JenniferBowman

Jennifer Bowman

3-10-09

Nashville Day 4

I was really excited about today because I knew that my group would be working at a new location, the Campus for Human Development. I was looking forward to seeing a new facility and meeting new people. The Campus is a lot different than the Nashville Rescue Mission, but both are good and help people in need. The Campus is a whole lot smaller which is a good thing because it makes it feel more like a home. At the Campus they also focus more on the emotional needs of the individual and they focus a lot of their outreach on art. They have a whole room for art projects and some of the participants are really talented and it helps them deal with stress and get their feelings out.

After we got familiar with the place and the tour by the leader, Wendy, we split up into different tasks. I was really happy when I found out that they had a women’s time that was about to happen and they allowed four of us to help some students from Creighton University do a project with them. There was a very big group of women and we started a huge mural made with pieces of torn construction paper. I really enjoyed this time because it was the first time at any of the places that we were able to be with women. Talking to those women was a really good time and some of them have had the hardest times but yet they are still thankful for what they have at the Campus. For example, one of the women had walked four miles just to get there that day and she was on the run from domestic violence. I felt terrible for her but she seemed to be doing alright considering her circumstances. The Campus seems to really help lift the spirits of the people that they come into contact with.

The Campus to me is such a great place because it gives the residents a feeling of independence and worth. For example, when we were in the art room one of the men told us that he was happier now at the Campus than he ever was before. They do what they can to help everybody. The store that they run is based on points so the participants have to earn points by going to different classes in order to purchase whatever they would like at the store. They also offer things at the store like McDonald’s gift cards and storage areas for possessions for a month. Another thing that they offer that I really liked is a mail room. Homeless people need to get mail like everyone else but they have no permanent address. The Campus allows them to have things sent there for pick up so that they can receive and send mail. This service is also helpful to them when they are looking for a job.

The thing today that was probably the greatest though involves a man named Francisco. We saw him in on our way out for lunch and Wendy pointed him out to us and told him that he was previously beat up pretty bad and that is why he is in a wheelchair. We stopped to talk to him when we saw that he was trying to pick up some beads that he lost from his plastic bag. We helped him pick up the beads and taped his bag and he told us that he was going to make a cross necklace and needed some string for it. We all were touched by him so on our way back to our van to leave we brought him some string from Campus. He was so incredibly happy that we actually thought of him and remembered his string that he called us angels. It was a great experience and Francisco is someone who I will not soon forget.

Another thing that I worked on today was painting the cubbies that the participants use to store their belongings. This experience was very aggravating in the beginning because the group that went on Saturday had started them and they did it very half way. It was very frustrating because not only did we have to paint some cubbies but we had to go back and fix their mistakes and fill in white space that they left. It was fun once we got stared and it felt good to get them finished and looking well. Wendy was so very appreciative of our work and it was so good to feel like we accomplished something good.