Each day Albert, Vanessa and their daughter, Shameka, ask for money from those passing by the Jackson Motel, at the corner of Medical Center Parkway and Broad Street.
“It’s $45 a night to stay here,” Albert says. “But they work with us. Sometimes it takes an extra hour for us to get the money.
“We’ve been here since November.”
(“Nine months, $45 per night, that’s more than my mortgage!” I think to myself, observing that Albert’s camping chair and Nikes are in better shape than my own.)
“We get food stamps, but they run out before the month is out,” Vanessa said. “We have a daughter, and she can eat some food!”
(“I wonder how much food you could buy if you sold that diamond ring,” I then wondered, but politely agreed that times are indeed tough these days.)
“They make pretty good money out there,” an acquaintance of the family said. “They do better than some who work 40 hours a week.” He says he is sure the family gets $400-500 each month in food stamps. “My family tries to eat on about $350 each month,” the observer says.
Albert tells a passerby that he has a job offer in Indiana, but has not been able to get up there. Meanwhile, his daughter asks a passenger in a nearby vehicle if they could spare a dollar.
“It’s hard for me to stay on my feet for very long,” Vanessa says, sitting on a cooler under a shadetree.
All in a day’s work.
For more information on Albert, Vanessa and Shameka, visit them near the Checker’s on the corner of Medical Center Parkway and Broad Street, or call them on their cell phone at (615) 617-9972.
Love….love….love it!!!! The phone number at the end is hilarious! They pay almost DOUBLE what I pay in rent and I work my ass off to be able to pay that! Angers me to the core.
Comment August 5, 2012 @ 12:04 pm
Why do they just go to Goodwill and get a job? Or go to a local shelter instead of paying $1350 a month to stay at the Jackson Hotel. Does the daughter go to school? They just need to take the initiative to change their lives…instead of living like that.
Comment August 30, 2012 @ 5:13 pm
WTF was this story about? Is it even a Interview story? Why didn’t you ask them how they came to this lifestyle? Did you ask them what they would like to do, or they’re education background and work experience. This may be the only way they know to survive. Just because some people are fortunate enough to be able to advance they’re lives does not mean that everyone is. Did you even direct them to local organizations that may be able to offer assistance or help? Probably not. So is this an interview or a rant, because something, or some people in this case, make you uncomfortable with your scenery? Sounds like poor journalism and only a narrow minded personal opinion to me.
Comment August 30, 2012 @ 10:29 pm
Wow….this article is really short sided! Do I think this is meaningful journalism? I see a future for you at Fox news.
Comment August 30, 2012 @ 11:09 pm
To answer the last two rabid posters: the story told a truth that your small-minded liberal slant can’t tolerate:
That it is ludicrous for people who are obviously healthy ( except for gross obesity ) to live on handouts, when they are capable of contributing SOMETHING to Society beyond being a very bad example.
The stigma and shame of living on handouts is gone. They complain that their $500/month of MY money that is GIVEN to them is not enough, so they are forced to beg to supplement it.
I say cut off ALL assistance to them and every one like them who is gaming the system.
The welfare office should have two added devices: a drug-testing lab and a scale that calculates BMI. Any illegal substances or a fat % over 30 gets you a denial slip and a cab ride to the County Workhouse.
Comment August 31, 2012 @ 5:48 am
I grew up in household of five, my parents, me,and my two siblings. My father was a roofer. The winter months were extremely hard on us due to lack of work until the spring. We received wic, food stamps, and section 8 housing(welfare). Without it we would have been homeless and starving, so I am very thankful for the liberal Christian leaders who put these programs in place making it possible for me and my family to survive. Also we too wore Nike shoes, that were gifts from family, had nice clothes that were also gifts. By the way, goodwill sells Nike and many other name brand merchandise. My point is that it is easy for those of you to look at the surface and judge when your opinion is actually ignorant and uninformed unless you yourself have had to survive using welfare. I have found that most conservatives with a strong opposing view only see what’s on the cover and actually have no real life experience to base their opinion. I hope to see more thought and research go into such subjects before posting divisive articles.
Comment August 31, 2012 @ 10:10 am
So here’s the deal, the honest scoop, for those confused about what this story is about:
I set out to acquire some artwork to accompany Pastor Trimble’s column:
http://boropulse.com/2012/08/please-help-dont-give/
with the intention of photographing the first panhandler (individual asking for money with their arm stuck out like the handle of a pan, a little etymology tidbit) I saw. Pretty objective, right? They were them. I introduced myself as being with the Pulse, gave them copies of the paper even.
They volunteered all of this information to a member of the media. I really didn’t ask many questions. So in that regard, it really wasn’t much of an interview.
I did however mention Greenhouse Ministries and the Salvation Army, but they did not seem very interested.
Bottom line, I felt the information they provided was interesting enough to Pulse readers to deserve being printed.
Do what you will with it. Go give them money. Tell me I’m uncompassionate. Cast them as the victims. Or don’t give them money. Let others know you don’t think begging is an acceptable way to spend 10 months. Write your own opinion of the matter. (who else on here has actually gone to talk with them, or do you just assume you know someone by their appearance?)
Yeah, there was some obvious sarcasm and personal opinion in the piece. I felt pretty strongly that the poor suckers being manipulated into handing them money (the word “homeless” on their sign is just a lie) would want to know a little more of the story; of course it’s not their whole back story, but it’s a little more of the story.
Let me be clear on this: I don’t think panhandlers should be legislated away. I think people should do whatever they want on public sidewalks, parks, alleys, etc., as long as they’re not harming anyone. I think people should have the freedom of choice to give, or not give. Let them sit there all day long. But don’t come after me if I decide to hand out copies of the Pulse, promote my advertisers, take a nap or just ask for money for being there on the same sidewalks.
Maybe part of me had a little admiration for the family. They’re doing the same thing for 10 months. They have a more solid business plan than a lot of the ill-conceived businesses that open in this town.
Maybe there was a little jealousy there. Why do they get to just sit under the shade tree and make money?
Maybe I thought this one family and this one street corner said a lot about many complex aspects of human nature and our society.
Here’s an update for you though. I couldn’t have made this up:
The panhandling family featured in the last edition still sits near the corner of Medical Center and Broad many days, but do they ever take breaks, feel the need to get away? Yes, even they need to escape for a vacation every now and then. According to some who ride the Gray Line bus from Murfreesboro to Casino Aztar in Evansville, Ind., Albert and Vanessa occasionally take the bus to the casino.
If you have given money to these individuals, how does that make you feel?
Comment August 31, 2012 @ 3:16 pm
Do any of you know them or their story? The judgments you throw at them now have nothing to do with them, but with yourself.
Tear down your ego….because your thought process is what is really ruining our society. Do yourself a favor and look in your own heart for the reasons as to why you are displaying such anger.
Love is first…and there can be no argument against that.
Comment September 2, 2012 @ 9:34 pm
Though I feel some personal comments could have been excluded by the author those are his thoughts. I must say I have a few thoughts going through my mind when I see panhandlers out on the road and a cell phone or cigarette in their hand!
I have seen Albert out pandhandling when I am on my way to work around 6:40am. He gets an early start! I have also seen him out for MONTHS. Thinking back it may have been this entire year. I heard his same “Indiana” story on WSMV months ago. I am sure they have gotten PLENTY of money since then to make their way back up there…especially if they are on a bus to Casino Aztar. That’s in Indiana, correct? Maybe Albert just didn’t specify what is “job” was up there!
Comment September 3, 2012 @ 1:36 pm
To Tony, maybe you should be cutoff because of your stupidity, just because someone is fat doesnt mean they sit around and eat bon bons all day long. I work 40 plus hours a week and I am fat, I am on my feet for all those hours and I have always done alot of work all my adult life and Im 51 years old. So Im not lazy, so should I be haulded off to the work house because of it. Maybe stupid people like you should be, until your educated on maybe why people might be overweight cause its not always cause they eat alot. You idiot there are skinny people that eat alot but they dont get fat, its small minded people like you that makes people idiots. Also I dont like panhandlers people does need to get off theie lazy butts and get a job but you know there are people that are on checks that arent doing a thing not even panhandling and getting money and all kinds of free stuff. Also everybody wants to throw out go to Goodwill and get a job, well you dont just walk into Goodwill and get a job its alot more to it than that, also there is alot more to going to these place like salvation army, green street, and all the place mentioned to get help. I bet alot of yall didnt know that you cant have a felony against you to get help at some of these places you mentioned. Section 8 housing you cant get a place to live if you have anything on your background any kind of a arrest. So before you start throwing out all these things, check into it and see about this stuff its not as easy as it seems. I agree with what someone said about they should have already had enough money to get to IN by now, and yes they just probably are panhandling. Well, dont give them any more money and they will move on. Dont give any of them any money. Problem solved. Im not handing my money out to any of them. Ive got a heart but I work hard for my money.
Comment September 7, 2012 @ 11:21 pm
Okay, them being fat has nothing to with the fact that they are LAZY! They’re sitting outside just relaxing with people throwing money at them, BY THE WAY, when they first started I gave the little girl a $20 bill because I mean I felt bad and my dad always gives them atleast a dollar & now it just makes me mad to see them out there while they could be out working just like the rest of us. It’s seriously ridiculous how they can be out there panhandling while they could be out looking for a job instead. It seriously others me now everytime I drive down Medical Center Pkwy & here these people are asking for money when they get food stamps, which $400-$500 a month is MORE than enough for three people! “Your daughter can eat.” If $500 is not enough for your daughter then idk what to say. If I was in that position I would be appreciative of what the government gives me & not be out asking for more, IT’S CALLED A JOB. Both of the parents have two arms and two legs, they are capable of working. I think this is ridiculous. May God bless them.
Comment November 3, 2012 @ 9:25 pm
I am a homeless man in murfreesboro tn. i live in my car with my wife and son. i talk to this family everyday. they are not homeless as they say, i mean 9 months in a motel sounds kind of homey to me. they say 45 a night is what they pay for their room, yet all 3 of them are out almost everyday panhandling and they told me that each of them on a good day brings in around $150. thats $450 total a day. but yet they are still out at checkers everyday. where is all that money going
Comment April 2, 2013 @ 6:09 am
There’s a video going around facebook where they are sitting at hastings drinking beer with a new dvd. Really?
Comment April 12, 2013 @ 6:50 pm
Here it is!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e80tJ2g6StM
Comment April 12, 2013 @ 6:54 pm
Bracken; living in a daily rental IS homeless.
And do you really think her ring is a diamond? Surely you know better.
Comment July 12, 2013 @ 9:34 pm
Living in a motel is not a good situation. But it’s not like they are out in the cold and rain with no food or anything either.
If they can hustle up $1,350 a month to live in Jackson Motel, I know they can come up with $650 for a home payment – and purchase a home. I have faith in these people!
Comment July 14, 2013 @ 7:34 pm