Day 5, Wednesday

The blog of Wednesday by Hannah & Amanda. Due to the video's length of 20 minutes, I have to slipt it into 3 clips. Good luck, guys. Thanks for watching!

Clip 1

Clip 2

Clip 3

Frank and Lacy in the Evvveening (Day 7)

Sleep deprived description of our day off!

Day 4

APPLES DAY 4

Friends,

Last night was our first full night of sleep. Although we did not have to stay up for three hours in the middle of the night at the Central Homeless Shelter, I miss watching TV and listening to jokes from my shelter buddies.

Today was different; we performed indirect service by inspecting, arranging, packaging, and weighing donated food at The Atlanta Community Food Bank -the largest food bank in the country. I was so proud of the spirit and energy in every APPLES participant. It was that energy and passion for service that led to package 72,076 lbs. of food, which is equivalent to 4,850 meals! I learned that through teamwork, dedication, and a well-run system, a couple of hours in a day can make such a huge difference in the community.

Aside from sorting food, we also received a Hunger 101 workshop -the food bank's educational program. The simulation we went through put us in the situation of a person who had limited resources, transportation problems, and financial complications. By lightly being in the shoes of someone that's going through such circumstances, I realized that small actions can be extremely stressful and complicated. This interactive experience was very thought-provoking and I hope future APPLES groups have a chance to experience this as well.

The Atlanta Community Food Bank was a great place to volunteer and I definitely recommend this to anyone! If you're interested in volunteering or receiving a Hunger 101 workshop, check out the food bank's website below:

http://www.acfb.org/

Best,

Christie Lainez

Just another manic Monday... [Day 3 ASB]

What's up, everyone?

We're finally settling into our new "home" for the week at Briarcliff, where we're fortunate enough to have access to a gym, a full kitchen, and an awesome lounge. Yesterday (Monday 3/5), we spent the morning recovering from sleep deprivation before heading off to the Brookhaven Boys & Girls Club. The center, conveniently located near where we're staying, is a place that ASB Urban Poverty has managed to build a pretty solid partnership with, so it was great to be able to return for yet another year. And for me personally, as a previous participant on this trip, it was great to have the opportunity to visit and see how Brookhaven had changed since last year.

We arrived at the Boys & Girls Club around 2pm, about half an hour before the kids got there, and we were given a quick tour before they arrived. Around 2:30pm, the kids started arriving and they didn't even hesitate to begin interacting us. Many started asking if we were going to be their "Big Brothers and Big Sisters," and it was sad to have to tell them that we were only able to stay for the day. After playing outside for close to an hour, it was time for the kids to start working on their homework. We each settled in to try to help pairs or small groups of them, and many of us quickly realized just how long it had been since elementary school. Working on assignments dealing with telling time and counting money, we realized just how difficult it can be to make sure each child is provided with equal opportunities for help and individualized attention.

After spending about half an hour helping the kids with their homework, we went back to play outside on the playground. This lasted until 4:15, when a minor incident led us to leave about 45 minutes earlier than planned. However, even in the two hours, we spent at the center, we had a great time interacting with the kids, some of us even reminiscing on our days of childhood.

I think that being at the Boys & Girls Club brought up a lot of topics and ideas for all of us. Seeing how sad some of the kids were when they found out we were leaving, and that we wouldn't be coming back, made us stop and thinking: Was our being there beneficial to these kids? Or was it hurting them? Yes, we helped them work on their homework and played with them. But none of us wanted to think about the fact that our leaving them at the end of the day might be hurting them, or that by the next day, some of them wouldn't even remember us at all. To these kids, it was just another after-school program, same as what they normally go to on Mondays. But for us, it brought up a lot of deeper themes. We worried that, with experiences like their interactions with us, these kids might be used to the destabilization of having people, role models who they admire, come and go in their lives. It got us all to thinking about what we can be doing in our own communities to help kids and to do so in ways that can build lasting relationships rather than just one-day direct service experiences.

Overall, I think we all enjoyed volunteering at Brookhaven. I know I did, and I know that it made me think even more about the importance of education and of really working to create a supportive learning environment whenever interacting with kids. Despite the craziness and the unexpected changes in plans, I was proud of everyone and how much they seemed to be taking away from the experience. I can't wait to see where the next two days take us as we continue in this week of service-learning together.

Peace, love, and APPLES,

Olivia Hart

Home is where the heart is...

They say home is where the heart is, but where is home when home is lost?

Dreams to raise a family, dreams to be successful, and dreams to be happy. Similar desires that are universal across the world. But there’s one concept that our parents, our academic bubbles, our experiences never taught us: Life after dreams.

After attaining a stable career, a family, happiness, what do you do when life collapses around you? What do you do when there’s nothing to save you? There is no cheat sheet for handling a foreclosure, a drained savings account, a broken marriage, or a downward spiraling job market.

As such, the amazing journeys of the individuals we met at the homeless shelter are a prime example that we can’t keep up with the punches life is throwing sometimes. Their stories of hitting rock bottom, and making the most one step at a time to gather a footing are truly inspirational.

One peculiar man said, “Every morning I wake up at 3, holla at all my friends ‘round town, and provide them a little snack from my breakfast bag. I gotta take care of my friends y’know?” It brings me back to the days of grade school, when trading a fruit-roll up for a pouch of Cheez-itz was blasphemy in the 4^th grade lunch market. Which begs the question, why is it that even today I often have trouble giving up what I want, regardless of how much I have of it?

As Bonnie Raitt once sang, “I can’t make you love me if you don’t….” it’s a similar situation for society at large. No one can make us show love and desire towards the impoverished. But when a homeless man is providing for his friends on the streets, showing compassion when his own resources are scarce, what do we have to say as the rest of society?

Do we rationalize? Say that homelessness is self-induced? Do we excuse ourselves? Say that our help to them does not solve anything? Or do we empathize? And believe. Truly believe that sometimes all a lost home needs to find their way back home is a compassionate heart to guide them. 

-Frank

Day 2

Sunday, began approximately at 12 am for the Apples Urban Poverty team. On Saturday night we arrived at the shelter and ate a delicious meal with the guys from Central Presbyterian church, watched the last 10 minutes of the Duke slaying, celebrated quietly, and then later began our respective night shifts. Our job was to simply make sure that someone was awake at every moment of the night in case one of the men needed anything. After handing out bagged breakfasts and lunch to the men as they left at around 6 am, we locked up the shelter and drove 3 miles down the street to First Presbyterian church where we proceeded to help serve Sunday morning breakfast to 100 + homeless residents of Atlanta. The men and women listened to a sermon as they dined on homemade biscuits, sausage, grits, and eggs prepared by volunteers at the church.  After serving we grabbed breakfast at a nearby McDonalds and then drove to Briarcliff Baptist Church, our new home for the week.  After catching up on some much needed sleep we returned to Central Presbyterian church at 7 pm to eat dinner and work another night. When we arrived we received the warmest welcome I have ever experienced. The men seemed so excited that we had returned to work a second night and thanked us profusely. One of the men in charge even hugged each of us. except for the guys; guys don’t hug, they shake hands. We were all served yet another delicious meal by a boy’s lacrosse team from a nearby high school and the Apples team ate alongside our new friends from the shelter. We were all more relaxed and comfortable the second time around and were able to continue conversations cut short the night before. Sunday night, a truth was brought to my attention that I had never been able to grasp before. No matter what situation we are enduring in life, as human beings, we all share the same fundamental values. The comfort we receive when someone is kind or compassionate towards us is a common thread everyone shares. I realized this as I reflected upon the mutual smiles I witnessed at the dinner table between those with and without homes. Each person from each walk of life had very little in common and yet so very much in common. That is what it means when we are taught that the US/THEM dynamic is a myth. It does not exist because ultimately we are the same in the areas that matter most, being human.

Rachael Wescott

# 2's Take on Day 1

Fellow ASB members,

The idea of journaling hit me directly after my trip to Egypt.  In sharing my experience, it was difficult for me to put in order the events that occurred and also for me to remember Egypt.  Because of this, on my trip to Costa Rica a year later, I was sure to journal everyday. When telling my story, I can use my journal to guide not only the order of events but also all the things that occurred because I was sure to write each and every day.  Journaling is great for many reasons, some of these reasons include: bridging external forces in ones life with internal desires, moving one closer to a more wholesome life, integrates peaks and valleys of life and allows different perspectives on a single event.  Within my own journaling experience, I was capable of capturing my perspectives when my I was stretched beyond my comfort zone and could reflect on the new knowledge gained during these experiences.  The only thing that one can never get back is time and journaling allows one to capture time and refer back to it during any time in the future.

Our journey began promptly at midnight with the watching of Waiting for Superman.  This was followed by a reflection where we were able to learn more about each other’s intake on life.  Personally, I am never really the type to open up so fast but during this session, I felt safe enough to share my story without having to worry about being judged.  During the discussion the group discussed the cultural norms that each of us had come from.   We discovered very quickly that our norms had been very different in high school but that we all had the same passion when it came o the topic of urban poverty.

After a good nights rest, we woke up from our slumber promptly to begin breakfast and packing the van.  During this, I learned how efficient our group was when it came to task that needed to be done and how time conscious our group had been.  We were given a task and, as a team, completed it in a timely manner.  Frank managed to stir up some awesome eggs and Lacy baked up some world-class biscuits that we all enjoyed at least two of.

Our first stop was Concord Mills for lunch and a meet and greet with our leader Christi’s mom.  After this we made a Starbucks run and returned to the road to head towards Atlanta.  This stop was also a switch of the drivers, now it was Neelesh’s turn to drive and Frank, who had drove from Will’s to Concord, was able to rest.  We also discovered that Frank was master of maps and that he had been perfecting his skill for quite some time now. This is also where we cracked open Temple Run on my iPad.  We started a new game, which, I cannot tell you the rules to but I can tell you that Christie took a cat to the beach, and Rachael, a rainbow but Neelesh could not take a rainbow so he showed to the beach up with a nickel.  The other game was one that Madiha taught us; it was something like Contact 123 _____. This is where being in the passenger seat has its perks and its flaws because Madiha had been talking more to the back of the van I could never catch on to the rules, but I am hoping that I can learn before we get back to Chapel Hill.  As we stopped at Loves on exit 4 to refuel on snacks and gas, we were approached by the birthday girl [lady] and she was so proud of us for we were spending our Spring Break volunteering rather than on the beaches of Miami, Florida.  Now we were officially Atlanta bound and Georgia was officially on our minds.

Upon arriving at our first Shelter, I was very much thankful of how clean, organized and prepared the shelter was.  At this shelter no one was left out and although it was filled with men, I could tell that there was neither tension nor animosity between anyone in attendance.   After serving the men in attendance, we all sat with them to eat and converse on whatever came to mind.  Many of us were enlightened with new knowledge.  Promptly after food was served, my mother did a surprise visit.   I had not seen my one-year-old sister since January so I was quite delighted that I could see her.  I knew the night couldn’t get better but there was much more in store.  We were not only able to finish cleaning with time left to watch the last six minutes of the game but we also were able to stream it via web and we won. TAR...HEELS!!!!!! We blew d00k out of the water with an 18point win and demolished d00k’s three-year [I believe] home game winning streak!!! This made us Regular Season Champions.To ice the cake, we enjoyed a game of chess and a few of us played monopoly deal.

Being from Atlanta, I had not known that there were shelters of such comfort and safety for men.  I had gotten so use to working at women’s shelters.  This shelter surprised me because it had reached the point where it could run itself with not much help of the owners of the facility.  The lesson I learned today was that even if my day, week, month, year or life is partly cloudy, that doesn’t mean that I have to lose my smile. 

 -Lilly :]