JenniferHellems

Jennifer Hellems

SOWK 350

Dr. Campbell

Journal Entry 2

Sunday March 9, 2009

Today we went to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts then explored downtown Nashville. I really enjoyed this evening and really like Nashville. The Frist Center was really cool I enjoyed myself very much. Of course my favorite part was the hands on stuff upstairs that I’m sure was intended for the yonger kids. The main exhibit today was Seeing Ourselves Photographs of Safe Haven. This exhibit contained several pictures of some of the people that live or have lived in the Safe Haven Family Shelter.

Unlike most of the shelters you encounter where the families are split up, the Safe Haven Family Shelter is designed for families. Other shelters are strictly for men or women and children it isn’t very often that families are able to stay together under these circumstances.

I loved all the pictures of the kids from the exhibit and some were about parents, but my favorite one was the one titled ‘Ferris (age 12) Cracking the Human Genome.’ It was my favorite because it said “Ferris, an honor role student, is driven by ambitions and determinations. When presented with the challenge of creating and directing his photograph, Ferris knew he wanted to be seen as a scientist dissecting a model of the human genome.” This let me know that just because this child has had some unfortunate things happen in his life he is still hopeful and knows that one day things can change for him. Things can change for the better and he can do and be whatever he wants to be. I believe that kids need hope and need to always be looking up and I believe this picture shows that.

After I went through and looked at all the pictures from this exhibit I watched the video about Safe Haven Family Shelter and I at first wondered why we weren’t helping out there. It looked like a great place to go and help and interact with people. As I watched the video and seeing all the people that were helped by this place and comparing it to the places we were volunteering at I realized that we weren’t helping out in this particular place because the places we are stationed at need our help more than Safe Haven does. Safe Haven, I feel is ahead of these other places and doesn’t need our help as bad.

The end of the video made me tear up, it was about a woman who had four girls and one boy and she was able to go from being homeless to having her own place for her and her children. It touched me because as they went through looking at the house she was pointing out things that I take for granted everyday. I couldn’t help but think that she has such a long struggle throughout the rest of her life with five kids, but she has come so far.

Safe Haven seems like a wonderful place and seems to be doing great things in Nashville. I am so happy that there are places out there to help people who really need it.