"Tent City, U.S.A.," a documentary by Steven Cantor uncovers the hardships of being homeless. In the city of Nashville where there are over 4,000 homeless individuals , the documentary shows how a group a people, who have formed a community of their own, struggle to maintain daily life, fight local communities, and recover from a natural disaster.
Mr. Cantor uses this very specific group of residents from Tent City to explore a specific portion of the homeless population that is trying to find work and a way back toward a stable life. He uses these characters to highlight how difficult it is to get back on your feet while bearing in mind the limitations of the support system in place to help.
Located underneath a bridge, on five acres of land owned by the local government, the group of homeless, along with the help of a local church, has organized themselves and has developed ways to handle newcomers, manage security, and provide a heated shower. The homes range from tents with tarps on top of them to a wood burning shelter which has electricity and internet.
The film follows a very specific group of people who range from all different backgrounds. A woman, Stacey, follows love into the homeless life after she left a large house from a divorce. Another resident is MacGyver, who is considered the handy man of the group and teaches newcomers of the best way for security and shelter. Finally one of the key leaders, Wendell, is a construction worker who formally owned his own company but lost it all after serving for a suspended license with a DUI.
One of the key questions was what is the community doing to try and help the homeless. The biggest support system in a large building designed to house the homeless at night. Many of the homeless people despise the structure because of the lack of care for the homeless and the strict rules it has. The shelter only allows people to enter between certain times and for many of the homeless who are making little money, they are working the night shift and are unable to be there in time for a bed. Another reason is that it is considered a jail by many because they force the people to go through metal detectors and leave their bags outside of the building. To many people that is one thing they cannot do, the homeless leave all of their possession in their bags and requiring them to leave them outside attracts many thieves who go through the bags to search for anything that is worth keeping.
In 2010, Nashville had record breaking floods destroying most of what the residents have Tent City had, leaving them very little to salvage afterwards and forcing them to move to a temporary spot of land volunteered by its owner 15 miles away from town.
From the beginning local residents put up a fight against the new homeless group, including many outspoken people using "not in my backyard" terms while speaking to community leaders at a local meeting. One of the factors that was not looked into enough was the fact that there was no specific reasons on why this group could not live on someone else's property and just confide in themselves. Even though the director did interview a few of the locals, the only response was that they all agreed on the fact that they just did not want them.
The local town has a committee to help out the homeless by attempting to find homes, jobs, and care for them. When asked by homeless man how many of them are homeless, have ever been homeless, or is good friends with a homeless person, nobody in the group of over a dozen raised their hand. At that point the community spoke out and said they wanted a new spot open for someone who has experience in what it is like and understands what the homeless really need. After 3 weeks Stacey won the spot, but since the she had to be appointed there was a delay. It took the mayor 4 months to finally appoint her, and even though she officially joined there has not been any increase in progress by the group. This small part of the film demonstrates the lack of commitment that the local government has about the group. This clearly shows that everyone is just a political pawn to the people with power.
Another message, expressed by a researcher early in the film, is that in their earlier lives these homeless people are not linked most strongly by drugs or alcohol, by crime or abuse. The things they have in common are fragility and isolation; those who naturally cut themselves off from other people are less able to stay in society once bad luck strikes. When the most successful of Mr. Cantor's Tent City subjects, Wendell, is congratulated on his new apartment, he hesitates and then he replies, "It's — it's the way it's supposed to be." Expressing that society does not understand the life of a homeless person and instead forces on the idea that they need to get an apartment, as if they had a choice.
The documentary adds to my understanding of what the homeless community is going through but I feel like the director is leaving out many key questions to ask. He needs to get more perspective on why they are not liked so much, and question the committees and mayor on why a town that has a homeless rate higher than 30% of the nation is not focusing on this subject more.
Works Citied:
Krinks, Lindsey. "Amos House Community." Amos House Community. WordPress, 3 Sept. 2010. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
Tent City U.S.A. Dir. Steven Cantor. Perf. Tent City Residents. Hulu, 2012. Hulu Film.
Mr. Cantor uses this very specific group of residents from Tent City to explore a specific portion of the homeless population that is trying to find work and a way back toward a stable life. He uses these characters to highlight how difficult it is to get back on your feet while bearing in mind the limitations of the support system in place to help.
Located underneath a bridge, on five acres of land owned by the local government, the group of homeless, along with the help of a local church, has organized themselves and has developed ways to handle newcomers, manage security, and provide a heated shower. The homes range from tents with tarps on top of them to a wood burning shelter which has electricity and internet.
The film follows a very specific group of people who range from all different backgrounds. A woman, Stacey, follows love into the homeless life after she left a large house from a divorce. Another resident is MacGyver, who is considered the handy man of the group and teaches newcomers of the best way for security and shelter. Finally one of the key leaders, Wendell, is a construction worker who formally owned his own company but lost it all after serving for a suspended license with a DUI.
One of the key questions was what is the community doing to try and help the homeless. The biggest support system in a large building designed to house the homeless at night. Many of the homeless people despise the structure because of the lack of care for the homeless and the strict rules it has. The shelter only allows people to enter between certain times and for many of the homeless who are making little money, they are working the night shift and are unable to be there in time for a bed. Another reason is that it is considered a jail by many because they force the people to go through metal detectors and leave their bags outside of the building. To many people that is one thing they cannot do, the homeless leave all of their possession in their bags and requiring them to leave them outside attracts many thieves who go through the bags to search for anything that is worth keeping.
In 2010, Nashville had record breaking floods destroying most of what the residents have Tent City had, leaving them very little to salvage afterwards and forcing them to move to a temporary spot of land volunteered by its owner 15 miles away from town.
From the beginning local residents put up a fight against the new homeless group, including many outspoken people using "not in my backyard" terms while speaking to community leaders at a local meeting. One of the factors that was not looked into enough was the fact that there was no specific reasons on why this group could not live on someone else's property and just confide in themselves. Even though the director did interview a few of the locals, the only response was that they all agreed on the fact that they just did not want them.
The local town has a committee to help out the homeless by attempting to find homes, jobs, and care for them. When asked by homeless man how many of them are homeless, have ever been homeless, or is good friends with a homeless person, nobody in the group of over a dozen raised their hand. At that point the community spoke out and said they wanted a new spot open for someone who has experience in what it is like and understands what the homeless really need. After 3 weeks Stacey won the spot, but since the she had to be appointed there was a delay. It took the mayor 4 months to finally appoint her, and even though she officially joined there has not been any increase in progress by the group. This small part of the film demonstrates the lack of commitment that the local government has about the group. This clearly shows that everyone is just a political pawn to the people with power.
Another message, expressed by a researcher early in the film, is that in their earlier lives these homeless people are not linked most strongly by drugs or alcohol, by crime or abuse. The things they have in common are fragility and isolation; those who naturally cut themselves off from other people are less able to stay in society once bad luck strikes. When the most successful of Mr. Cantor's Tent City subjects, Wendell, is congratulated on his new apartment, he hesitates and then he replies, "It's — it's the way it's supposed to be." Expressing that society does not understand the life of a homeless person and instead forces on the idea that they need to get an apartment, as if they had a choice.
The documentary adds to my understanding of what the homeless community is going through but I feel like the director is leaving out many key questions to ask. He needs to get more perspective on why they are not liked so much, and question the committees and mayor on why a town that has a homeless rate higher than 30% of the nation is not focusing on this subject more.
Works Citied:
Krinks, Lindsey. "Amos House Community." Amos House Community. WordPress, 3 Sept. 2010. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
Tent City U.S.A. Dir. Steven Cantor. Perf. Tent City Residents. Hulu, 2012. Hulu Film.