With the establishment of a Resident Services Department last year, the first in the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency’s history, MDHA has revitalized its service center, adding more partners offering resources under one roof in south Nashville and relaunching it under a new name, the Valuing Opportunities, Inclusion and Connectivity for Everyone (VOICE) Center. MDHA was joined by Mayor Freddie O’Connell, elected officials, partners, residents and other Nashvillians for an open house on Thursday, Dec. 12 to commemorate the new revitalized direction of the center.
“I’d like to thank MDHA and all the partners for delivering on a comprehensive vision of customer and resident service,” said Mayor O’Connell. “This center amplifies Nashvillians’ own voices as they seek opportunity, and I’m excited to see MDHA bring so many important services to the VOICE Center that will help residents thrive in Music City and secure their sense of belonging in Nashville.”
“This center amplifies Nashvillians’ own voices as they seek opportunity, and I’m excited to see MDHA bring so many important services to the VOICE Center that will help residents thrive in Music City and secure their sense of belonging in Nashville,” said Mayor Freddie O’Connell.
The VOICE Center is a one-stop shop for not only residents at MDHA’s neighboring Napier Place and Sudekum Apartments communities, but anyone in need in Nashville, to access resources offered by MDHA Resident Services Department staff and other nonprofit partners and agencies who have designated spaces in the building.
These partners are Dominion Financial Management, Meharry Medical College School of Public Health, the Metro Public Health Department’s Nashville Strong Babies program, Urban League of Middle Tennessee, Oasis Center and the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development.
“Our goal is to give residents the tools and wraparound services they need so they can have the dignity of work,” said Deputy Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development Dewayne Scott. “We need to go where the residents are so we can bring the transversion to them.”
Upon joining the Agency in 2021, MDHA Executive Director Dr. Troy D. White established three pillars: residents, staff and development. He identified forming a Resident Services Department as vital to the residents pillar.
“We consolidated operations to create this department because investing in our residents is too important,” said Dr. White. “The approximately 30,000 Nashvillians that MDHA houses have a voice, and this center is a catalyst on their pathway to self-sufficiency.”
“The approximately 30,000 Nashvillians that MDHA houses have a voice, and this center is a catalyst on their pathway to self-sufficiency,” said MDHA Executive Director Dr. Troy D. White.
The VOICE Center is located at 78 Lafayette St., Nashville, TN, 37210. It is open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Watch the opening remarks from the VOICE Center Open House below.
