Akeya Carter-Bozman
Reflection Day Four
March 11, 2009
Today my group worked at the Music City Mission, which is ran by a pastor and his congregation of forty to fifty people here in Nashville. The mission serves homeless and low income families and individuals. The mission also works in conjunction with the thrift stores in the area in efforts raise money to keep the mission going. Music City mission services people from all around the world, refugees who have escaped many different backgrounds come in to receive services. Some of the services offered at Music City Mission are counseling (personal and family), clothing, food basket, starter home furnishings, and life skills training. The only problem the mission really faces is that most of the people they serve is Spanish speaking, but the director of the mission and his workers don’t understand or speak a word of Spanish.
Our task today was to prepare and restock the clothing floor and we also made food baskets for all the family’s who came in to utilize all the services. I felt great to watch to organize for the mission. We finished the children’s closet, two food pantries’s, and over sorted two rooms worth of clothing.
As I have worked throughout the week I have grown to understand and not judge people. I had a real problem with being judgmental. I met a social worker today who absolutely loves his job! We talked for what seemed like hours over lunch about the highs and lows of the profession. He did leave me with one piece of advice he said that I should find my own way in the field, and treat people with respect, love what I do. This was the highlight of my day.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
KristinaChampe
Kristina Champe
Alternative Spring Break
Reflection Day 4
Today our group went to the Campus for Human Development. This place was amazing! I really enjoyed working at this place. When we got there we took a tour of the facility and it was so bright and cheerful, and the people there were so much more relaxed than at the Nashville Rescue Mission. They have a place called the “Guest House” and this place is where the police can bring people who are publicly intoxicated and they can sleep it off and sometimes get help for alcoholism. Ms. Wendy was so much fun and she was super nice to us. After we took a tour we split up into groups and Ms. Wendy let a few of us stay behind and talk with the women’s group that was coming in. We asked her if we could speak with the women since we had only been with the men. She was more than happy to let us. When the women’s group came up to the chapel room, there was another college group there and they were doing a mural together and we got to tear up paper and they glued them to the picture that they had drawn. During this time another girl and I were talking with one of the ladies and she was amazing. She told us that her and her husband was there together and that they had just celebrated their 36th anniversary last week. It was so sweet. We didn’t get to meet her husband because he was at the doctors’ office because he had pneumonia for the fourth time. Another girl in our group said she talked to a lady to was running from her abusive boyfriend. This was so sad. She said that this was the third or fourth time she had run away and the last time her boyfriend found her in another state. Also she said that she had gotten up at 2am this morning and walked 4 miles to get to the campus.
I really enjoyed working there and wish that I would have worked there all week. This place was so much fun and wasn’t hard work and I could actually stay awake and not be tired after lunch. It was great!
Alternative Spring Break
Reflection Day 4
Today our group went to the Campus for Human Development. This place was amazing! I really enjoyed working at this place. When we got there we took a tour of the facility and it was so bright and cheerful, and the people there were so much more relaxed than at the Nashville Rescue Mission. They have a place called the “Guest House” and this place is where the police can bring people who are publicly intoxicated and they can sleep it off and sometimes get help for alcoholism. Ms. Wendy was so much fun and she was super nice to us. After we took a tour we split up into groups and Ms. Wendy let a few of us stay behind and talk with the women’s group that was coming in. We asked her if we could speak with the women since we had only been with the men. She was more than happy to let us. When the women’s group came up to the chapel room, there was another college group there and they were doing a mural together and we got to tear up paper and they glued them to the picture that they had drawn. During this time another girl and I were talking with one of the ladies and she was amazing. She told us that her and her husband was there together and that they had just celebrated their 36th anniversary last week. It was so sweet. We didn’t get to meet her husband because he was at the doctors’ office because he had pneumonia for the fourth time. Another girl in our group said she talked to a lady to was running from her abusive boyfriend. This was so sad. She said that this was the third or fourth time she had run away and the last time her boyfriend found her in another state. Also she said that she had gotten up at 2am this morning and walked 4 miles to get to the campus.
I really enjoyed working there and wish that I would have worked there all week. This place was so much fun and wasn’t hard work and I could actually stay awake and not be tired after lunch. It was great!
JessicaKirk
Kirk, Jessica
3-10-09
Alternative Spring Break in Nashville
Day four
Today my group went to the Music City Rescue Mission. This mission was different from the others we had previously visited. This mission offered free food, clothes, and even furniture to those who came and asked for help. The main thing that set this mission apart from the others was that it not only saw homeless people but also refuges from places such as Darfur. Pastor Bob said at one point they had people from five different continents in the mission.
Today's experience was rewarding in the fact that we had contact with women and children. At the other places we had no contact with women and children who mainly stayed at another compound which requires a background check to get be able to visit. Its easy to look at a grown man and claim to sympathize with them, but to see a woman and her child its heartbreaking to think about what they must go through each day.
One thing that was frustrating to day was these two women who was there with their children getting supplies from the mission. What made this frustrating though was that the women had maybe three garbage bags of clothes between them and still browsing through the racks of clothes looking for more to take home. I understand needing new clothes every now and then, but Im sure there are other people who need it more; not to mention both women had really nice purses that definitely weren't cheap and not from a mission.
The only story that really stands out to me is the story about when we was bagging beans and rice. Pastor Bob gave us blue tubs to put the rice and bean bags into, so we filled all of the containers up to the top. Later Eric comes over and with him he has three huge clear tubs with lids and tells us that Bob wants them in those because thay have lids. Well after we filled them Pastor Bob comes over and tells us "No those are for clothes only". We ended up switching the tubs like two or three times before we finally got it right.
3-10-09
Alternative Spring Break in Nashville
Day four
Today my group went to the Music City Rescue Mission. This mission was different from the others we had previously visited. This mission offered free food, clothes, and even furniture to those who came and asked for help. The main thing that set this mission apart from the others was that it not only saw homeless people but also refuges from places such as Darfur. Pastor Bob said at one point they had people from five different continents in the mission.
Today's experience was rewarding in the fact that we had contact with women and children. At the other places we had no contact with women and children who mainly stayed at another compound which requires a background check to get be able to visit. Its easy to look at a grown man and claim to sympathize with them, but to see a woman and her child its heartbreaking to think about what they must go through each day.
One thing that was frustrating to day was these two women who was there with their children getting supplies from the mission. What made this frustrating though was that the women had maybe three garbage bags of clothes between them and still browsing through the racks of clothes looking for more to take home. I understand needing new clothes every now and then, but Im sure there are other people who need it more; not to mention both women had really nice purses that definitely weren't cheap and not from a mission.
The only story that really stands out to me is the story about when we was bagging beans and rice. Pastor Bob gave us blue tubs to put the rice and bean bags into, so we filled all of the containers up to the top. Later Eric comes over and with him he has three huge clear tubs with lids and tells us that Bob wants them in those because thay have lids. Well after we filled them Pastor Bob comes over and tells us "No those are for clothes only". We ended up switching the tubs like two or three times before we finally got it right.
SamanthaThomas
Samantha Thomas
Reflection 4
2-11-09
Today was extremely productive. I talked to many people today about the program at the Campus for Human Development. Most of which did not even want to speak about homelessness, but rather just a friend to share the little stories of their lives with. I spoke to a man last night named Jerry at our pizza/movie party who told me all about his family and how his life has been since he finally got his life back together at Campus. He is currently working for minimum wage at Campus, but on the 25th of this month, he has an interview at K-Mart. Even though I just met this man last night, I felt necessary to share in this tiny victory with him. He was one of the sweetest and most honest and interesting men I have ever met. He was completely and utterly open about all of his past experiences. He shared that he was an avid marathon runner until the last one when he tore up his knee. However, he still stayed in the spectrum by switching to biking. He told me of how he had biked in 150-mile bike marathons and how they were set up.
Another thing that had impacted me in a major way was when Wendy, our guide, began speaking about the new 5-story wing they were building onto their current building. We were all standing in the art classroom and there was this one man in particular who was especially affected by the news. His eyes widened, a smile began creeping upon his face, and his body suddenly sat upright from his artwork. After Wendy had finished speaking about the new building, he made the comment to our group that, “I have been more blessed in the past 4 months in this program than I had been my entire life. I love it here. There should be more programs like this. There just aren’t enough. Y’all should bring this back with y’all to West Virginia.” This stuck in my head because he seemed so passionate about it. It didn’t quite register until this point how much this program meant to these men. It was basically a godsend. I could finally see and feel the passion.
Reflection 4
2-11-09
Today was extremely productive. I talked to many people today about the program at the Campus for Human Development. Most of which did not even want to speak about homelessness, but rather just a friend to share the little stories of their lives with. I spoke to a man last night named Jerry at our pizza/movie party who told me all about his family and how his life has been since he finally got his life back together at Campus. He is currently working for minimum wage at Campus, but on the 25th of this month, he has an interview at K-Mart. Even though I just met this man last night, I felt necessary to share in this tiny victory with him. He was one of the sweetest and most honest and interesting men I have ever met. He was completely and utterly open about all of his past experiences. He shared that he was an avid marathon runner until the last one when he tore up his knee. However, he still stayed in the spectrum by switching to biking. He told me of how he had biked in 150-mile bike marathons and how they were set up.
Another thing that had impacted me in a major way was when Wendy, our guide, began speaking about the new 5-story wing they were building onto their current building. We were all standing in the art classroom and there was this one man in particular who was especially affected by the news. His eyes widened, a smile began creeping upon his face, and his body suddenly sat upright from his artwork. After Wendy had finished speaking about the new building, he made the comment to our group that, “I have been more blessed in the past 4 months in this program than I had been my entire life. I love it here. There should be more programs like this. There just aren’t enough. Y’all should bring this back with y’all to West Virginia.” This stuck in my head because he seemed so passionate about it. It didn’t quite register until this point how much this program meant to these men. It was basically a godsend. I could finally see and feel the passion.
VanVu
Van Vu
Sally H. Campbell
SOWK 350
Spring 2009
Entry for March 10th, 2009
As usual, we got up and had a quick breakfast, then went to the Nashville Rescue Mission. Today was the first time our team worked on campus. The campus is located right behind the building that we often worked in. We might cross through a narrow pathway that smelt tremendously bad due to the random pees. I had to hold my nose in order to pass it.
The campus was not too large. It had only one big building. The campus’ leader gave us a tour around the whole campus. Firstly, we went to the waiting room. They also used the waiting room as the games room as well. At this time, this room was full of people. Some of them were sleeping; the others were reading books, playing games or watching movies. After that, we went to a corridor that its walls were full of artworks. These artworks were the products of the homeless people here. They were so nice and valuable that they made the corridor look as if it were an actual art gallery. The room at the end of the corridor was the center’s post office. The center gave each member a post office’s address so that the homeless people could receive their important paperwork such as bills, payments and especially was the mail from employers that they applied for a job. The officers here also offered consultants and counselor for members to help them get out of the homelessness and unemployment. The next room that we stopped by was a class. The center encouraged the homeless people to study by opening many classes which were directly related to the future jobs of homeless people. It also encouraged its members to go to class by the accumulate points each time they went to class, which were able to convert into money or the prior rights of using many facilities in the center. Right next to the class was the art room where the members went to do artwork. The room had only seven people at this time and all of them were drawing or painting. The room’s ceiling hung up plentiful of small wood models, such as many different kinds of airplane or animals. The artworks were absolutely pretty and if I didn’t know about that, maybe I couldn’t imagine that they were created by the homeless people. After leaving the art room, we went to the dinning room and the dormitory. The campus now looked like a small society with all of the necessary facilities for human development. I wished in the near future, my country also had this kind of campus to help the homeless people. The campus was almost perfect. However, it still needed some more innovations. I have thought that if it could create the jobs for the homeless people, give them a chance to work as the campus’ officers or let them do the works such as farm works, painting or transporting, so this model of center would be really perfect.
Today my work was painting the bathroom. Mai, Tung and I painted the room together. Mai used the brush and I used the rolls. I really didn’t pay much attention to the painted wall behind me and kept touching it. My overcoat and my pans were all yellow. Because the paint was water-based so I immediately took off my overcoat and washed it. It ended up totally wet.
In the afternoon, we climbed up to the hill and helped the guys cut down dry branches and putting them into the trash bags. It was really so cool up here that I felt absolutely comfortable. However, the comfortable feeling also made me feel totally sleepy. 5:00 pm, we left the campus and came back to the motel.
Sally H. Campbell
SOWK 350
Spring 2009
Entry for March 10th, 2009
As usual, we got up and had a quick breakfast, then went to the Nashville Rescue Mission. Today was the first time our team worked on campus. The campus is located right behind the building that we often worked in. We might cross through a narrow pathway that smelt tremendously bad due to the random pees. I had to hold my nose in order to pass it.
The campus was not too large. It had only one big building. The campus’ leader gave us a tour around the whole campus. Firstly, we went to the waiting room. They also used the waiting room as the games room as well. At this time, this room was full of people. Some of them were sleeping; the others were reading books, playing games or watching movies. After that, we went to a corridor that its walls were full of artworks. These artworks were the products of the homeless people here. They were so nice and valuable that they made the corridor look as if it were an actual art gallery. The room at the end of the corridor was the center’s post office. The center gave each member a post office’s address so that the homeless people could receive their important paperwork such as bills, payments and especially was the mail from employers that they applied for a job. The officers here also offered consultants and counselor for members to help them get out of the homelessness and unemployment. The next room that we stopped by was a class. The center encouraged the homeless people to study by opening many classes which were directly related to the future jobs of homeless people. It also encouraged its members to go to class by the accumulate points each time they went to class, which were able to convert into money or the prior rights of using many facilities in the center. Right next to the class was the art room where the members went to do artwork. The room had only seven people at this time and all of them were drawing or painting. The room’s ceiling hung up plentiful of small wood models, such as many different kinds of airplane or animals. The artworks were absolutely pretty and if I didn’t know about that, maybe I couldn’t imagine that they were created by the homeless people. After leaving the art room, we went to the dinning room and the dormitory. The campus now looked like a small society with all of the necessary facilities for human development. I wished in the near future, my country also had this kind of campus to help the homeless people. The campus was almost perfect. However, it still needed some more innovations. I have thought that if it could create the jobs for the homeless people, give them a chance to work as the campus’ officers or let them do the works such as farm works, painting or transporting, so this model of center would be really perfect.
Today my work was painting the bathroom. Mai, Tung and I painted the room together. Mai used the brush and I used the rolls. I really didn’t pay much attention to the painted wall behind me and kept touching it. My overcoat and my pans were all yellow. Because the paint was water-based so I immediately took off my overcoat and washed it. It ended up totally wet.
In the afternoon, we climbed up to the hill and helped the guys cut down dry branches and putting them into the trash bags. It was really so cool up here that I felt absolutely comfortable. However, the comfortable feeling also made me feel totally sleepy. 5:00 pm, we left the campus and came back to the motel.
TiffanyMcMahan
Tiffany McMahan
Reflection
March 10, 2009
Today, we were at the Campus for Human Development. It was very different than the Mission. I really enjoyed today because we met some of the homeless people and we had more interaction with them than at the Mission. We helped clean a building, wash walls, and clean up tree branches. While there at the Campus we experienced different things such as the classes offered to the homeless. Some of them could draw very well and all of them seemed to enjoy their art class. When Wendy told them about the new center that was going to be built for them they were all excited and happy. Many of them were very nice. I cannot stop thinking about the one who kept telling us that he could not believe that we gave up our spring break to come help them, and he also explained how he hoped that we took the idea of a homeless shelter back to West Virginia because he would like to see more shelters in the country. This really made me sad because we never know how it is to live like them. Something I never thought about was how the homeless receives mail or phone calls like for a doctor’s appointment or for a job interview. At the Campus they can get mail twice daily and also use a generic phone message there to receive phone calls. I never thought about this until it was mentioned today at the Mission. Also, while we were cleaning out the can food items from the burnt building, one of them homeless men was taking the cans of food to keep for himself. I found this very hard for me to understand and to deal with because it made me think about how wasteful we can be, and how someone not as fortunate as us would appreciate the things we throw away. Also, something that made me feel a little unsafe was the fight between to homeless men there while we were working. Wendy apologized for the problem and asked one of the men to leave the Campus for the day. This was very different for me and it made me somewhat worried and scared. This gave me a better insight into how the street life is for the homeless. I feel that today was the best day because of the interactions with the homeless.
Reflection
March 10, 2009
Today, we were at the Campus for Human Development. It was very different than the Mission. I really enjoyed today because we met some of the homeless people and we had more interaction with them than at the Mission. We helped clean a building, wash walls, and clean up tree branches. While there at the Campus we experienced different things such as the classes offered to the homeless. Some of them could draw very well and all of them seemed to enjoy their art class. When Wendy told them about the new center that was going to be built for them they were all excited and happy. Many of them were very nice. I cannot stop thinking about the one who kept telling us that he could not believe that we gave up our spring break to come help them, and he also explained how he hoped that we took the idea of a homeless shelter back to West Virginia because he would like to see more shelters in the country. This really made me sad because we never know how it is to live like them. Something I never thought about was how the homeless receives mail or phone calls like for a doctor’s appointment or for a job interview. At the Campus they can get mail twice daily and also use a generic phone message there to receive phone calls. I never thought about this until it was mentioned today at the Mission. Also, while we were cleaning out the can food items from the burnt building, one of them homeless men was taking the cans of food to keep for himself. I found this very hard for me to understand and to deal with because it made me think about how wasteful we can be, and how someone not as fortunate as us would appreciate the things we throw away. Also, something that made me feel a little unsafe was the fight between to homeless men there while we were working. Wendy apologized for the problem and asked one of the men to leave the Campus for the day. This was very different for me and it made me somewhat worried and scared. This gave me a better insight into how the street life is for the homeless. I feel that today was the best day because of the interactions with the homeless.
SezinCeliktas
Today is the best day that I have ever had since I came here. We went to the Music City. People we met there were really nice. They explained us what we need to do. Some of us fold clothes again and some of us put beans and rice into little boxes. And others tried to seperate men clothes and women clothes. People who work there came and talk to us. They were really nice people. It was nice helping them.
Then we went out to eat on our lunch break. It was pretty good. We went out as a group. So we had time to talk about how our day was going. Most of the people’s day was going pretty good and today was the first day that everbody told me that today was their best day so far.
Then we came back to the hotel. Some of us needed to get some rest. Then some people went to the mall. I didnt go because I went to that mall on Saturday so I didnt want to go. But it was stil a good day for me.
Then we went out to eat on our lunch break. It was pretty good. We went out as a group. So we had time to talk about how our day was going. Most of the people’s day was going pretty good and today was the first day that everbody told me that today was their best day so far.
Then we came back to the hotel. Some of us needed to get some rest. Then some people went to the mall. I didnt go because I went to that mall on Saturday so I didnt want to go. But it was stil a good day for me.
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