JenniferBowman

Jennifer Bowman

3-9-09

Nashville Day 3

For our work today everyone headed to the Nashville Rescue Mission. When we all arrived they took us on a tour of the facility and gave us some background information which was really interesting. It was really a good experience because we all got to see the huge rooms where the homeless come into sleep every night. It never really hit me how many people that they house there until I saw the rooms with the massive amounts of bunk beds. It made me realize that there is a much greater homeless population than I thought, but it also made me realize that I have so much to be thankful for that I tend to take for granted.

Once we went on the tour they gave us options as to where we wanted to work for the morning. The options were working in the basement, kitchen work, helping in the coat closet where they hand out free clothes, or going to a classroom to help teach. I am an education major so I was very excited that I could help work in a classroom. The classes that the participants in the rehab program take are to help them earn their G.E.D. so that they can find a job. I was able to help in the level two math class which was the best experience of the day for me. I really enjoyed being able to help one on one with the men and help explain the math problems to them. The men were so appreciative of our help and they were so genuine and kind to us. I had a lot of fun getting to know them and help them learn at the same time. It made me feel like I had accomplished something that was a big deal and I felt pretty great about myself until the end of class. When it was time for them to go a man named Albert stood up to pray. It was one of the most humbling times of the week because he just thanked God for us and asked God to bless us. This really made me reconsider a bunch of things in my life because I feel like we should be praying for them because they have so little and have had such rough lives, but they were more concerned about praying for us. This was definitely an awesome morning for me and I formed some good relationships while getting life experience in a classroom.

After class, we ate lunch at the mission and then the majority of us went down to the basement to get back to work sorting and organizing. This was kind of frustrating to me just because I enjoyed the work with the men so much and I felt like the basement was a place of confinement away from human interaction. It was good to go through some stuff and try to help it look better, but at the same time that basement is just so huge that it feels like not much is getting done. I was getting tired down there along with everyone else and it seemed like we were really starting to drag. So we tried to make the best of things and keep going, but it was difficult at times. I have decided that when we return on Wednesday I would like to find more work with the residents and homeless because that is where I feel like I am really doing service and getting to talk to new people is something that I really enjoy.