NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Trinity Community Commons is redeveloping a historic church property on Trinity Lane in East Nashville into 22 affordable homes for families, along with a community resource and food hub.
The nonprofit, founded in 2013, has spent years hosting weekly community meals and building relationships with neighbors facing homelessness and displacement. That work shaped the vision now taking form on the grounds of the former Trinity United Methodist Church.
“Everybody was welcome, and everybody had value, and everybody had something to contribute,” said Executive Director Zach Lykins.
Lykins first came to the property as a neighbor.
“I just showed up as a neighbor to dinners back in 2017,” Lykins said.
The path to redevelopment was not straightforward. In 2021, fire ripped through the old Trinity United Methodist Church sanctuary. The following year, after the congregation voted to close, the church deeded the property to Trinity Community Commons.
“We had to start reimagining what to do since then,” Lykins said.
The result is a development that will include 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom apartment-style homes designed specifically for families, built in partnership with Safe Haven Family Shelter, Nelson Community Partners, and The Nashville Food Project.
“We’re actively redeveloping this to build 22 affordable homes for families and a community resource and food hub to connect neighbors to each other, to healthy food, to service providers and more,” Lykins said.
The former sanctuary will also be repurposed as part of the project.
“So the sanctuary right next door gets converted to that community hub, that neighborhood facility,” Lykins said.
“We wanted to do something that was aligned with our mission of showing radical hospitality, but also was fundable and sustainable and met a real need in our neighborhood and our city,” Lykins said.
Much of the project is being funded through community support and donations. Construction is expected to begin before the end of this year, with the first families expected to move in by the end of 2027.
To learn more, donate, or become a member, visit trinitycommunitycommons.org.
This story was reported on-air by journalist Kelsey Gibbs and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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