Employed Tennessee woman can only afford a tent

PORTLAND, Tenn. (WKRN) — The unhoused are not just in downtown Nashville. They are also in surrounding counties and small towns across Middle Tennessee—places like Portland where one woman has a job but still can’t afford a home.

Anita Richey had dreams, big ones.

“My dream home was always a log cabin with a wrap-around porch. That’s what I wanted. My own land, a house, my own stuff,” said Richey.

That dream hasn’t happened, at least not yet. 

“But, that dream. It didn’t come true. But, I still have dreams. I have goals. I’m going to get there.”

Right now, the 53-year-old’s home is a tent. She took NewsNation local affiliate WKRN into the woods in Portland where she’s been living since June. “I bought a bed, bought an air mattress, twin size, but big enough for me and her,” said Richey talking about her little chihuahua. “If it wasn’t for my little four-legged friend here, I don’t know where I would be.” 

Richey said at any given time there could be twenty other people struggling with homelessness living in these same woods. She admitted that some steal, some suffer from addiction, but for her, she has simply fallen on hard times.

“We didn’t ask for this life. It chose us. Nobody chooses to be homeless.”

Richey works 30 hours a week at a store in Portland earning $300 a week. “I love my job. I love being out there with the public. I love meeting new people.”

She’s been working since March. But when the family she was living with was evicted, Richey didn’t have any other housing option. The tent was it.

“It’s hard. But I’m doing it. I have to keep pushing on. Because if I don’t, I won’t survive.”

This isn’t Richey’s first time being homeless. She’s been in this situation twice before. But she said, this time, the services outside of Nashville are few and far between. “I would give anything to do, just to be able to take a shower.”

For now, Richey washes up in the woods, saves what little money she can, and keeps focused on a brighter future somewhere else.

WKRN asked Richey if she has a deep faith that it will get better. “Yeah, I pray to that man every day and every night. And I know he’s with me. And it may not be today, next week, or in a month or whatever, but I know he’s got me and he’s going to lead me to where I need to go, to show me where I need to be to get back on my feet.”

Richey’s dream is to save up enough to buy a vehicle and move out of Tennessee with a fresh start somewhere else.