As Nashville’s vast network of providers gear up to again shelter hundreds of people from winter weather tonight, Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Director of Law Wally Dietz today joined a national legal challenge to prevent unlawful changes by the Trump-Vance Administration that could push nearly 1,000 currently housed individuals back into unsafe housing situations or homelessness. Nashville is among a broad coalition of local governments and nonprofit groups challenging recent changes to the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care (CoC) funding conditions without approval from Congress, public comment, or a transition plan.
“The new rules will decimate permanent supportive housing and the Continuum of Care program as we know it—undoing proven, lifesaving programs Nashville has used for years to move people from homelessness to successfully housed,” said Mayor O’Connell. “With more than 110 experienced community partners, we’ve started building a housing crisis resolution system in Nashville, and much of it could be wiped out overnight. The damage would be immediate and irreversible. For domestic violence survivors, this is life or death. If allowed to stand, survivors would be pushed into an impossible choice: unsheltered homelessness or returning to an abuser. At the Mary Parrish Center, one of the organizations I’m suing to protect, 100% of those they serve believe their abuser is capable of killing them. And while we question the values underlying this action, we’re certain the action is unlawful.”
“This reversal in established policy that dates back to President George W. Bush is contrary to law and cruel. Almost 1,000 people in Nashville face the possibility of being evicted, hundreds in the middle of winter. The Trump administration is taking a wrecking ball to a system that works; evidence shows that a housing first policy has reduced the number of people experiencing homelessness by significant percentages. Over the past three years, we have reduced the mortality rate in this vulnerable population by 45 percent. The immediate impact on people and nonprofits in Nashville will be devastating,” said Wally Dietz, Director of Law for Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County.
The CoC program is the backbone of Nashville’s housing system for people experiencing homelessness, providing Nashville and its nonprofit partners with the resources needed to fund permanent housing projects for veterans, seniors, people with disabilities, domestic violence survivors, families, and individuals with children. On November 13, 2025, without explanation, HUD rescinded a necessary program notice, replacing it with one that threatens existing services. The new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for FY 2025 upends the stability of the program required by law. The changes violate federal law by rewriting Congress’s program, which agencies are not allowed to do. Congress decides how the funds can be used and has repeatedly directed HUD to prioritize housing stability, Housing First (which means not requiring treatment before obtaining supportive housing), and renewal of existing projects. All have been slashed by the new rules by more than 60% and could be reduced to zero. HUD is also conditioning funding on requirements that conflict with federal laws protecting survivors of domestic violence, including the Violence Against Women Act and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act.
Nashville is represented in the suit by the Public Rights Project.
Read the national press release from Democracy Forward.
Read the full complaint.
Read declarations about the impacts from the proposed changes from Nashville’s Office of Homeless Services and local providers Safe Haven and The Mary Parrish Center.
