Tennessean announces project honoring Gail Kerr

The Tennessean is launching a fundraising project to help the homeless in memory of longtime columnist Gail Kerr, who on several occasions used her writing to encourage efforts to house Nashville's most vulnerable population.

The campaign, called Gail Kerr's House The Homeless fund, mirrors a project the beloved columnist proposed before she died of an apparent blood clot on March 25. She had planned to partner with How's Nashville, a coalition including Metro's Homelessness Commission and a long list of nonprofits, to raise money for housing.

Since June, the How's Nashville coalition has moved more than 400 of the city's most vulnerable homeless people into housing at a cost of about $1,000 a person.

In a proposal pitching the partnership last fall, Kerr called How's Nashville "an unprecedented effort to 'drop the silos' in the caring community and get a tough goal accomplished by working together to raise money." She also knew there would be deadly consequences for some Nashvillians if something wasn't done.

"Homelessness in Nashville is lethal," she wrote.

Her third bout with cancer delayed plans to start raising money in February. The Tennessean announced this week that the organization was moving forward with Kerr's proposal.

The goal is to raise $25,000.

"The Tennessean wants to create this legacy project in Gail's name to fulfill her wish of helping How's Nashville in its work with the chronically homeless," said Laura Hollingsworth, Tennessean president and publisher. "We want the community to share in this opportunity to honor Gail."

Tennessean editor Maria De Varenne said the project reflects Kerr's passion for helping people. Years before she wrote her fundraising proposal, Kerr regularly used her lunch breaks to serve lunch to the homeless and urban poor at Downtown Presbyterian Church.

"Gail is an icon in the community, and this will fulfill a dream she had of helping the homeless," De Varenne said.

Political consultant Tom Ingram, who jokingly called himself a target and a source of Kerr, said a legacy of service is a perfect fit for a woman who "left a sparkle everywhere she went."

"It's so fitting that she leaves behind a vision that calls on the rest of us to reach out and take care of someone else," he said. "That's pure Gail Kerr."

Kerr jump-started her legacy with her columns. When she wrote about the How's Nashville coalition in July of last year, Judith Tackett with the Homelessness Commission saw a surge in interest.

"She could bring the story home," Tackett said. "I saw it in responses, in emails. I saw it in contributions to the campaign. It helped people move in."

Several local leaders have agreed to give to the new fund. The Tennessean is donating $5,000.

The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors has promised to give $1,000. Colin Reed, chairman, CEO and president of Ryman Hospitality Properties, pledged $5,000 on his organization's behalf.

"I very much admired Gail and looked forward to her columns," Reed said in an email. "Our city has lost one of its true champions, and our company wanted to do our small part to help preserve her legacy."

Gail Kerr's husband Les Kerr remembered her sitting on the couch with her in the evening while she eagerly discussing the opportunity to help the How's Nashville cause. He said The Tennessean's project would bring the same kind of practical progress she celebrated as a journalist.

"She was always one for solving problems," he said. "This is just another way she can get things done."

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 or on Twitter @tamburintweets.

How to give

You can give to Gail Kerr's House The Homeless fund by visiting the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee's website at www.cfmt.org. Donations can also be mailed to the Community Foundation's office at 3833 Cleghorn Ave., Nashville, TN 37215. If you're writing a check, be sure to include the fund's name in the memo line.