Each year, the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) brings more than 10,000 attendees to cities across the United States. The Brewers Association is committed to ensuring that the craft brewing community is a force for good in the cities we visit by spearheading a Community Engagement Project in conjunction with the Craft Brewers Conference. These projects provide an opportunity for the craft brewing community to engage and learn from the communities we visit while coming together to meet local needs.

This year, the Brewers Association is partnering with the Community Resource Center to combat housing insecurity by providing personal and household hygiene kits to Middle Tennessee communities in need.

Housing insecurity can include a variety of challenges including:

  • Lack of access to affordable housing
  • Lack of access to safe and stable housing
  • Being cost-burdened (30%+ of income spent on housing)
  • Experiencing frequent moves
  • Experiencing homelessness

This issue hits close to home for the hospitality industries. Front line hospitality workers—who are commonly categorized as ALICE (asset-limited, income-constrained, yet employed)—disproportionately experience housing insecurity, particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This CBC Community Engagement Project has been designed under the guidance of the Community Resource Center to assist individuals, children, and families in Middle Tennessee who are experiencing housing insecurity. CBC attendees will assemble kits that will help CRC to ensure that grade school students are able attend to school every day feeling clean, confident, and ready to learn; that unhoused residents of Middle Tennessee have access to critical non-food basic needs to stay clean and safe in the summer months; that people who menstruate have consistent access to basic period supplies; and that working families do not have to choose between paying for rent, food, or essential household items.