I am still reflecting about our Uptown trip, and a few things linger in my mind from the experience. For one, mental illness seemed to be more prevalent then it was during our other trips. Additionally, Tasha did not surface today so that was a little disappointing - as I had some new clothing for her. Lastly, the first homeless individual I hand picked to document in our movie, denied being homeless. This is certainly a multifaceted avenue that I have not encountered before. In time, I think that I will be able to go more in depth with this but for now I think I am still slightly numb.
I spoke with one of the social workers as well this morning with The Mecklenburg County Government. They offered us our own evening during the week, a time alloted for Steele Creek Outreach to come in and entertain/feed the homeless in the building. This is an awesome opportunity-but if we are going to peruse it then it will require a lot of networking to ensure we have enough volunteers every week to pull it off. I envision offering first aid once a month (good thing we have a trained nurse in our group,) handing out band aids, in addition to feeding them sandwiches or soup, and giving them bags of food for the road. We could also ask some of the local restaurants if they would donate meals-which would take a lot of pressure off of us :) Another week I picture showing them a movie with popcorn and snacks. The other two weeks could maybe be game/meal nights, and maybe we can find someone to teach them how to properly care for their teeth, and pass out toothbrushes and toothpaste once a month as well.
I realize that I am ten steps ahead of myself right now, but I feel this unexplainable gravitational pull towards this opportunity - in my heart I know this is where we are supposed to be.
This is a picture of a homeless man named Nsayi. He has been out on the streets of Uptown for 2 weeks.
