Since my previous post about homeless people and my wish to feed them, I have been continuously learning. Twice, I have had opportunities to share bottled water with small groups of homeless people, and both of those encounters were mutually friendly and copacetic.
I have also been gradually gaining understanding of, basically, my need to LEARN before I start. Even if you are hired to a job, you still often need a little training before you are able to perform that job independently. Even if you feel lit up, on fire and called to preach, you still need training and, often, ordination before you can serve as a pastor. And, even with my great desire to reach out to homeless people, I am understanding more and more that I need to, first, learn how. I need to work under someone who has experience doing what I want to do, and learn from them. And God is setting me up in a variety of ways to do just that.
Last Saturday, I went to a meeting of the Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless (CAAH). (You can access their website by clicking HERE) New grant money is being awarded to this agency and several agencies across the area which work to combat homelessness. I even saw a report about it on the news last night, and you can see that story by clicking HERE. (This story focuses on a center for homeless youth in the Baton Rouge area, but monies from the same grant are going to this agency, CAAH and others.)
Here's how CAAH works: Mondays through Fridays, from early morning to around 3:30 p.m., they host a daytime center for the homeless to come inside, take a shower, wash a load of laundry, get some food, rest, relax and watch some tv if they want. There is a computer room and the homeless can learn how to set up an email account, how to use different, common programs such as Microsoft Word, etc... and get help learning to write resumes.
Homeless people register with CAAH and are given and ID card with which they check in each day. They are treated as welcome guests in a "home" of sorts, and meld into a sort of family; CAAH members/participants begin coming each day to visit friends, play games, and to be treated as humans deserving basic respect. They can even use the CAAH address as their mailing address. Having a mailing address is necessary to receive government support checks, to find a job, and to correspond with family members, etc.
That is why the leaders of CAAH call it a "one-stop shop" for the homeless; they can come to one place and access a myriad of resources.
They even have an ART ROOM!!!! (Nicole's favorite part of the whole facility, can you tell? haha) Many pieces of art work produced by the homeless are displayed on the walls and are priced to sell, with the complete proceeds going to the artists themselves. I will post pics I took of art there at the end of this blog. If anything interests you, I'm sure you could contact the center and arrange to purchase a painting (or several) to support these talented artists.
Upstairs are about 15 permanent housing apartments. Residents must obey the rules, and they have a place to live for as long as they like. For the rest of their lives, if that's what they need. They pay a very low rent and gain a place to call HOME.
There is also a doctor who volunteers time each week and legitimate medical exam rooms like you'd see at your own doctor's office. From time to time, they are also able to have a dentist come in. Dental treatment is desperately needed by the homeless. In the past, an ophthalmologist provided services at CAAH but, currently, that service is not available.
Randy Nichols, director of CAAH, made a remark that stuck with me: "Nothing lasts forever." He said that in regard to losing the opthalmologist. Remember what I noted before, as said by Rev. Terri Steed Pierce? "Do what you can, with what you have." They didn't say, "Ohhh... we lost our opthalmologist; now we'll have to shut down...." No, they took that in stride and continued to provide the plethora of other services they were able to offer to the homeless.
Those two statements are rooting deeper and deeper down into my consciousness and changing the way I think; changing my ideas of success vs. failure and helping me to stay hopeful even when things change.
Getting back to this new grant money, the CAAH... they are now planning to open their doors on Saturdays, and have volunteer slots available on those days for people whose schedules are full Mondays through Fridays. I am looking forward to volunteering a few Saturdays a month in the center, as well as participating in feeding outreaches beyond the walls of the center.
At the Saturday meeting I attended were groups from several Baton Rouge churches with the same passion I have; to feed and care for the homeless. In particular, I met and exchanged contact information with a very kind lady named Ms. Deloris. She has promised to contact me when her group schedules outreaches of this nature. God is so good.
As is often true in my life, the idea about which I had originally been bursting at the seams has been tamped down somewhat, but it's good. Instead of running off all crazy and unprepared, I am learning that, in my case at least, I need to slow my roll and LEARN. I do acknowledge that everyone has a different calling and a different way of living out that calling. However, the WHOA-NELLY-DON'T-RUN-OFF-JUST-YET schema is what applies to me in this situation. 
I'm not sure EXACTLY how I will spend my time at the CAAH, but I am sure that I want to remain open to giving my best effort at whatever they need. I am excited and grateful for this opportunity.
As I promised, here are a few photos of some of the artwork for sale at CAAH. There are many more!
