Hi all, Mary Logan here again! Today we had a triple threat from Jeff Street Baptist, to Choices, and ending our day with St. Joseph Children’s Home. We worked with Jeff Street Baptist and Choices on Monday as well, but since we were divided into small groups we switched it up today.
My small group was able to serve breakfast to the homeless community of Louisville at Jeff Street Baptist, and the other small group was able to paint an apartment for Choices. Having the opportunity to help serve breakfast this morning as well as working on the new house showed how strong our teamwork is within our group and proves that the strong connection we have formed with each other over the past few days can really pay off in working towards a common goal.
This afternoon, we went to St. Joseph Children’s Home where we were thoroughly educated on children that are in poverty in the Louisville area. Some of our group helped paint remodeled offices in the building while others worked in different classrooms with the child development branch of the organization. I volunteered in a classroom of two-year-olds today, and it was such a fun experience. Not only did I have an amazing time playing with kids and being able to assist the teachers, but I also learned about how important it is for these children to get one-on-one attention. Kids in this program have dealt with some of the most traumatic experiences you can imagine so it is important that they are validated in their thoughts and ideas. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to play a part in the process of giving attention to those who need it (and having fun while doing it!).
Once we arrived back at our housing site today, we all gathered together in the common room. As per usual, we began having great conversation right off the bat. This soon led to us starting our reflection early, and I can truly say that this was one of the most genuine conversations I have ever been a part of. Seeing group members allowing themselves to be vulnerable about the topics that we have worked with this week and sharing how thankful we were to have worked with such authentic organizations connects you on a new level that I can not put into words. It blows my mind how much we learn every day, and I can not wait to see the impact this group will make in the Knoxville community as we return with new found compassion and determination.
Erik here now with a few updates from the other groups. As addressed by Mary Logan, we reached a turning point within the group, the strength of connections and self reflection within the group has reached a new high. The quality and depth of conversation has continued to establish new bonds as we strive to maintain a positive morale in the face of others’ misfortunes.
Today we took another trip to Jeff Street church and the two groups from Monday switched roles. One group worked with Larry and we fixed breakfast burritos which proved to be very fun and rewarding. Tasks were broken up into whisking eggs, dicing vegetables, cooking, and serving.
After this, we moved to a Choices housing site to help cleaning the location. Half were tasked with loading up trash to take it to the dumpster and moving usable items to another housing site. Out back was overrun by branches and twigs that could serve as a potential hazard while not being very pleasing to look at. Once this was finished we had reached the final hour of our service at Jeff Street. We ate lunch on our way to the St. Joseph's Children’s Home.
The afternoon began with a very interesting and educational history of the facility and then a tour of the grounds. We learned about the children that live there and the situations they come from, putting a new perspective on the face of poverty, homelessness, and abuse. I was in the other group from Mary Logan, so we painting painted an office for a new administrator. It was fairly standard work, yet they continually reiterated to us that what we were doing was greatly needed to improve the organization as a whole.
We rounded out the evening with a nice breakfast dinner of eggs, sausage, pancakes, and hashbrowns. Afterward, we made our way back to the living area where interesting conversation resulted. A natural conversation began which turned into a de facto reflection with each saying our high and lows for the day and leading to a more structured reflection with questions from the leaders. Even after the conclusion of the official reflection, we continued smaller group discussions.
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