Winter is coming and some people in Macon County have no place to go to escape the freezing temperatures.
Downtown Door seeks to offer a temporary respite for homeless people who need a place to get warm or to shower and do laundry.
“We’ve been very busy,” said Sheila Jenkins, executive director of No Wrong Door, during an update to the Franklin Town Council.
In 2023, the Town of Franklin offered one of its unused buildings on East Main Street to create a warming station. The nonprofit No Wrong Door leases the building and officially opened Downtown door in January 2024. The facility is open three days a week and people using the services must register with No Wrong Door.
On nights when temperatures dip below 20 degrees, especially if it’s raining or snowing, Downtown Door opens as a warming station so people can have shelter during dangerous, freezing temperatures. The warming station is open to anyone who does not have shelter.
The warming station was open 17 nights last winter. “We were full,” Jenkins said. “We had them in the floor and everywhere during that time.”
Recently, they were open four nights in November and served 21 people. Jenkins said they have not been open any nights yet in December but expects that to change as cold nights are forecast.
“It’s been very productive,” Jenkins said. “It’s been very welcome to have somewhere to go when it’s cold, snowing, but also during the day.”
She said they have been blessed with donations of sleeping bags, tents and blankets. “So, all the homeless should have some,” she said.
Downtown Door’s regular hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with volunteers working three-hour shifts. Volunteers are also needed to help on nights the warming station is open. The warming station hours vary, but it is usually open 3:30 p.m.-8 a.m. A staff member stays on site the nights the warming station is open.
Jenkins said they rely on volunteers to keep Downtown Door open. “We are so blessed with volunteers,” she said. “We could always use more volunteers.”
No Wrong Door is open Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Jenkins said there they have a living room area where people can come in during the day. Meals are available at both locations.
Neighborhood concerns
Jenkins said they are in frequent contact with Franklin Police Department Chief Devin Holland as they see a lot of the same clientele. “There’s been some issues. There’s been some calls and things that he’s got, so we’re trying to make amends.”
Some of the neighboring businesses have concerns. Holland said since Downtown Door opened there have been 46 calls for service and 13 business checks logged through the 911 center.
Jenkins said they talked to Town Manager Amie Owens about installing a movable fence on the property to shield some of the businesses and give clients a private space when they are outside. “There’s nowhere for them to get outside,” she said. “Either they’re hanging out in front or in the alleyway, so there is nowhere for them to have any privacy, nowhere to sit.”
She said they also plan to install a security camera that the police chief could have access to. “They patrol down there a lot,” Jenkins said. “We haven’t had any trouble. There hasn’t been any damage. It’s just that we do have a lot of people and there is nowhere for them to be outside.”
Jenkins said she was aware of some recent social media posts with people complaining about Downtown Door and the people hanging out around the building. She said the building is not left unattended during regular hours or when it is open as a warming station.
“There is no way myself or the FPD has the money to cover 24-hour supervision in one location,” she said. “The homeless are all over town; they keep the FPD busy running them off from place to place. I completely understand that businesses don’t want them hanging out in their front doors, but it has nothing to do with the Downtown Door. They are going to exist, if and when we are gone.”
The police chief agreed the homeless issue is not isolated to the Downtown Door area. “Vagrancy issues are prevalent all over town, but mainly on the east side, which includes the Greenway,” Holland said. “We enforce trespassing and other related laws to keep them from damaging and littering other’s property. One neighborhood has been an issue for a few years now but with our enforcement efforts, help from other agencies and property owners we have recently almost remedied that area. This problem was an issue with squatting which created other crimes in the area.”
Jenkins said there were also allegations that the people going to Downtown Door are not local; however, she said that is not accurate. Of the 66 people who went to Downtown Door in September, she said only one was not local.
“Because we are not a shelter, people are not going to come here,” she said. “If they do, they move on because we are not a shelter which is open all the time. We encourage people instead of living on the streets, go back to your support system and somewhere you are familiar with.” They recently bought bus tickets for two people to return to Ohio and Wyoming.
“We are in a housing crisis; we have people that are in their 80s and homeless,” Jenkins said. “Yes, Macon County has a homeless problem, and I don’t have the answer. I wish somebody did, but I do know it’s not Downtown Door’s fault.”
She wants to address complaints from the nearby businesses. “We don’t want to be a problem for them; some have been so nice. There are a lot of things I can’t do anything about; if I can, I will, but I need to know about them.
Despite some challenges, Jenkins said, “Downtown Door has been a blessing” and she appreciates the town board giving them the opportunity to serve the homeless population.
Mental health needs
Jenkins said the number of people No Wrong Door is serving continues to increase each year.
She attributes that increase to mental health needs. “A lot of it’s got to do with the drugs that are on the street right now,” she said.
She said fentanyl continues to be a concern, but it’s not the only one. “We also have a new one coming. It’s already killed several in Tennessee and it’s in McDowell County, so I’m saying it’ll be here soon if it’s not already, and it’s 20 times stronger than fentanyl.”
Jenkins said when people overdose they may experience brain damage due to the lack of oxygen to the brain. “I don’t know what we’re going to do because they can’t work. They can’t hold down a job. They can’t function enough to have a roof over their head.”
While No Wrong Door may not be able to meet all their clients’ needs, Jenkins said they feed them, provide transportation, take them to doctor appointments and court. They buy bus tickets for out-of-town people so they can return to where they have a support system.
“We provide those types of services,” she said. “That’s about all we can do at this point.”
Jenkins said she is thankful for the churches, clubs and people who bring food to No Wrong Door as they provide meals five days a week.
A new option
No Wrong Door partnered with Discover Church to open three apartments behind the church.
“We have nine children housed in those three apartments,” Jenkins said. “So that’s nine children that are not on the street, not in foster care. They’re with their parents.”
To qualify for the housing, the person must work and do random drug testing. Jenkins said the apartments help families get back on their feet. No Wrong Door charges them 10% of their income and when they find somewhere to live they get 50% of that back. No Wrong Door and Discover Church cover the utility costs for the apartments.
“You got to start somewhere,” Jenkins said. “To be able to say we got nine kids off the street and in a home, and when you see a middle grade kid standing in front of you crying because they have a warm bed and running water – that’s the good stuff.”
Jenkins said it is getting harder to find placements for people outside the county and that facilities that have never asked for money are now charging.
“We’re just looking at trying to see what we can do because I think we’re going to have to come together as a community and see what we can do to help them here so we don’t have to send them somewhere else,” Jenkins said, adding that it is people of all ages who need help.