New beginnings for almost 200 Nashville families after apartment complex lease ends

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Nearly 200 Nashville families are just months away from a change that could impact their families for generations to come. As people got a first look at what would be their new homes, a woman shared how she fought hard to make it a reality.

From the wind-torn signs to the garbage littering the gated complex, 197 families in Nashville’s Berkshire Place Apartments have reluctantly called mold-infested apartments their home.

“The buildings are very old,” said Terraka Holmes, a longtime resident of Berkshire Place Apartments. “We have like mold inside of our apartments. They barely fix things.”

But even that was about to go away. This subsidized housing complex is at the end of its lease, meaning all these families would be without a place to stay.

“The old place was going away. Period. It was going away. Berkshire Place Apartments was dilapidated. We have been there 22 years, and you couldn’t do anything else to fix it,” said Pastor Glenda Sutton of Family Affairs Ministries.

Sutton couldn’t let that happen. She teamed up with Trent Development Group for the land and construction. Then convinced the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to get on board.

“And when he saw what was in an old place... whoa,” Sutton said as tears began to well up in her eyes. Then she continued, “What was in an old place? And then he asked me what could happen. And I said opportunity.”

An opportunity we got to see first-hand as people boarded a bus for a 12-mile trip to new beginnings.

“You’ve heard the old saying that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it’s gonna take a community to make a new village.” Sutton said,

That new Village is Birchstone Village in Madison. Behind the noise of nail guns and Miter saws, an apartment complex with one to three-bedroom apartments. The apartments have high-end amenities like washers and dryers. The complex also has a community center, a playground and a commercial kitchen for cooking lessons.

“I feel like this is just the beginning for all of us. Like this is going to be a start for us,” Holmes said after touring what will be her brand-new neighborhood.

All 197 families have the option to move here - without an increase in their subsidized rent and without a deposit. Sutton hopes this project becomes a model for how HUD develops subsidized housing.

“When you dream your dream always involves somebody else. So here is an opportunity for people to dream and involve all of their neighbors and their community and a community to support the dream.” Said Sutton.

“It’s a blessing. Especially from where I’m coming from. The black community is coming from. It’s a blessing to us,” Holmes said.

The first tenants are set to move into the new place in the Spring of next year. Moving is expensive and Sutton is trying to find partners to help with that as well.

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