Heard Girls Nashville: Saturday

As I mentioned in the post last week, our initial mission for the Heard Girls trip to focus on flood relief, took an unintentional and completely coincidental turn to focus on homelessness.  We took the sign, we embraced the plans and this past weekend...we learned why.

We spent Saturday afternoon at Room In The Inn.

Hilary, the fantastic volunteer coordinator at Room In The Inn, didn't necessarily have a big, urgent or significant volunteer project for our large group but she was absolutely adamant that we come to the facility. And most adamant that we come at a certain time that afternoon.  As always, we all went in with an open mind and ready for whatever, but the moment we pulled into the parking lot....we knew why. We knew why she wanted us to come at that time.

We arrived during their busiest time of day. Folks were pouring into the main lobby of the facility, looking for a seat. Most were taken, so they just stood or sat on the floor waiting on time to pass.
Some people were sleeping, some pacing, others playing chess or reading, a few talking to themselves.
It was overwhelming.
They were there because they wanted a ticket.
Hoping for a ticket. 
A ticket to have a mat to sleep on just for that night.

Room In The Inn works with 175 church congregations in Nashville who, every night, provide a warm dinner, a place to sleep and breakfast in the morning for homeless individuals. Unfortunately, 175 churches isn't enough. Every night, the staff at Room In The Inn has to turn people away. Tell them there's no more room, hope they don't freeze to death during night and encourage them to come back the next afternoon.

Seriously? Yes.  Can you even imagine? No. 
I cannot. I cannot get my head around it.
Once they realize who has a ticket, they must be deliberate about who they assign where. They know the gentlemen well enough to know who clashes with who; they balance the racial divides, they assign in groups that they hope will not breed any violence or misbehavior. They do this each and every night. They send them away and hope for the best. But no matter what, at least a majority have a warm place to sleep...

During our time there, we spent at least 2 hours talking with Hilary, learning and absorbing all she had to offer asking her questions, touring the facility....taking it all in. TRYING to take it all in.  We spent less than an hour doing the "volunteer work" she had come up with: taking down the Christmas decorations that they haven't gotten around to yet. Sure it was helpful, but that's not why we were there.

It became very clear that we were there to learn and open our eyes. We were there to be taken out of our comfort zone, to fight through the pungent smell that knocked you down when you walked in the door, forced to walk, to smile...to exist as the minority among about 200 homeless men.

You see, Room in the Inn isn't a stereotypical "mission" facility. It used to be. And not so long ago. But thanks to corporate and private donors who met a 13 million dollar campaign, they just moved into this incredible facility that looks more like a condominium than a "shelter".  But this place is a safe haven that engages every hour of the day with the reality of homelessness and one by one are taking steps to help.  They have programs in place for the participant to get back on their feet; through education programs, art therapy, yoga, etc..They have apartment living for about fifty men working through the program, there is a "guest house" where homeless men can choose to go instead of jail, should they be picked up intoxicated by a Nashville Metro Police Officer each and every night. And they have a hospice program, for homeless men who have lived a life on the streets...lived a life that has taken their own.

We learned that there are an estimated 6,000 homeless people on the streets of the city of Nashville. The largest percentage is men and about 1,200 are children.  Music City has a unique homeless demographic where there is a significant percentage made up of individuals who were here chasing the music dream; and many who made it.  But unfortunately, what comes hand in hand with a musicians lifestyle is the influence of heavy substance abuse. This has led many gentlemen to the streets...after they lost everything; their home, their car, their job, their headlining gig and in some cases, the saddest part of of all...they lost the music in their soul.

Hilary shared some of the most heart wrenching and heart warming stories. If the looks on the faces of all 24 of us, the tears in our eyes and the aches in our hearts could have been captured during those moments and transcribed into words, into a story....you, my friends, would be reading the most heartbreaking tale of all.

Some of us made an effort to make eye contact with many of the men, some of us didn't make eye contact out of respect and some of us (me!) couldn't bring ourselves to look a single person in the eyes.  It was a real gut wrenching experience for me. I felt shameful, I felt ignorant, I was mad at myself for feeling uncomfortable, I was angry because it just isn't fair that my life is what it is and I was only scratching the surface of theirs.  I felt guilty, most of all, because I couldn't look them in the eyes. I couldn't.

We never really made an intimate "connection" with any individual there, we didn't hear a story straight from their mouths, we didn't learn the names of the individuals there.  While I think we all imagine and set ourselves up for a connection with an individual, one person's story who we can take with us, pray about, pray for and stay in our conscious...I think we were shocked (once again!) to learn that that was a selfish assumption, a selfish hope for payoff.  Seeing the mass of people, the problem lying in front of our eyes in the form of 200 people, two hundred individuals, many who were living the exact same lives as our own not so long ago.  It made a huge impact. An impact of mass proportions.  

So we leave with a greater understanding of the amount of faces who make up this group.

We leave with admiration for Hilary, her work and her passion to open our eyes.

We were leaving grateful for organizations like Room in the Inn and their selfless work.

We left with heavy hearts, questions for ourselves, for our minds, for our hearts.

We left understanding that each of us really are only two paychecks away from homelessness. We are like them and they like us. We're just fortunate to have a support system to turn to should we fall on these hard times and simply enough, we are actively making a few decisions a little differently...and that could change at any moment.

......................................................

On Sunday we were fortunate enough to have another wonderful experience.  

The root was the same.

The problem the same.

The situation couldn't be more different. 

...a review from our time at Mending Hearts, coming soon.