Register for the Run for the Homeless

Untitled_-_1_1 The Key Alliance in partnership with the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission will hold the second annual Run for the Homeless on

Saturday, May 12, 2012

at the Hall of Fame Park, 121 Fourth Avenue South (across from the Country Music Hall of Fame).

The Run for the Homeless is a 5K run/walk through Downtown Nashville. We encourage runners and walkers, individuals, families, and teams to participate.

Event Schedule:
Registration/Check In: 6:30 a.m.
Race Start: 8 a.m.
Entertainment and Awards following the Race
Team Prize for Largest Team

At the award ceremony following the race, we will hold a drawing between the teams with the most members. The largest team who wins the drawing will receive a free breakfast catered by The Cookery, a catering café and culinary training center for homeless men..

Pre–registration Fee: $25 per person, $10 for kids 12 years of age and under, team participation is encouraged.
Registration at the event is $30 per person, $15 for kids 12 years of age and under.

The event will be held in the Downtown area with start and finish at the Hall of Fame Park. To view the course certification including the course outline, click here.

Please, help us spread the word, download and print registration flyers for your friends, for your work colleagues, and for your congregation, and invite them to participate.

ChampionChip timing and Race Management by the Nashville Striders.

Will will hold an award ceremony immediately after the event. Awards will be given:
Three deep Male/Female overall and Masters (40+). Age groups: Three deep Male/Female—five-year increments from 14 and under to 80+.

All proceeds from the Run for the Homeless will benefit Housing First, a best-practice model that offers permanent housing coupled with intensive case management to some of the most vulnerable homeless individuals in our community. Housing First is a cost-effective and proven solution to homelessness. During the past five years of supporting a Housing First program in Nashville, we found that a low case manager-to-client ratio (1:10) is a crucial factor in helping people remain housed. We contract with Eckman/Freeman & Associates whose case managers are master's level social workers who are available to their Housing First clients on a 24/7 basis. The key to success is to meet clients where they are and help them make sound decisions that lead to self-sufficiency.
Our inaugural Run for the Homeless at Hall of Fame Park went smoothly. We would like to thank all 300 participants of the 2011 inaugural Run for the Homeless, our volunteers, sponsors - and especially the Nashville Striders for a great event last year.
To view photos of the Run for the Homeless, click here.
We partnered with the Nashville Striders and had an award ceremony with entertainment and drawings following the Run for the Homeless. Top finishers received a roundtrip airline ticket courtesy of Southwest Airlines.

5K Training Schedule for Beginners

If you have never run a 5K, do not fret. You can walk our 5K. However, if you would like to challenge yourself and see if you can run part of it, we dug up a 7-week training schedule for beginners posted and approved by the Mayor Clinic. Click here to download the beginners training schedule. Good luck with your training and please help us spread the word.

If you would like to start and maintain a regular walking routine, click here for advice and tips. You can also register for WalkingWorks, which helps you maintain your achievements and goals.

We need Volunteers

We need volunteers to help us make this year's Run for the Homeless another successful event. Volunteer positions include: assisting with registration, distributing t-shirts, food and necessary race information/equipment, parking assistance, organizing runners/walkers, directing runners/walkers through the downtown course, stopping traffic from driving down the closed race course and clean-up.

To volunteer, please sign up through Hands on Nashville (click here).

Sponsorship Opportunities

Please click here for our sponsorship material. The sponsorship levels for all our events are listed below as well:

PLATINUM KEY SPONSOR - $10,000

Platinum Key level sponsors have the opportunity to negotiate the distribution of their contribution at our events throughout the year. This will result in continuous exposure to our different audiences. (Click here to view a brief summary of our most prominent events.)

GOLD KEY SPONSOR - $5,000

Prominent logo placement on our Website with link to your Website
Company mentioned in an article about the event on the home page of our Website
Prominent logo placement on all promotional items such as posters, t-shirts, display items, and signs at the event
Recognition given and logo placement in our annual report
Organization mentioned in our press releases and included in media kits
Recognition given and logo placement through our social media outreach (Facebook and Twitter)
Opportunity to be featured in an article with prominent logo placement in our online newsletter (4,000 subscribers), which is posted on our Website and our blog
Opportunity for someone at your organization to speak at the event
Six (6) complementary entries to the event (if applicable)

SILVER KEY SPONSOR - $2,500

Logo placement on our Website with a link to your company's Website
Logo placement on all promotional items such as posters, t-shirts, display items, and signs at the event
Recognition given and logo placement in our annual report
Organization mentioned in media kits
Recognition given and logo placement through our social media outreach (Facebook and Twitter)
Four (4) complimentary entries to the event (if applicable)

BRONZE KEY SPONSOR - $1,000

Logo placement on our Website with link to your company's Website
Logo placement on all promotional items such as posters, t-shirts, display items, and signs at the event
Recognition given and logo placement in our annual report
Two (2) complimentary entries to the event (if applicable)

LOWER LEVEL SPONSORSHIPS

$500:
Logo on our Website
Logo on signs/banners at event
Two (2) complimentary entries to the event (if applicable)

$250:
Logo on our Website
Two (2) complimentary entries to the event (if applicable) For questions and more sponsorship information, please contact Clifton Harris at 615-862-6401 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

To donate online, click on the "Join The Key Alliance" button.

The Key Alliance is a
501(c)3 nonprofit organization that partners with the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission to bring together the community to collaborate around permanent solutions to homelessness in Nashville.

NEWSTICKER

Upcoming Events:

Project Homeless Connect
March 28, 2012, from 8 a.m.- 3 p.m. (services begin at 9 a.m.) at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, 500 Wedgewood Avenue. We need 500-700 volunteers, please sign up through Hands on Nashville.

Project Arts Connect runs through March 2
Project Arts Connect is a event hosted by the Metro Arts Commission and The Key Alliance who are collaborating with The Contributor newspaper and Room In The Inn to exhibit artwork by Nashville artists who have been affected by homelessness. The show is exhibited at the Metro Arts Gallery, on the 4th floor of the Metro Office Building, 800 Second Ave. South. The exhibit is free and open to the public and will run through March 2.

Project Homeless Connect on March 28
The Key Alliance is partnering with the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission to host the fourth annual Project Homeless Connect event on March 28, 2012, at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. We are seeking 500 volunteers. To volunteer, please sign up at Hands on Nashville.

Run for the Homeless on May 12
The second annual Run for the Homeless, a 5K walk/run through Downtown Nashville will take place on May 12, 2012. Sign up starts at 6:30 a.m. with the race to begin at 8 a.m. Register here.

ReCommunity Calendar
The Key Alliance hosts a new feature on its Website: A Community Calendar (view tab on the left). Service providers are invited to email details of their events and happenings they would like to be listed on our Community Calendar to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Contributor goes to twice monthly
On Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, The Contributor, Nashville's successful street newspaper, will publish two issues per month. "In a time when print media is on the decline, street newspapers all around the world have seen major increases in distribution. The Contributor, now the highest-distributing street newspaper in North America, is a leader in the global street newspaper movement’s success. Thanks to the hard work and determination of its vendors and staff, as well as the generosity of its donors, The Contributor has grown exponentially over the last two years, enabling approximately one-third of the paper’s vendors to earn enough money to obtain housing." - Andrew Krinks, The Contributor's editor, in a recent press release.

Volunteer Award
The Key Alliance is proud to announce that our volunteer, Ben Morton, was honored with the Phyllis M. Frank Volunteer Award by the Nashville Coaltion for the Homeless for his outstanding efforts to help the local homeless community. Read the press release here.

New initiative launched called Adopt A Unit
The Key Alliance, in partnership with the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission, has launched a new program called Adopt A Unit that invites congregations to help formerly homeless individuals establish a household.
For more information, click here.

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The next MHC meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 2, 2012, at 9:30 a.m. in the Sonny West Conference Room of the Howard Office Building (Fulton Complex), 700 Second Ave. South.

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A Summary Report of the Committee on Police/Homeless Issues of the MHC is posted here.

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Adopt A Meter Program

The Key Alliance has partnered with NashVitality to promote its Adopt A Meter program.
The program places refurbished "parking" meters in high foot traffic areas Downtown. All change collected will benefit homeless outreach with the goal to place people into Housing First. For a $1,000 sponsorship, contact Clifton Harris at 862-6401 or email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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The Key Alliance launched a Speaker's Bureau program. We are available to speak to groups larger than 10 members including businesses, neighborhood associations, civic groups and congregations.

Contact Judy Tackett at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to set up YOUR meeting.

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To date the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission and MDHA have been able to connect 37 homeless individuals who lost everything in the May floods with Section 8 Housing vouchers. The Homelessness Commission has closed the program. All Section 8 Voucher applicants have to go through MDHA's Secion 8 Office at 620 Dew Street.

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If you would like to be included on our volunteer e-mail list for special events and other opportunities, or sign up for our newsletter, please contact Judy Tackett at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For media inquiries
call Judy Tackett at 517-7000.