Meet Faye: I met with “Faye” who lives in a tent in a wooded area near Alabama Avenue in Nashville, TN. Faye told me she lives alone in the woods because she feels safer when living by herself. I asked her why and she stated, “I was attacked by a homeless man and nearly killed 16-years ago.” She told me she has lived in so-called tent cities in the past and refuses to go back to that type of environment. “Drunks and people on drugs live in those places,” she told told me.
I learned that she was beat with a lead pipe near the railroad tracks that go directly through downtown Nashville 16-years ago. The tracks are in the area of Jefferson Street not too far from the old Marathon Motors. The left side of her face had to be reconstructed after the attack. Her right eye could not be saved and she has a glass eye in its place. She spent days at Vanderbilt Medical Center after the attack and while unable to afford the medical bills that followed, she said she was extremely fortunate to survive and felt that God was watching over her recovery.
Faye told me she doesn't drink alcohol or do drugs and finds herself enjoying a lot of reading. When I met Faye outside the Southern Thrift Store on Charlotte Pike, she was reading “Black Out” by Lisa Unger. The book is about a character named Annie Powers who lives in a wealthy Florida suburb. Powers is forced to look into the demons of her past before her past tromps her future, claiming the life of her daughter. Earlier in life, the character in the book went by the name of Ophelia March. March started over with a new name and a new direction, but her past came back to haunt her. I know that many people read to escape their current life... I found this book an interesting choice for Faye, considering it is about escape.
Getting back to Faye, I asked her how she finds food because her only square meal comes once per week when a neighborhood church feeds the homeless on Thursday nights. The 52-year old said when people pass her by without handing her a dollar, she has to dig through the dumpsters of area fast food restaurants when they close at night. Sometimes she has leftover hamburgers, other nights she will find discarded fries and chicken sandwiches.
Before speaking to Faye I quietly sat in my truck and watched from a distance. I watched numerous people walk past her with their eyes fixed on the horizon. People purposely avoided any eye contact with her. When I approached her, I could tell she was surprised when I stopped to talk. Trying to make her feel good about others who passed her, I told her that most people would walk directly past anyone sitting on a street corner engrossed in a book. She agreed, but suggested it’s nice when someone interrupts her to talk. She loves conversation. I don't mean she loves conversation like the man behind the counter at the grocery store who cuts meat and politely converses to be friendly, I mean she loves to talk to others about her life and what is important to her and where she has been, etc.
Faye told me she has both children and grandchildren. When asked why she does not live with them she said, “They are not in a position to allow me to live with them.” She said she has other family members who she does see from time to time, but they have personal struggles with extreme depression. She, by choice, steers clear.
I asked Faye about the homeless population in Nashville and she told me the homeless population in Davidson County is over 6,000 strong. She pointed down the street and said, “A husband and wife are living in their car with three children four streets over.” She said the problem is out of hand and there are no jobs available. I kept it to myself that I honestly believe mental illness is the biggest problem on the streets. The second problem revolves around alcoholism. Many who are mentally ill are also alcoholics which is a compounded problem to fix.
Faye’s life and problems are much deeper than a single conversation, but her story sounded familiar to other stories I have heard in the past.
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