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