GraceHurney

Grace Hurney

Civic Engagement

8 March 2009

Reflections: Day One

The started out early. Very, very early. But in all honesty, it wasn’t that bad- I didn’t have to wear flip flops in the shower, so life was good. My team, Team Jesse (I think its Team One), was assigned to work at the Campus for Human Development for the day. When we arrived at the Campus, there seemed to be a lot of trepidation in the air; no one really knew what to expect. I personally arrived with my middle class white girl mindset- homeless people are to be given money, but to be watchful of. We discussed in the bus whether or not we should leave our cameras and phones and cash in the vehicle. I will openly admit that I was a bit fearful of what the day would bring- I would later discover my fears were entirely unfounded, but for the time being I was close minded and afraid. We met with Wendy, the (assumed) director of the Campus. She gave us a tour of the facility, explaining the programs they offered, the reward system for attending classes, and introduced us to their Odyssey program. The Odyssey program is a two year program for chronically homeless men (men who have been homeless for over a year or three times in four years) who wish to “begin their journey back home” . The men go through different phases of the program, each step gradually bringing them closer to living their lives as they would wish, sober and stable. I volunteered to work painting the bathrooms in one of the wings of the center.

My “good moment” of the day was when we were painting, one of the participants, whom I later inferred was a veteran staying in the Campus, came up to us and started chatting with us. He asked what we were doing, what we were working with, etc.- fairly normal questions for a group of college girls holding paintbrushes in a homeless shelter. The man looked at our bucket of primer and frowned a bit. He then proceeded to warn us that the primer we were using was very strong and might make us feel faint. He left, and we began to paint the walls. He came back fifteen minutes later (he had a walker, so it was difficult for him to navigate the narrow hallway strewn with painting supplies), asking us if we were feeling alright. We said it was all okay, and he reminded us to step out and get some fresh air every fifteen to twenty minutes or so. For the rest of the day, this man would check on us and even stood with Nicole Bartley when she was on the ladder painting to ensure she didn’t get dizzy and fall. His compassion and concern for us, complete strangers, was humbling and wonderful at the same time.

The frustrating moment of the day was the fact that we weren’t really adequately switched out of our jobs. I took breaks from the paint fumes, but I ended up fairly sick by the afternoon. I just wished we could have cycled people out to keep everyone from getting sick. Inhaling that much paint fumes is certainly not safe…

The random moment of the day was probably going to the Nashville Rescue Mission for the first time. I can’t say I’ve lived an insular life; I’ve done my fair share of volunteer work since I was young, but I have never worked or been in a “soup kitchen”. Walking through the crowd of people at dinner time, we were yelled at and antagonized for skipping line. I do admit a group of college kids, predominately white and well dressed, doesn’t look the best. I feel a bit guilty eating food that is meant for people that can’t afford to eat dinner. I can certainly afford to buy lunch and dinner on my own for a week if that means one more person could get the chance to eat.