunidades económicas. De regreso en Nashville, la agenda continúa con The Future Way Forward Conference, en el Museo Nacional de la Música Afroamericana. El presidente y director ejecutivo de la NAHCC, Yuri Cunza, participa en la conversación “Leadership and Culture: Building a City Worth Belonging To”, enfocada en liderazgo, cultura y pertenencia.
La música tendrá un lugar destacado con el debut en Nashville de Lucía, reconocida vocalista mexicana de jazz, en Ingram Hall de la Escuela de
El calendario completo, junto con enlaces de inscripción y actualizaciones, está disponible en NashvilleHispanicChamber.com. Envíenos sus sugerencias por correo electrónico: news@hispanicpaper.com|615-582-3757
La Noticia, one of the leading Spanish language newspapers in the nation, brings Spanish content to The Contributor.
Dibujo y concepto: Oriana Sánchez Pérez
6
Año 24 - No. 443
COVER IMAGE: Working as an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), Lewis Hine documented working and living conditions of children in the United States between 1908 and 1924. The full collection consists of more than 5,100 photographic prints and 355 glass negatives, given to the Library of Congress, along with the NCLC records, in 1954 by Mrs. Gertrude Folks Zimand, acting for the NCLC in her capacity as chief executive. Our cover photo is courtesy of this collection.
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Contributors This Issue Bradley B. • Cathie B. • Maurice B. • Vicky B. • Linda Bailey • Bill Carey • Mccollonough Ceili • Yuri Cunza • Jack Donaghy • Chris Scott F. • Amanda Haggard • Lewis Wickes Hine • Lindsey Longoria • Mr. Mysterio • Joe Nolan • Shorty R. • Eleanor S. • Stella S. • Dennis T. • Taz • Judith Tackett • Lora V. • Shannon Y. Contributor Volunteers
Ann Bourland, Andrew Kuluk, Andy Shapiro, Deborah Narrigan, Jamie Dore, Logan Ebel, Marissa Young, Michael Reilly, Susan Richter Amanda Haggard & Linda Bailey Co-Editors Brandon Battle Housing Stability Guide Laura Birdsall Copy Editor Sarah Champion Housing Stability Guide Ree Cheers Director of Program Operations Will Connelly Executive Director Cathy Jennings Director of Finance Andrew Krinks Editor Emeritus Caroline Lindner Director of Vending Lindsey Longoria Community Engagement & Gratitude Officer Zero Mannino Housing Stability Guide Andrew Terry IV Program Operations Team Lead Carli Tharp Housing Stability Guide Will Connelly, Tasha F. Lemley, Steven Samra, and Tom Wills Contributor Co-Founders
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Editorials and features in The Contributor are the perspectives of the authors. Submissions of news, opinion, fiction, art and poetry are welcomed. The Contributor reserves the right to edit any submissions. The Contributor cannot and will not endorse any political candidate. Submissions may be emailed to: editorial@thecontributor.org Requests to volunteer, donate, or purchase subscriptions can be emailed to: info@ thecontributor.org Please email advertising requests to: advertising@thecontributor.org
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September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 2
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INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF STREET NEWSPAPERS
JACK DONAGHY PHOTOGRAPHY
Contributor Earns Two International Editorial Awards STAFF REPORTS
The Contributor recently earned two editorial awards at the International Network of Street Newspapers’ annual conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Each year, INSP awards the best editorial entries from more than 100 street newspapers from all over the world. This year’s were judged by Angus Dixon, Head of Department of Creative Industries at Glasgow Caledonian University, who hosted the Summit; Colin Leslie, Head of External Relations at Scottish Veterans Residences; Jem Collins, Founder and Director at Journo Resources; and Dr Owen Clayton, Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Lincoln. “The awards just show how great street papers are all over the world — the standard and variety of the work has been exceptional. From artful humorous collage to hard-hitting social commentary and moving first person testimony, it’s all there. It’s just a shame we can’t reward everyone,” said Dixon in an INSP story. The Contributor won in the Best Vendor Article or Contribution category as well as the Best Article/Journalism. Vendor Lisa Abell
won for her The Paperdoll Rebellion – A Hidden Story zine she made with The Contributor’s Unzine Project. Best Vendor Contribution judges looked for authentic vendor voice, lived experience, personal perspective, dignity, agency and empowerment. In addition to her work on the Unzine Project, Abell regularly writes for the paper under the name FreePressGMA and works on the organization’s Unseen Nashville Tours as a tour guide and lived-experience expert. She also leads a vendor poetry class and is a part of the vendor leadership committee. “I was thrilled to find out that I won an international award,” Abell said. “It was a little bit unbelievable at first, but then when I saw a picture, I was moved that a Glasgow artist had made a custom stained glass piece to honor my work. To be honored is just unbelievable — I really appreciate all my customers and everyone in the contributor community for providing these opportunities for me and for everybody.” Abell’s winning piece came from the anger she felt when she saw a cover of Newsweek from 1990 that looked like propaganda, the whole white family with a boy and a girl, the children
shall lead them sort of thing. Contributor staff member Melissa Willis helps vendors execute their artistic vision, and Abell credits her for helping her work shine. “If it weren’t for Melissa Willis, I don’t think that the writing would have shown as brightly as it does, because her images really met the bar when it comes to expressing everything I wanted to express in the story, including humor and irony and all the rest of it,” said Abell. Abell sells her zines and the newspaper on the weekends at the corner of Riverside and McGavock in East Nashville. “I will have copies of Paper Doll Rebellion at all times from now on,” Abell said. “This has been so cool to see the zine get some much face time and now it’s a possibility that it will get more. Nashville should be proud that they won an international award.” The Contributor won for Best Article for a cover story and 40-year history of Old Tent City written by Lindsey Krinks along with several accompanying short pieces by people who experienced living or working on the grounds. The package also included images from Contributor co-founder Tasha A.F. Lemley.
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 3
The judges focused on storytelling, research and journalistic integrity, narrative depth, structure, language and tone in their decision making for the Best Article winner. “Being an INSP award judge was an honour and hugely humbling. There is so much talent in the global street paper community! I loved viewing all the different submissions. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was picking a winner, because it feels unfair to all the other amazing entrants!” said Clayton from University of Lincoln. Contributor Executive Director Will Connelly said that having The Contributor recognized by INSP and other peers from more than 18 countries has been a humbling experience. “These awards belong to the writers, vendors, and editors who make The Contributor what it is today and what it has been for almost 20 years,” Connelly said. “We are indebted especially to the people who trust us with their stories and create something honest, courageous and beautiful issue after issue. We are proud to bring these awards home to Nashville and grateful to be part of a global street paper community that believes journalism can create both connection and opportunity.”
EVENTS
CONTRIBUTOR COMMUNITY CALENDAR
As The Contributor works with partners across the city, the team often finds events and opportunities to build community among vendors, staff and friends of the organization. In each issue, we plan to publish a few events, internal celebrations and community information to help keep our readers connected. BY LINDSEY LONGORIA Rise Up Resource Fair: Sept. 24 from noon to 3 p.m. at Proclamation Church (5000 Linbar Drive, Nashville, TN 37211) The Contributor will be joining this event along with other non-profits and community organizations that serve our unhoused neighbors. If you or someone you know is looking for resources including: access to income, showers/laundry, transportation, wellness care, and more, we encourage you to attend this free event. Nashville Cares Community Expo: Sept. 26 at 7:30 a.m. at Neuhoff District (1316 Adams St., Nashville, TN 37208) Nashville Cares is hosting The 34th Nashville AIDS Walk & 5K and The Contributor is excited
to be part of the event’s Community Expo. At this free event, various non-profits and community organizations that serve under-resourced communities will be present to tell you about what we do and how you can get involved. World Peace Awakening 2026: Sept. 26 from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. at the Afrokokoroot Foundation Haven (8369 Cub Creek Road, Nashville, TN 37209) Our friends at The Nashville Homeless Choir, led by our vendor and friend, Daniel Holmes, will be participating in this year’s World Peace Awakening event hosted by the Afrokokoroot Foundation. There will be plenty of food, creative expression, live performances and more. Entry and parking is free.
Volunteer Opportunities at The Contributor Are you interested in serving our unhoused community? The Contributor is always looking for volunteers. Whether you have the capacity to serve in the vendor office overseeing newspaper sales, you are passionate about making breakfast for our community members every other Wednesday when we release a new issue, or you love driving and would enjoy helping move people into their new homes, there is a place for you here. If you want to discuss volunteering with us, please email our Director of Vending, Caroline Lindner, at caroline@ thecontributor.org. And if donating physical items is more your speed, you can check out our Amazon wishlist using the link on our social media pages or at https://a.co/08jwrhBd.
Join The Contributor Breakfast Club! BY LINDSEY LONGORIA Like the teens in the 1985, John Hughes classic, The Breakfast Club, our vendors and our friends experiencing homelessness are no strangers to being called names or identified as a shell of who they truly are. As Brian wrote to Mr. Vernon at the end of the film, “You see us as you want to see us: in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions.” We are all too aware of this stigma, and it fuels us here at The Contributor to recognize our community members who their personhood in its entirety — messy parts and all. This is one of the reasons we offer a community breakfast every other Wednesday when a new issue of the paper is released. At this breakfast, our vendors and community members come together to fill their bellies for the work ahead, and fill their hearts with the sense of camaraderie that comes from being seen and known for who you are, not just what you are going through. At these breakfasts,
The Contributor team cooks and serves over a hundred warm meals, as well as offering fresh produce and of course lots of coffee. In addition to the meal, this recurring event gives us the opportunity to review the new issue of the paper together, share insights and happenings around town, pay vendors for their writing and art contributions to the paper, and gather for creative workshops and new vendor training. It is one of our busiest days of the week, but also one of the most rewarding. But it is no small feat! This event costs us about $300 per meal, a number which has steadily grown with the rising cost of groceries that we have all experienced. But when it comes down to it, it is a non-negotiable part of our programming, as it allows us to connect with our people and offer support to our hard-working vendors. It allows us to take the time to really see one another and connect in ways that our busy world doesn’t
often allow us to do. At breakfast, we slow down. We greet each other warmly. We get enough food to truly fill our bellies. We laugh wholeheartedly. We celebrate and grieve together, and along the way, we learn that the words others use to describe us, the simplest definitions which limit our unhoused friends to just the worst thing that has ever happened to them, is not even close to the most important thing about us. It is with this space in mind, that we invite you to join The Contributor Breakfast Club by donating toward our bi-weekly breakfast. Our goal is to raise $10,000 by Oct. 8 to fully fund the next year’s worth of breakfasts (and give us room to grow!). To break this down even further, each serving of breakfast costs $3, so you can fund a year’s worth of one person’s breakfast for just $80. You can also fund an entire breakfast service for $300, or a month’s worth of breakfasts for $600.
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 4
You are also welcome to come attend our breakfast. It is open to anyone and takes place in the fellowship hall at Downtown Presbyterian Church (154 Rep. John Lewis Way N.) across from Rise Biscuits. Breakfast starts at 8:30 a.m. every other Wednesday. The next one is Oct. 7. We are so grateful to every one who chooses to be a part of our community, from vendors, to volunteers, to readers like you! And in the iconic words of Scottish rock band Simple Minds, we ask, “don’t you, forget about [us]” as you choose where to donate this month. You can donate today using the QR code below, by sending a check to The Contributor at P.O. Box 332023, Nashville, TN 37203, or by visiting our website at www.thecontributor. org. Make sure to select “Breakfast Club 2026” as the donation cause. Sincerely yours, The Contributor Breakfast Club
PIECES OF POETRY 86
Million Dollar Song
Money Tree
Written by Chris Scott Fieselman, Vendor #0015
Written by Chris Scott Fieselman, Vendor #0015
You Know? It’s been a while, Since graduation smile, in high school. Back then I knew it all, As long as I knew how to be cool? Well, it didn’t really help me, all that much, My job and my career, Never paid me enough. And I should have made, My First Million Bucks by now …
What do you think? Money grows on trees?
You know I, should have made, My First Million Bucks by now? I just can’t understand, How it, hasn’t happened somehow? Well, you’d think, with everything that - I can do, Somebody else would have seen it too. And I should have made, My First Million Bucks by now … Well, I did the wife and the kids thing, For so many years. Had my share of the good and the bad, The laughter, the tears. But dreams get put aside for reality, Then you see yourself someday, And say, “What happened to me?” And I should have made, My First Million Bucks by now … Now, it’s funny how things go fast? From bad to worse. And you find yourself, Where you would have been? If you’d have done it the right way first? Now, 50s staring down real hard on me, And I ain’t even close, to where? I want to be? And I should have made, My First Million Bucks by now. Oh, there’s a millionaire out there? In Everyone. All you’ve got to do is find a way? To go ahead and “Git-R-Done.” Be careful what you wish for? Dreams can and do come true. Tomorrow can be so much more? But that’s totally up to you? “So, Sing it Again …” You know I, should have made, My First Million Bucks by now? I just can’t understand, How it, hasn’t happened somehow? Well, you’d think, with everything that - I can do? Somebody else would have seen it too. And I should have made, My First Million Bucks by now? Oh Yea…? You know I, should have made, My First Million Bucks by now?
A couple Magic Beans are all you need. A Money Tree’s a dream, That starts as a seed. I’m getting by, learning how to do without? It seems like, My tree’s been going through a drought. And I’m waiting for? My Money Tree to Bloom. Been telling myself, That it’s going to happen soon. Been watering the thing for years and years, With nothing but, Love, Blood, Sweat and Tears. And I’m waiting for? My Money Tree to Bloom. Now, my everyday expenses, Destroy my crop. But I know there’s good fruit, Way up on top. But with so many people picking off my tree? There’s never a lot of fruit, left for me? Well, I think I figured out? What the problem is? I’m probably not, tossing, enough Bull-____? I’m pretty sure, That, that cow manure, Has a lot to do with it? And I’m, waiting for? My Money Tree to Bloom. Been telling myself, That it’s going to happen soon. Been watering the thing for years and years, With nothing but, Love, Blood, Sweat and Tears. And I’m, waiting for? My Money Tree to Bloom. Now, there’s a lot of other fruits, for you to eat. That are probably better for you, And just as sweet. The fruit of knowledge, The fruit of success, The fruits of your labors and happiness … And I’m, waiting for? My Money Tree to Bloom. Been telling myself, That it’s going to happen soon. Been watering the thing for years and years, With nothing but, Love, Blood, Sweat and Tears. And I’m, waiting for? My Money Tree to Bloom.
THEME: THE 2010S ACROSS 61. Not in favor 1. Convention freebie 62. Public promotions 5. *Tucker of TV’s 63. Even, to a poet “Modern Family” 64. CISC alternative 8. To the ____ degree 11. *Space Shuttle Program org. DOWN 12. Deal with it 1. *Pete Davidson’s TV 13. Extra tire show 15. Stead 2. Ragamuffin 16. Real estate land 3. On a deck, perhaps unit 4. Cowboy, in South 17. Enter user name America and password (2 words) 5. Popular warming 18. *Instagram’s parent drink company 6. Chef’s garb 20. “Fine by me” 7. Opposite of domineering and bold 21. Strong virile man 22. Caviar alternative 8. Hindu serpent deity 9. Legendary King 23. *Bruno Mars’ hat Priam’s city 26. Highest-reaching 10. Chicken coop 30. Before of yore 31. Quill-dipping vessel dweller 34. Popular aquarium 12. Taxi driver 13. Ship with a single show star 35. Schoolmarm’s whip mast 37. Neither here ____ 14. *____ GO game 19. Spooky there 38. Opposite of cation 22. Decay 23. Greek cheese, pl. 39. Hurry up, acr. 24. Remove from 40. Blood infection 42. Not com or edu 43. Arranged in order 45. Inside info 47. Aye’s opposite 48. B2C business 50. Hyperbolic tangent 52. *Katy Perry’s 2010 hit 55. Battle royal 56. One R in R&R 57. Nightcrawler 59. *Hipsters’ facial trend 60. Prima donnas’ problems
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 5
existence 25. _____’s, blended Scotch whisky 26. High rocky hills 27. Celestial hunter 28. Open disrespect 29. Sour-tasting 32. Capped joint 33. *Funko ____! 36. *Toy for the fidgety 38. Off kilter 40. Dirty dwelling 41. Specks in the sea 44. Oohed and ____ 46. Atmospheric pressure line, on weather map 48. Military blockade 49. Fire-raising 50. ____ off on a golf course. past tense 51. Exclamation of sorrow 52. *____ solo, Alex Honnold’s feat 53. Raja’s daughter 54. Baby fox and baby beaver 55. Business school degree, acr. 58. Habitual twitching
A FEW QUESTIONS
Q&A with Alaina Boyer BY JUDITH TACKET T
Alaina Boyer is the senior Director of programs at the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, which is headquartered here in Nashville. Boyer holds a PhD in cancer biology and forged her own path making her way into research at the intersection of health and homelessness. “Although unconventional, I have managed to end up where I feel I am contributing my training [to] address public health crises that have a meaningful impact on human rights and dignity,” Boyer wrote on her LinkedIn profile. Boyer is a former member of the Homelessness Planning Council and currently serves on the board of Open Table Nashville. What is the NHCHC, and what does your job entail? The National Health Care for the Homeless Council is a national training and technical assistance organization that focuses on the intersection of homelessness and health. I started as the director of the research team and have been promoted to the senior director of programs. I’ve been in that role for about three years. I provide oversight to the teams at the Council, which include our community engagement and implementation team, as well as our clinical team; and I work alongside our policy team and medical respite team. In that role and oversight, I’m making sure that we’re responsive to the field and providing the best practices that we know to be shared among our partners so that we’re doing the best that we can for our folks on the ground. A lot of it is training the workforce, and that includes our federally qualified health center workforce. We are very broad in that training. It includes anything from board governance, the C-suite, to the clinical and non-clinical staff. We also provide curriculums and asynchronous trainings to the field and stay on top of policy and advocacy to make sure that we are advocating for what is equitable and fair when it comes to housing policies and homelessness and health. What made you make the switch from cancer research to homelessness? My PhD is in cancer biology, and I was studying breast cancer and looking at drug targets. When we moved to Nashville, I was lucky enough to get a job at the Meharry Vanderbilt Alliance under Dr. Consuelo Wilkins, who served as a mentor and introduced me to community engaged participatory research. I felt that was more in my field of interest and soul filling. I was working in disparate communities in North Nashville and trying to engage folks so that they were contributing to how research is done as opposed to a top-down academic focus. It should be the people leading that. When I was working closely with the North Nashville communities, I saw a lot of suffering. There were a lot of challenges that we saw people encountering. We saw a lot of homelessness from people losing homes, the cost-of-living increases, even
could be an area of showing some advancement in how we house our folks. I would also add that we spend a lot of time in the reactive space to homelessness because we’re seeing so many people entering. But what that means is that we should be investing in prevention and looking upstream and working across sectors. Homelessness is not just a housing provider issue. It’s not just a health issue. Rather, it’s a public investment. We need to build our civic muscle, and research shows that if we put the right frameworks in place, invite the right voices and stakeholders to the table, then we could really make some headway in solving homelessness. With an increase in complaints, local politicians are desperate to move people out of neighborhoods. Encampment sweeps keep being the norm and they appear to have increased across the nation under recent laws. What are we missing? This is hard because I don’t know if it’s what we’re missing. We know that homelessness is cyclical. And when you get in that cycle, once you have interactions with law enforcement or you’re in the justice system or you’re in the healthcare system or you might be suffering other family issues, food insecurity, living costs and wages, that cycle needs to be broken. I think that’s known. And I think we continue to think that something’s missing when what we need is the civic will to want to change. Also, when we look at the cost to keep people in this cycle, I think a lot of eyes would be open to understanding that there’s a lot of savings if we all focus on the framework to become part of solving this issue. It’s not just the homelessness providers that need to solve this.
the tornadoes that went through the area. As I was seeing that rise in homelessness, I figured that my expertise could lend to that field and support our fellow neighbors. You have been involved in national research on homelessness. Is there something that you studied in homelessness that surprised you or that you think people working in homelessness should pay more attention to? I always saw homelessness as a systems problem. And so, I was not surprised when I got into the field and started researching that the root causes are not an individual’s failure, but rather that there’s multiple systems at play. Homelessness is not only a housing problem, it’s a failure of multiple systems that include lack of living wages, cost of healthcare and education to name a few. We also need to recognize that the causes of homelessness for most individuals are related to being hurt on a job, or a multitude of factors including criminal misdemeanors that make it difficult for employment, historical injustices that we saw with redlining and home loans, and the criminal justice system. National policy and
national budgets also play a role in what creates individuals entering homelessness, these are moral documents. I think it’s important that if we want to solve homelessness, we need to look at the larger systems to actually make change. Are there any new trends that research shows that we need to be more aware of? We’re seeing a lot of harmful and cruel policies and legislation that are coming to the forefront because of individual perspectives and not looking at the science and the evidence. We do know that harm reduction works. We know that Housing First works. When we’re facing policies that promote treatment first or blame an individual’s failure, that is counterproductive to what we know is working. One thing I would say is that we do a lot of building of housing, but there’s new research and new policies around adaptive reuse of structures that are already existing. In Detroit, where I’m from, I see this a lot, where abandoned buildings that were either schools or previous hospitals are remodeled into apartments. If we think about how to reuse those spaces that are already zoned, it
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Which peer city is doing well in addressing homelessness, and what can we learn from them? Serving as a national organization, we do have the opportunity to look nationally where we see successes and where we see gaps. I would say that first of all, addressing homelessness is hard everywhere. I don’t know if there’s a city that does everything right, but there are cities that do certain parts very, very well. From the healthcare perspective, Medicaid expansion states absolutely are farther along in caring for our homeless folks. When you reduce the barriers and provide health care to a lot of folks, they start to do better because it allows them to be able to be stabilized and have all the vital conditions met. To elaborate on the vital conditions, these are the basic needs for health and safety, lifelong learning, meaningful work and wealth, humane housing, thriving in the natural world, and reliable transportation. We rely on these frameworks a lot. When we look at this balance between urgent services, which relates to being in the moment and trying to address the current issue, the vital conditions allow you to do that upstream prevention work.
A FEW QUESTIONS
So cities that know how to meld those two things well with urgent services and supporting vital conditions is where we see success. If you had a conversation with local funders, what gap in homeless services would you ask them to address immediately? Coming from the health care world, I would say there’s been so much investment in health care, a lot of investment into the systems for EHRs (Electronic Health Records). And when I look at the HUD housing providers, I know that there’s been a lot of work in the HMIS (Homeless Management Information System). But I think we need to make an investment in being able to up those systems and support the internal capacity at homelessness provider organizations. A lot of the money homeless organizations receive goes to the direct services they provide. But we need to support these organizations to be able to maintain data systems and focus on integration between healthcare systems, EHRs, HMIS, and justice systems as well. And then, we need to have a focused group that has individuals from multiple sectors at the table. We need to be transparent, we need to be open about those
“Homelessness is not only a housing problem, it’s a failure of multiple systems that include lack of living wages, cost of healthcare and education to name a few.” conversations, and we have to be willing to allow those experts to make the decisions, to make the recommendations, and invest in either adaptive reuse of existing structures or create low barrier solutions to homelessness. We need to be able to counteract harmful policies that criminalize just existence in general. Do you think we are listening enough to people with lived experience/expertise? No, I do not. There’s a stigma that we want to solve the problem from a top-down approach. We need the individuals who
Kid’s Corner Created by Mccollonough Ceili
are experiencing the day-to-day systems to share the multiple burdens and complexities that they have to encounter on a day-to-day basis. As the Council, one of our foundational pieces is making sure lived experience folks are driving our strategies, our agendas, and our priorities, because if we’re not listening to them, we’ll continue to think we have the solutions and continue to fail. Homelessness is not just looking at the data. It’s also understanding the narratives and the experience of the day-to-day person who is experiencing the challenges that our systems
have created. And I’ll add that these systems were created and working exactly the way that they were supposed to, which is to not allow for certain groups of people to be successful, at least in our current world as it exists right now. Is there anything else you would like to add? What’s important is making sure from an advocacy and policy standpoint that we’re leaning into advocacy with our lawmakers, our state representatives. We have to advocate with state and federal lawmakers to ensure programs like permanent supportive housing are not only adequately funded but funded without restrictions. We’ve seen restrictions proposed in lots of ways, mixed status rules (regarding housing eligibility of households including citizens and non-citizens), and work requirements. So if we coalesce around policy and solutions that we know work, such as adaptive reuse, investing in underutilized buildings, rezoning appropriately without gentrifying and gentrification, and working with public work offices, are going to be important to make that system change we want to see in Nashville.
WORDS TO FIT basement garage bath bedroom
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 7
house kitchen den
LEARN MORE ABOUT
CITY
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Overall 5-years
Percent change
Atlanta
2,017
2,679
2,867
2,894
3,060
Increase
51.70%
Austin
3,157
2,374
2,975
3,240
Charlotte
1,761
1,916
2,095
2,117
2,018
Increase
14.60%
Chattanooga
3,392
1,735
975
1,092
939
Decrease
-72.30%
Columbus
1,912
2,337
2,380
2,556
2,587
Increase
33.68%
Dallas
4,410
4,244
3,718
3,541
3,513
Decrease
-19.71%
Denver
6,884
10,054
14,281
10,774
9,950
Increase
44.54%
Durham
459
375
405
381
Houston
3,124
3,270
3,280
3,325
3,321
Increase
6.31%
Indianapolis
1,761
1,619
1,701
1,815
1,821
Increase
3.41%
Jacksonville
1,279
1,247
1,339
1,008
1,146
Decrease
-10.39%
Knoxville
1,178
921
899
1,174
Memphis
1,055
1,292
784
626
Miami
3,276
3,657
3,800
3,615
3,643
Increase
11.20%
Milwaukee
832
1,056
885
968
978
Increase
16.35%
Minneapolis/Hennepin County
2,678
3,312
3,866
3,078
Portland
5,228
6,297
7,384
10,526
Raleigh
1,534
916
922
1,127
1,050
Decrease
-26.53%
Nashville
1,916
2,129
2,094
2,179
2,298
Increase
19.94%
National
582,462
653,104
771,480
745,652
Learn More About Nashville’s Increase in Homelessness STORY AND GRAPHS BY JUDITH TACKET T
The tide in homelessness has been turning in 2025 at the national level, after a 40 percent increase in national Point-in-Time (PIT) homelessness counts between 2016 and 2024. Nashville, however, has not been able to turn their upward trajectory around just yet. On the contrary, Nashville’s PIT numbers have seen a 20-percent steady increase since 2022, which includes the latest 5.46-percent jump over the past year alone. The reason these numbers matter have shown themselves over and over again: we see an increase in criminalization of homelessness. We see government actions that leave 80 Metro-funded temporary beds unoccupied for a year (in a functioning system those beds should have moved 200 people off the streets in 2024-2025). We see in-fighting and distrust among system builders. We need to talk about how all of that is impacting people living and dying on our streets in Nashville. So, let’s dive one more time into data and how the Office of Homeless Services (OHS) presents that data
to draw a prettier picture that distracts from what we see on the ground. The Point-in-Time count is a one-night count conducted by each Continuum of Care* (CoC) at the end of January each year. It is a federal requirement by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and only measures the narrowest definition of homelessness. The PIT count includes people sleeping in shelters, temporary housing and places not meant for human habitation. HUD also requires that CoCs conduct an outdoor count every two years. Nashville — with exception of the 2021 count due to COVID — has done an outdoor count annually and added outdoor surveys prior to 2022. HUD uses this number to determine how many people are experiencing homelessness nationwide. The latest available national data shows that in January of 2025 745,652 individuals were included in the PIT count, which was down from the prior year when 771,480 people were counted nationwide.
While regularly watching PIT count results is part of what I do for this column, I am less focused on the validity of the actual numbers. Research has proven there are huge undercounts, but this data set can be useful when looking at overall trends and taken together with other data sources like the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), data reported by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and others such as McKinney Vento numbers from Local Education Agencies (LEAs). The PIT numbers can also be used to see how we fare in comparison with other cities. It can help a community like ours to evaluate the effectiveness of our system and our approaches. But without real data analysis, which Nashville has not done, it is impossible to pinpoint what keeps us from seeing the same success other cities have seen. And the main question remains: Why is Nashville seemingly unable to keep numbers steady even after millions of dollars
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in Metro investments, including hundreds of thousands spent on working with national consultants? In what seems like an attempt to put any positive slant possible on this year’s PIT numbers, a chart OHS released only shows Nashville in comparison with two cities, specifically Denver and Charlotte, in their press release. The chart paints Nashville as having done better than average. OHS said they chose Denver and Charlotte because they had “available PIT data covering” the same time period. “Denver and Charlotte were selected as two examples of growing communities with publicly available PIT data covering the same 2022–2025 period,” read an email from OHS. “The graphic was designed to provide a limited illustration of how Nashville’s trend compared with trends elsewhere while remaining clear and readable. It was not presented as a comprehensive or statistically matched peer-city analysis.”
LEARN MORE ABOUT The problem is that the press release was about the 2026 PIT Count (not the 2025 numbers) and 2026 numbers were actually available for both Denver and Charlotte. Both of those cities have significantly decreased their PIT numbers between 2025 and 2026 — Denver by 12 percent and Charlotte by 4 percent. Nashville’s PIT, however, increased by 5.46 percent during that same time period. Here is the chart OHS presented in its press release. Except for some small discrepancies, which I regularly find when double-checking OHS data, the numbers are close enough to being correct but hide the fact that we have seen a 20 percent increase in homelessness PIT numbers in Nashville since 2022. I also calculated the actual comparison to these two cities including the 2026 PIT numbers: And when I went one step further and picked my own “comparable communities” — Dallas and Raleigh, N.C., I found that their average PIT count decreased by 23.1 percent from 2022-2025 and by a whopping 30 percent between 2022 and 2026. Here is a chart I put together to offer a snapshot of different cities. I picked them randomly but marked in green the cities that Nashville has in the past used as comparison cities in different contexts. Not all of the 2026 PIT counts are available yet and some cities such as Austin did not conduct an outdoor count this year. This type of public relations spin is exactly what feeds the already existing distrust between the community providers who work in the homelessness field and those who follow homelessness for other reasons and OHS leadership, which is directly overseen by the Mayor’s Office. It is also the reason why overdue data analysis needs to be done by a non-Metro entity and someone who is not paid by Metro. Since the PIT Count numbers are not a true reflection of what homelessness in Nashville actually looks like, I wondered if the trend line was misleading as well. Other data sources confirm this: in examining recent HMIS database reports, OHS has presented in a similar format for the past three years and based on that, it seems that homelessness in Nashville has indeed increased year over year. An independent expert needs to evaluate this data from different sources on a regular basis, we will not truly understand the full extent of homelessness in Nashville. To be fair, data collection has significantly improved since 2022, after HMIS was moved from MDHA to Metro and more dollars were invested in that data platform. Frequently Asked Questions This year, OHS offered a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document about the PIT count and posted it online. The problem is that OHS recycles some of the standard explanations that cities have used for years to explain away the increase in homelessness despite millions of new investments. Furthermore, OHS does not actually answer all the questions they posted. For example, two questions were designated to ask why Nashville has seen an increase in the PIT Count despite increased public investments. For years, going back to when I first participated in the PIT Count in the early 2000’s, Nashville — as have other cities — have claimed an improvement in the methodology.
However, when the city implemented significant methodology changes immediately prior to COVID and implemented an outdoor count survey, the numbers went down — not up. Plus talking to local providers who have participated actively in the PIT count and the planning for it, the methodology has not significantly changed since 2022 to explain away a 20-percent increase in homelessness. Looking at the 10-year trend, the PIT count decreased by 19 percent between 2016 and 2022. Yet, since 2022: The Metro budget increased from $2.4 million in FY2022 to $11.6 million in FY2026 by more than 380 percent; The federal CoC funding has increased by about 50 percent since 2022, from about $7.8 million to $11.8 million; and Metro invested at least $50 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to homelessness since 2022. In comparison, between 2016 and 2022, Metro had a steady budget of about $2 million (sometimes slightly under), and the CoC funding increased from about $3.2 million to $7 million. In addition, the MDHA invested $10 million in COVID funds toward the CoC’s homelessness efforts between 2020 and 2023. What is the problem? Implementing and running a functioning system is not easy. But it is important to evaluate how effective Nashville is in addressing homelessness. If you are regularly reading my columns, you also know that I believe in a data-driven effort. When we use data to cover up inefficiencies and forget to think about the people we are supposed to serve, we are not able to move forward and see the successes and reductions in numbers other cities and states have observed despite ongoing federal cuts to safety nets and increases in rents.
The good news is, I believe with solid leadership we can turn the tide, even in the current affordable housing crisis — but it is a long game, and politicians should refrain from their usual quick-fix, band aid schemes to appease voters rather than solve the issues surrounding homelessness. I believe our city’s neighborhoods, businesses — and especially the people who, in the face of inequity and a lack of safety net systems, are dumped onto the streets -- deserve better. To do so, we need to rebuild a coordinated effort involving the community. • Partner with a local university as a neutral third party to evaluate homelessness data — not just from one source but from diverse sources including HMIS, PIT Count, School data, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), etc. — to gain a real understanding of a) what homelessness looks like in Nashville. • Evaluate through another independent partnership how dollars are actually spent. Another observation is that I find that the community is willing to collaborate with each
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 9
other and a trusted government partner, but presently too many agencies and departments are trying to find ways to work around OHS whenever possible. This is unsustainable and points to a real trust issue that cannot be easily fixed without a leadership change. Mayor Freddie O’Connell better start paying attention whether he is serious about building a Nashville for everyone rather than a Nashville where more and more people are falling into homelessness. * Continuum of Care (CoC) — A regional or local planning body that coordinates housing and services funding for individuals, families, and unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness. A CoC creates a collaborative community effort that provides a strategic systems approach that focuses on connecting people to housing and services to end their homelessness. Judith Tackett is a longtime homelessness expert and advocate for housing-focused, person-centered solutions. Opinions in this column are her own.
COVER STORY
The Children Selling Newspapers in Nashville 116 Years Ago
W
BY BILL CAREY
hen I see someone selling the Contributor, I think of Lewis Wickes Hine’s time in Nashville. Hine (1874-1940) is remembered for the photos he took of children working in factories and mines all over the country. For several years, he took pictures for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), which wanted children to attend school rather than work in factories. Hine took photographs of children working in clothing factories in North Carolina. He captured images of kids laboring in cotton mills in Pennsylvania. He took photos of kids working in coal mines in West Virginia. “If I could tell the story in words,” Hine said, “I wouldn’t need to lug around a camera.”
He also came to Nashville around 1910, which gets me back to the Contributor. Here, Hine took photos of socalled “newsies” — small boys who were selling newspapers on the streets and sidewalks downtown. These photos paint a picture of a side of Nashville few people acknowledge today. They can be found on the website of the Library of Congress, with the notes that Hine jotted down when he took them. One of the photos shows a boy selling a paper to a man while a policeman stands nearby. “A young truant newsie, during school hours,” Hine wrote. A second of the photos shows a group of boys in an alley, most of them with newspapers under their arms. “Group of Nashville newsies. In middle of group is
7-year-old Sam. Smart and profane. He sells nights also.” A third photo shows two boys carrying newspapers under their arms and leaning against a mailbox on a downtown street. “Two 7-year-old newsies, profane and smart, selling Sunday,” Hine wrote. A fourth photo shows two more boys — the bigger one carrying about 30 newspapers and a burlap sack. “Philip Weinstein, 8 year old, and an older boy who uses him a decoy. Philip sells until 10 & 11 pm sometimes. Photo taken at 11 a.m. Philip said he player [sic] hookey a week and they fired him. A good many young truants on the street those days.” To be honest, the photos of boys selling newspapers on the sidewalks of downtown Nashville didn’t shock anyone or result in any self-reflection at the
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 10
time. But the hundreds of photos Lewis Hine took of children working in factories made Americans confront the idea of child labor. Selling a newspaper as an adult with the choice to do so is employment, but children were often in positions of limited choice. When the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave women the right of universal suffrage, it was predicted that the next amendment would address child labor. However, the Child Labor Amendment was only ratified by 28 states — eight short of the number needed to pass. Nonetheless, the use of child labor in the United States was largely done away with by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. And the photos of Lewis Wickes Hine had everything to do with it.
COVER STORY
PHOTOS BY LEWIS WICKES HINE, COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 11
VENDOR WRITING
Faith
BY VICK Y B., FORMER CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR On Thursday, Sept. 8 my dog Faith was given a peaceful ending to months of pain and suffering. I was in and out of the hospital due to cancer issues and couldn’t keep an eye on when her pain would start. She was the best dog and Emotional Support Animal I’ve ever been given. My son Paul and I went to Metro Animal Care and Control 13 years ago and fell in love with this little, tiny puppy. We adopted her with the agreement that we’d bring her back when she reached a certain weight to have her fixed. Two weeks later Paul and I sat in the waiting room until she was ready to come home. They said they’d call us when they were done, but Paul
quickly said, “We’ll wait.” Faith became a member of our family that day. She had to! It took three adults to give her a bath in the kitchen sink! The trip to the local PetSmart was comical as well. Paul picked out a bed for her to sleep in and the only time she slept in it was in the shopping cart walking around PetSmart. Faith brought us so much joy. She was with us during the time we were homeless. She gave us hope that one day we’d be a housed family again. If it wasn’t for her snuggles, kisses and love it would have been a much different outcome. She was there when the housing call came in and I know my
excitement got her all riled up and her joy came out. Then a trip to the vet turned into a taste of things to come. A spot of cancer was found on her back. We knew we had to do everything for her. I had just found out that I also had cancer, but thought it was best to take care of Faith first so we did. Quadruple bypass surgery was needed quickly before I could start cancer treatments. Faith was with me through it all. She was my companion when I couldn’t even get out of bed and a friend who listened to all my fears and licked all my tears. She will be missed for many years.
Hustle Means Hard Work: The Spirit Of Nashville’s Contributor Vendors BY MAURICE B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR
The message behind Hustle Means Hard Work by the artist Twisted Black reflects the daily lives of many Contributor vendors throughout Nashville. For these vendors hustling does not mean deceiving people or looking for any easy way out. It means waking up with determination, purchasing newspapers, finding a safe place to sell them and continuing to work even when the day become difficult. A Contributor vendor does much more than stand on a street corner holding a newspaper. Vendors operate as independent workers who must manage their papers, money, time and relationships with customers. They work through Nashville‘s heat, cold, rain and humidity, while also dealing with rejection from people who may pass without speaking or even making an eye contact. Still, they return because hustle means
hard work. Many vendors have experienced homelessness, health problems, disabilities unemployment or other obstacles that make traditional employment difficult. Selling The Contributor gives them an opportunity to make honest income while rebuilding their lives. The money from one sale may help purchase food, transportation, medicine or more newspapers. Several sales may help pay a bill or contribute to rent. Behind every paper is a person with a story. The public may see a vendor standing outside a business, but they do not always see the strength required to remain there. They may not know how many people have said no or how long the vendor has been standing or what physical pain that individual may be experiencing. They may not understand the courage it takes to return after having a
slow or discouraging day. Contributor vendors demonstrate that hard work is not measured only by the size of a paycheck. It is also measured by consistency, responsibility, and the refusal to give up. Vendors learn how to communicate with people, build customer relationships, and become recognized members of the community where they work. A customer who regularly purchases a paper may eventually learn our name and story. A simple business transaction can grow into a respectful relationship. A greeting, conversation or encouraging word can remind a vendor that they are seen as a human being not merely as someone who is experienced homelessness. Contributor vendors are workers, writers, entrepreneurs, parents, veterans, people of faith, survivors and dreamers. Some are rebuilding. Their
work proves that a difficult beginning does not have to determine a person’s ending. Nashville should look beyond the newspaper and recognize the individual holding it. Supporting a vendor means more than purchasing a paper. It means reading their stories, listening to their experiences and treating them with dignity. One sale may not solve every hardship, but it can become another step towards stability and independence. For Contributor vendors, hustle means continuing when life becomes uncomfortable. It means transforming limited resources into opportunities and turning survival into progress. The vendor standing on the corner is not standing still in life. That person is moving forward one paper, one customer and one determined day at a time. That’s what hustle means.
My Mama’s Keeper B Y SH A NNON Y. , C ON T RIBU T OR V E NDOR One morning when I was three years old, my Mama packed our stuff in her little beatdown Kia and we drove all the way to Mema’s place. The bruises on Mama’s arm seemed to shine in the sun. At the time, I didn’t realize exactly why we were leaving before Dad was getting home from work that evening. Time doesn’t bode well for memories. A lot can become hazy or lost, but I remember many instances and feelings with my mother. I remember our first apartment. It was a little thing in the projects of Cannon County. Mama hadn’t been able to work for a long time. She didn’t drink or smoke or do drugs, but her head and heart were hurting her all the same. Mental illness gripped her as tightly as the way she gripped mine through childhood. I saw the struggle she carried, the heavy burden of fighting with her own mind. The walls were her release. When her temper flared,
we’d get a “renovation.” She became a professional at patching holes. We’d spend days in peace, tentative quiet and a nice calm until Mema came for a visit. she loved her family but was unable to voice it properly. The screaming and throwing was background noise. Tuning out the world and curling up in front of the TV was a normal experience for me. I knew as soon as Mema left for the day though, that it was time to steer clear of Mama for a while. The grumbling words, the grunted voices, if she looked at me, it was like staring in the eyes of a stranger with my Mama’s face. Threats both minor and concerning would fall from her lips, but even as a kid I understood that wasn’t my Mama. When the anger calmed, the tears came swiftly after. Apologies on her lips and self-loathing in her face. It was like when a
kid knew they did something wrong and felt truly remorseful. My mama was kind, always worrying about me, lecturing me softy on the importance of staying by her side during outings, of always watching for strangers, tucking me in when I was tired or sick. I promised myself at a young age, I’d take care of my Mama too. I remember one year around my tenth Christmas, I overheard my Mama on the phone with Mema, silent tears in her voice. She couldn’t afford gifts that year, and it tore her up. I remember going to the bathroom that night and seeing her in my room (I slept downstairs on the couch sometimes), digging in my closet for old toys I long since stopped playing with. She rewrapped them with tender care and a somber look. I opened them at Christmas with the biggest grin. “I’ve always wanted one of these!” I’d say, over and over. My
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 12
gift to her was assurance. I didn’t need toys or presents, I needed her and her love. Seeing the relief on her face was what made me happy. I was her child, but she was one too. She needed someone to look out for her as much as she looked out for me. It wasn’t my job, but I was happy to do it. As I got older, we had arguments — rarely physical — but at the end of the day she was always right there, when everything else came and gone, she was steadfast beside me. When she had a stroke, I nearly lost my way. I always thought my Mama was invincible, and was swiftly reminded she wasn’t. Now, I’m passed the age she was when she had me, and I understand her more than ever. My life wasn’t easy growing up, but it was mine, and I love my Mama. I’m gonna always be there for her, rain or shine, like she was for me. I’m my Mama’s keeper.
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September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 13
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FUN
HOBOSCOPES LIBRA
My orange cat was a Libra. He was a sweet little chunky boy who never cared much for sitting in anybody’s lap but loved sleeping next to the dog and chasing a laser pointer across the rug. I’ll miss that guy. I think he taught me a lot about respecting boundaries. He didn’t want to be picked up, so I didn’t-much pick him up (unless he had to go to the vet). He didn’t seem to like surprise pets, so he mostly just got chin-scratches whenever he awkwardly asked for it. I think it was a friendship of mutual respect that grew into a familial love. He reminds me a little bit of you, Libra. Tell people what you like. Tell people what you don’t. Let people know what you need.
SCORPIO
Did you ever see that movie where there’s that kid who sees dead people and the kid is really scared of the dead people but then the kid gets a therapist and he starts to feel better about seeing all those dead people? Yeah, well, that exact thing happened to a friend of mine. Not really the part about the dead people, Scorpio, just the part where he got a therapist and felt like he could talk about the things he was afraid of and then they worked together to find solutions to all the scary things. If there’s stuff you’re afraid of, Scorpio, you might just need somebody to talk to about it. It doesn’t even have to be a therapist. They don’t even necessarily have to be alive. Just so long as you can tell them the truth and they have your best interest in mind.
SAGITTA R IUS
It’s been too hot to buy a pumpkin, Sagittarius, but I feel it’s my responsibility as a citizen, and so I must. For my first pumpkin of the year I like to go with something about as big around as a basketball but a little taller than wide. If I can find one with a stem that hooks, that’s always nice. Kind of gives it a handle-effect. And I don’t want it too perfectly round. An indentation or flat-spot is good for a bit of wabi-sabi interest. This one should do nicely. If you’re having a hard time expressing your own preferences, Sagittarius, I’d say start by thinking through what you like in a pumpkin. Then go out and find one. And then maybe move on to telling us where you’d like to go for dinner.
CAPRICORN
AQUA RIUS
Did you ever see that movie where there’s all those dudes who live at, like, the south pole or something and then some kind of alien shows up and starts killing them, but the alien can shape shift to look like anybody, so all the dudes are suspicious that everybody might be the alien and they don’t know who to trust? Yeah, well, that exact thing happened to a friend of mine. Not really the part with the alien, but she was on a team and the team got where they didn’t trust each other any more and it was pretty scary. If you feel like the people around you are out to get you, Aquarius, it might be a good day to express how you’re feeling. Maybe some other folks feel that way, too. Maybe you just need to get back on the same page and show a little trust. Or maybe you need a flame-thrower.
PISCES
I was looking at a map of my neighborhood and I accidentally switched it over to “street view.” But these pictures must have been done a few years ago, Pisces. I can tell it’s from when I still hadn’t fixed the bumper on my car. And before the landlord had to replace the wobbly mailbox. And when I still had that couch on the front porch. And, wait a minute, Pisces. I think that’s you and me sitting on the couch! That must have been the day you came over to bring banana bread and we laughed about how it was still shorts-weather. That reminds me, Pisces, that I’ve still got your baking pan. I guess I haven’t seen you in a while. Maybe I’ll make a pumpkin loaf and bring it over next week. Nobody I know is doing enough hanging-out anymore. Let’s bring it back.
ARIES
The witch at the drugstore lights up every time the automatic doors open. Her eyes flash and her animatronic head swivels and bobs. “I can grant your wish for a price,” she says before a cackle that ends too abruptly as the lights in her eyes shut off. I wouldn’t talk to her if I were you, Aries. Sure, she’s got the right hat and a convincing broom, but something about that deal doesn’t sit right with me. I know there are wishes you would make. There’s some things I wish were different too. But I think the way you’re getting where you’re going will only make you stronger. It’s hard, but I think it’s a price worth paying, Aries. And I think you’ll have more light in your eyes when you arrive.
TAURUS
I found a sticker on the ground with your picture on it, Capricorn. I didn’t realize you had your own logo, but this really is a compelling design! Are you running for office or is this a business of some kind? Or maybe you’re just trying to put yourself out there? In any case, Capricorn, I think it’s a great move. Once people find out about you, I think they’ll be really impressed. My only note, Capricorn, is that even if your face is on cars and water bottles all over town, I’m not sure everybody understands just how great you are. Take a day-off from self-marketing and spend some time letting people know you deeper down. Those kinds of relationships tend to stick.
Did you ever see that movie where the guy takes his family to live in a creepy old hotel for the winter so he can work on his book in peace but the hotel is kinda haunted and it drives him into madness while his wife and psychic kid try to escape his paranormal rage? Yeah, that exact thing happened to a friend of mine. Not really the part with the nightmarish visions and bloody elevator doors, just the part where they went on a vacation but they couldn’t stop working the whole time and they just ended up exhausted and isolated. If you can get some time away from the job, Taurus, I think it’s a good idea. But leave your computer at home. Don’t check your email or anything. Just take it as a moment to relax and maybe be around people you care about. You know what they say, “all work and no play…”
GEMINI
Nothing I planted this summer really took off, but my garden is full of volunteer marigolds and that’s all I really wanted anyway. The Aztecs believed that the musky scent of marigolds could help the spirits of the dead find their way back to visit their loved ones. And this year, Gemini, we could use all the help we can get from those absent ancestors. Even if you’re not so sure about the marigold thing, you can talk to them anyway. The ones you’ve lost who you wish were still around to give you advice are a part of you, musky scent or not.
CANCER
Summer was way too long, Cancer, but I think we’re getting through it. The thing I’m still waiting for is that first morning where it’s truly crisp outside. Not just bearable, not just cool, but a true chill in the air. The first sign that things are going to let-up if we let them. Even if that day hasn’t hit yet, Cancer, know that the status-quo has always been change. Whatever has been holding you down can’t keep this up forever. Get outside early tomorrow and see if there’s something cooler floating on the breeze.
LEO
Did you ever see that movie where all the zombies start coming up out of all the graves and they shamble around and try to bite people and if they get you, you turn into a zombie too and everybody gets cornered into one house and they can’t get along and then the zombies break through the windows and doors and almost everybody gets got? Yeah, that exact thing happened to a friend of mine. Not really the part with the undead rising from their graves, just the thing where she had to stay in a house with a bunch of people who had different ideas than her about what we should all be doing. She figured it out, though, Leo. She got a hotel up the road and just met up with everybody a couple times a day and felt like she could express herself without compromising or breaking any windows. That’s not the only way to do it, Leo, but I felt like it showed real brains.
VIRGO
Do you ever think about old-timey-times when kids in f lat-caps stood on street corners and shouted “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” while moustachioed men in bowler hats whipped past them in cars that had only been invented 3 weeks prior? Yeah, I don’t think about that much either, Virgo. But I do wonder what our brains were like when the news was all in one place instead of being so…everywhere all the time. I can read more upsetting headlines before breakfast than an industrial-age newsie would encounter in their entire lives. If you’re feeling like the world is a little too extra, Virgo, you’re allowed to take a break from the headlines. You can read all about it some other time.
Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a registered horseless carriage repairman, or a trained photo-cartographer. This one is dedicated to Tober Dwayne. You were no trouble at all. Want more? Visit mrmysterio.com Or just give him a call at 707-VHS-TAN1. September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 15
VENDOR WRITING
Rise Up; Time to Shine
Remember East Tennessee
BY STELLA S., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR
Wake up to the sun rays beaming and the dew drops on the grass; will it last? Listen to the birds chirping and frongs and crickets go to sleep; there’s still bass flippin’ in the creek. The sweet smell of coffee brewing and the flap jacks on the sove. The cool, crisp air hits your face just right and the moon went to sleep last night. The fresh steam coming off the lake and the light, misty fog lifts and the cool breeze flows on through. No need to be blue with the blessings coming your way. The sweet breath of life and that first morning stretch just to know you’re alive. Rise up, Rise up today.
Time to shine; So divine in and through space and time. Time to feast and unleash the beasts that burden us. Rise up! Rise up! Rise up, today! May your hearts be filled with love, light, art and invention. Stay happy and blessed and highly favored. Today may be the next step to the rest of your life. Embrace the joy and wonderfulness that surrounds you. Live in good spirit and follow your hearts. Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit love you.
Summertime Heat BY L OR A V., CON T RIBU T OR VENDOR
Well folks, I think it has been hotter than a normal summer. Here in Tennessee we have spent more days in the 90s than in any other summer I can remember. The actual temperature combined with the heat index means it has been over the 100 degree mark.
I have actually cut back on being outside. I keep it only to the mornings and evenings. I would love to see a down pour of rain (all day). I could go out and play in it! The truth of the matter is maybe I’m just getting older and can’t deal with the heat as well as I could when I was younger!
This Is a Story About Drugs and Alcohol BY TAZ, CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR
There are too many families losing people they love over drugs and drinking. Too many accidents happen over people drinking and driving and not looking out for others on the road or the people standing on the sidewalks. As for the drugs, there are too many of our younger crowds dying over them.
There are so many in this younger crowd leaving their babies for other family members to raise who will have to tell them about their parents. Also, some of them are babies who never got to meet their parents. As a community we need to pull together and also take it higher up in the government. Stop to it all.
Falling in Love
BY ELEANOR S., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR Well at first it’s great when you have a connection that you know is going to last forever. You text for over a year hoping to meet the person that you fell in love with. They keep asking you to send them an Apple gift card. You tell them you can’t because you don’t have money or get any kind of check and they don’t believe you. They tell you no to fall in love with them when they know it’s already too late, you have
been in love with them forever. Just because you can’t get them the card, he says he’s going to block you. I tell him if he was going to he would have already. That’s when you know he does not love you, it’s just for the Apple Card, not you. I’ve been in love with him since he started singing. I guess I’m just not meant to ever be happy and in love for the rest of my life. Without him I’m nobody and no one.
A New Way to Enjoy Church BY SHORT Y R., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR
I got this friend who is a young 83 years old. In this hot summer we’re having, it’s too hot for her to get out and go to church. In this era of new tech, she’s able to watch her church service streaming live on her TV. She can
watch from the comfort of her sofa. She can watch while drinking her morning coffee or eating breakfast. God don’t mind, just as long as she is listening to his word. Oh the pleasure of modern technology.
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 16
BY CATHIE B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR Keepsakes unmistakeable yet blackened beyond recognition of a stranger view pictures curled fragile black edged lost in the heap of everyday things that made the place Uniquely yours only spared fireplaces walls and roofs ash instant community of homelessness the whys? and the hows? and the futures on hold Some appreciatively spared Too many others Next door neighbors Charcoal mounds found Where coal mines once king Not even this Can’t make us leave This is home The beauty of nature’s crown Memories of things gone thirteen 100+ injured and counting Others still missing Only bald stumps And naked earth Surrounds The majesty that was With that tiny mighty voice Dolly vows support for each family To rebuild The wind can’t carry away The magic still Up on that mountain You will make us proud Rebuilding the dreams Shared by the mili8ons Who stop in to play And oo and ah every single day, In this place Where artists, musicians, Actors, artisans and such The moms and pops The shop keeps And everyday folks And little ones All do their own part That makes The place so special For the rest of us We will not forget As you pick through your stuff The sadness and grief Looking for what might be unscorched And the pain left in the wake Of the things thrown away You may not see it now It is so hard, I know But like the wind And new growth You will rise And as nature’s glory returns You will emerge anew.
VENDOR WRITING
The Drifter: The Space Between Forgiveness and Trust BY BRADLEY B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR
Merik couldn’t stop thinking about Darren. It had been several days since their unexpected meeting and Darren’s face seemed to follow him everywhere. At work, Merik caught himself wondering what might have happened if Darren had stood beside him all those years ago. At night, he replayed their conversation over and over, remembering the sound of Darren’s voice and the regret in his eyes. Merik wanted to forgive him. That was the part that confused him most. After everything Darren had done, Merik still wanted his old friend back. He missed the friendship they had before everything changed. He remembered the laughter, the late-night conversations and the feeling that someone actually understood him. Those memories made the years of anger feel even heavier. Another part of him was afraid. What if forgiving Darren meant becoming vulnerable again? What if Darren disappeared from his life a second time? Merik wasn’t sure his heart could survive another betrayal. One evening, Merik sat alone behind the shelter, staring at the fading sunlight. His eyes burned, but he refused to cry. He had spent
too many years teaching himself that tears were something to hide. Luis found him there. “You’ve been quiet lately.” Merik wiped his eyes quickly and forced a small smile. “I’ve been thinking about Darren.” Luis sat beside him without asking any questions. “I figured.” Merik took a shaky breath. “I want to forgive him, Luis. I really do. But I don’t know if I can trust him again.” Luis nodded slowly. “Those are two different things.” Merik looked at him. “What do you mean?” “Forgiveness is about what you choose to carry,” Luis explained. “Trust is about what someone proves over time.” Merik looked down at his hands. “So I can forgive him without letting him back into my life?” “Absolutely.” “But what if I want him back?” “Then you don’t have to decide every-
thing today.” Merik stared at the ground, fighting back tears. Luis continued, “If Darren really means what he said, he’ll understand that forgiveness doesn’t automatically erase the damage. Let him show you who he is now. Give him a chance to earn your trust, but don’t give him control over your heart before he’s earned it.” Merik finally let the tears fall. “So I don’t have to choose between forgiving him and protecting myself?” Luis smiled gently. “No. You can do both.” Something inside Merik loosened. The pain was still there, but it no longer felt like a wall around his heart. Maybe forgiveness didn’t look like opening the door and pretending nothing had happened. Maybe it just meant unlocking the door and deciding for himself whether, and when, to let someone through. The next morning, Merik took out the piece of paper where Darren had written his phone number. He stared at it for a long time before folding it carefully and placing it in his pocket. He wasn’t ready to forget. He wasn’t ready to trust. But maybe he was ready to take one small step.
COMIC BY DENNIS T., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 17
Brad's Brain Busting Book Cipher CREATED BY BRADLE Y B.
Solve the cypher by using "The Drifter" to the left of this puzzle. Solution will be in next week's issue!
“ 22:2:1 1:3:3 22:5:4 6:2:7 12:1:1 8:1:4 7:4:3 25:2:1 23:3:2 7:1:4 11:2:1 / 5:6:6 23:4:2 10:2:3 18:1:3 / 6:13:3 25:6:1 17:13:3 / 3:6:1 25:1:2 24:18:1 19:5:3 23:3:1 3:6:7 / 6:34:1 3:18:1 9:4:1 / 25:16:1 23:6:2 14:4:4 6:20:1 , / 21:7:1 23:1:2 8:3:5 / 2:28:1 16:3:5 / 4:3:1 6:1:1 3:3:3 5:26:3 / 21:8:2 2:29:6 21:9:1 4:29:1 10:5:3 4:21:5 11:3:2 / 19:5:4 25:16:2 6:32:4 / 17:18:3 16:5:3 5:7:4 12:2:4 5:27:3 4:15:3 . ” — / 9:2:3 21:14:3 6:16:2 9:10:4 / 1:5:2 21:48:1 22:7:2 6:4:1 9:1:2 Last Issue Solution: “The future depends on what you do today.” — Mahatma Gandhi
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ABBY R. RUBENFELD Attorney at Law
arubenfeldlaw.com
810 Dominican Drive, Suite 215 Nashville, Tennessee 37228 Telephone: (615) 386-9077 Facsimile: (615) 386-3897
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 18
MOVING PICTURES
The Whisper Man sneaks up on Netflix viewers BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC There was a time when a new Robert DeNiro film meant an automatic ticket at the theater for me and I know I’m not alone. By the time DeNiro won his second Academy Award for Raging Bull in 1981 he had established himself as one of the greatest actors of one of the greatest acting generations in American movie history. However, in the early 2000s, when the actor founded his Tribeca Film Festival he started taking light roles in mainstream movies that no longer required the intense transformative performances that marked his greatest era and a few decades later DeNiro is better understood as an elder statesman of American movies who’s obviously more interested in building infrastructure and larger cinema projects than unforgettable moments on the screen. At this point, DeNiro gets to do whatever he wants, and when he wants to make a half clunky police procedural on Netflix he’s still one of the main reasons it’s worth watching. The Whisper Man is directed by New Zealander James Ashcroft (Coming Home in the Dark). The film is an adaptation of Alex North’s bestselling novel with the screenplay written by Ben Jacoby (The First Omen) and Chase Palmer (It). Tom Kennedy (Adam Scott) is a recently widowed crime fiction writer who relocates with his young son Jake (Acston Luca Porto) to the quiet town of Garretton, New Jersey, hoping for a fresh start. Garretton was terrorized years earlier by a serial killer known as the Whisper Man. The predator targeted children, luring them from outside their windows at night with a voice so soft and sinister it inspired a chilling playground rhyme. The original killer, Frank Carter (Michael Keaton), was captured and imprisoned by Tom’s estranged father Peter (Robert De Niro), a now-retired detective. When children begin disappearing again and Jake himself vanishes, Tom is forced to reconnect with his father. Detective Amanda Beck (Michelle Monaghan) leads the investigation alongside them, and the trail suggests the Whisper Man may have had an accomplice who is still operating in Garretton. The biggest problem with The Whisper Man is its many moving parts — the three generations of Kennedy men, the father-son relationship between the killer and his now-grown boy, the female detective who gets lost in this movie about the hard relationships between men and their blood, little Jake’s imaginary friend who serves no purpose other than a dumb reveal in the film’s finale, the unlikely strategy of a serial killer whispering at windows in the age of Flock and Ring. There’s lots here to keep viewers at arms-length unable to suspend their disbelief, but this cast of ringers mostly keeps the ship from sinking. Everybody in the film is strong under the circumstances and if you can get through the slow moving first act, The Whisper Man gets better as it careens to its climax. DeNiro shares some touching scenes with Scott and his confrontations with Keaton might be enough to justify the movie’s a little less than two hours runtime. DeNiro can still hold a frame and ground a moment and I can’t remember Keaton playing a creepy baddie since Pacific Heights. The Whisper Man is part procedural, part horror
film given the somewhat supernatural presence of Jake’s pointless imaginary friend. The movie’s faults seem to come mostly from not sacrificing elements of the book for the sake of a tighter, more believable movie, but the film also proves that those problems aren’t anything a few great actors can’t fix.
The Whisper Man is streaming on Netflix.
Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/ songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.
September 23 - October 7, 2026 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 19
“The Contributor” está trabajando con uno de los principales periódicos en español La Noticia para llevar contenido a más lectores en Middle Tennessee. Nuestros vendedores de periódicos han pedido durante mucho tiempo que nuestra publicación incluya contenido que apele al interés de residentes de habla hispana en nuestra comunidad.
“The Contributor” is working with one of the leading Spanish-language newspapers La Noticia to bring content to more readers in Middle Tennessee. Our newspaper vendors have long requested that our publication include content that appeals to the interest of Spanish-speaking residents in our community.
LOCALES - ACTUALIDAD - INMIGRACIÓN - TRABAJO - SALUD - CULTURA Y ENTRENIMIENTO
L a N t i cia 2026
GRATIS
Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia Newspaper Nashville edición digital bilingüe.
Septiembre/2
Newspaper Nashville
Año 24 - No. 443
www.lanoticianashville.com
“DONDE OCURREN LOS HECHOS QUE IMPORTAN, SIEMPRE PRIMERO... ANTES”
Nashville, Tennessee
Negocios, cultura y comunidad: Nashville celebra Mes de la Herencia Hispana
El Aeropuerto Internacional de Nashville también marcó el comienzo
de la celebración mediante una publicación en sus redes sociales. BNA invitó al público a consultar el calendario de la NAHCC y anunció actividades culturales en la terminal, entre ellas presentaciones musicales de artistas locales. Además, informó que Volaris iniciará el 15 de octubre sus vuelos directos entre Nashville y Guadalajara, México. La delegación de la NAHCC regresó esta semana de la 47.ª Conferencia Nacional de la Cámara de Comercio Hispana de Estados Unidos, celebrada en Fort Worth, Texas. El encuentro reunió a empresarios, ejecutivos corporativos, funcionarios públicos y líderes de cámaras hispanas de todo el
país para intercambiar ideas, crear conexiones y promover oportunidades económicas. De regreso en Nashville, la agenda continúa con The Future Way Forward Conference, en el Museo Nacional de la Música Afroamericana. El presidente y director ejecutivo de la NAHCC, Yuri Cunza, participa en la conversación “Leadership and Culture: Building a City Worth Belonging To”, enfocada en liderazgo, cultura y pertenencia. La música tendrá un lugar destacado con el debut en Nashville de Lucía, reconocida vocalista mexicana de jazz, en Ingram Hall de la Escuela de
Música Blair de Vanderbilt University. Originaria de Veracruz, Lucía combina las tradiciones musicales de México y América Latina con el jazz contemporáneo. Antes del concierto, la NAHCC la reconocerá con el premio “Ganas in Music”, por sus logros artísticos, determinación y orgullo cultural. La celebración previa al concierto incluye una presentación del Ballet Folklórico Mexicano de Vanderbilt, música y baile latino, instrumentos de percusión, comida y actividades culturales. El calendario continuará con seminarios sobre derechos y responsabilidades de los empleadores; la participación de la NAHCC en el Festival de Cine de Nashville; paneles de mujeres empresarias; actividades de arte, narración y tradiciones con estudiantes; conversaciones comunitarias; eventos de networking; y FuturoListo, una nueva iniciativa de capacitación en habilidades digitales desarrollada con el Nashville Business Incubation Center. Durante el mes también se destacarán el crecimiento de la población hispana, su poder adquisitivo, el emprendimiento y su impacto económico. Según la Oficina del Censo de Estados Unidos, la población hispana del país alcanzó 70.1 millones de personas en 2025, equivalente aproximadamente al 21 por ciento de la población nacional. La programación culminará el jueves 15 de octubre con la 22.ª edición de los Premios a la Excelencia Empresarial y Comunitaria de la NAHCC, que reconocerá a empresarios, profesionales, líderes cívicos, artistas y organizaciones cuyas contribuciones fortalecen a Nashville y Middle Tennessee. El calendario completo, junto con enlaces de inscripción y actualizaciones, está disponible en NashvilleHispanicChamber.com. Envíenos sus sugerencias por correo electrónico: news@hispanicpaper.com|615-582-3757
Dibujo y concepto: Oriana Sánchez Pérez
La Cámara de Comercio Hispana del Área de N a s h v i l l e (NAHCC), en colaboración con la F u n d a c i ó n NAHCC, desarrolla durante un mes su celebración de la Herencia Hispana 2026, con una Por Yuri Cunza amplia agenda de Editor In Chief actividades empre- @LaNoticiaNews sariales, educativas, cívicas, artísticas y culturales en distintos puntos de la ciudad. La programación comenzó oficialmente el martes 15 de septiembre y se extenderá hasta el 15 de octubre. Desde 2005, la NAHCC encabeza una de las celebraciones del Mes de la Herencia Hispana más antiguas, amplias e inclusivas de Tennessee, posible gracias al respaldo de sus miembros, patrocinadores corporativos y aliados comunitarios. El Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana reconoce la historia, cultura, logros y aportes de los estadounidenses con raíces en España, México, el Caribe, Centroamérica y Sudamérica. La conmemoración comenzó en 1968 como una semana nacional y fue ampliada en 1988 al período actual de 31 días, que conecta las fechas de independencia de varios países latinoamericanos y otras conmemoraciones de gran significado. El alcalde de Nashville, Freddie O’Connell, proclamó el período del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre como Mes de la Herencia Hispana en la ciudad. El documento reconoce las contribuciones empresariales, profesionales, cívicas, artísticas y culturales de la comunidad hispana y destaca los esfuerzos encabezados por la NAHCC y la Fundación NAHCC.