<![CDATA[The Project Nashville

Miracle in the Middle of the Tornado Crisis

The 2020 Tornado was a horrible event to thousands of people in Middle Tennessee. Many lives were taken do to this act of nature. In the middle of the chaos there was one huge miracle.

It was after just after midnight when the storms around Nashville started swirling into a deadly tornado. At the River Bend prison, one lone Correctional Officer has the job of walking the exterior of the prison along the razor wire fence line checking to see that the sensors and security the fence provides is all in place. I have met this man and his daily walk, every hour has him in incredible shape. I’ve been told that at every corner he drops and does 100 push ups, every hour, every day he is at work. The man is defiantly in shape. On this evening, he knew that weather reports had warnings of storms coming in in the wee hours of the morning. His job, like that of the mail man, requires him to walk the fence line come rain, snow or sleet…

As he made his rounds he looked up and saw the funnel cloud rapidly approaching.
He dove to the ground laying face first as low as he could and then watched the swirling cloud rise over the prison and completely miss the 800 plus inmates housed behind its concrete walls.
That tornado touched down on the other side of the prison property and started its sixty some mile cut through warehouses, airports, homes and businesses.

One can only be thankful for the lives that were spared not only at River Bend, but though out middle Tennessee.
We grieve the loss that has hit this community.

We have received numerous calls from around the country to check on our safety and support our efforts to help in the community.
Thank you and please keep Nashville in your prayers.

www.theprojectnashville

End of the Year Report

What a Year

Your support allowed us to:

Serve food to over 20 thousand people
Support People Loving Nashville
Support Men of Valor
Hand out over 3120 Cigars
Given away hundreds of sleeping bags
Handed out truck loads of MRE’s
Given New Clothing for men exiting prison

Offered Meals in restaurants for hungry people
Purchased Eye glasses for people who needed them
Purchased Tents and tarps
Given Gas for heaters and grills
Provided Transportation to medical appointments and Emergency room visits

Taken people to rehab
Sat with people in camps and listened
Provided cases of water to camps in the woods

Collected coats and handed them out
Provided groceries for friends shut in
Loved on Babies and hugged adults

We have had some great financial supporters from New York, Atlanta, Nashville, Denver, Dallas.
Your support has allowed us to give freely, love liberally and provide generously to those who most are in need.

Thank you for your financial commitment to TPN, your physical help and most importantly your prayers. Those three elements are the keys to our success of taking care of those who fall through the cracks of society and are lost on the streets of our city.

If you are looking for places to give and or to serve let me offer a few suggestions of organizations we partner with.

Room in the Inn
People Loving Nashville
Open Table Nashville
Helping Hands
Family Reconciliation Center
Men of Valor

Thank you for all you do - we always need funds - food - clothing and helping hands.
Here are a couple dreams we would like to have you dream with us.
OK some are needs...
but
Some are indeed dreams.

We need a SUV - used - in running condition.
We will use this to collect our weekly food. Currently we are filling two cars up to the max.
We need a large Freezer.
Though our food is distributed weekly there are days in-between collecting and distribution.
We are dreaming of owning a coffee shop/thrift shop. We would use this to employ and fund our weekly efforts.

If you would like to hear more please contact us and we would be happy to buy you a cup of coffee and share our vision.

Thank you for a great year
JR Davis

FERRIER FILES: Finding a home for the homeless in a Nashville tiny house
by Dennis Ferrier

(WZTV)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — J.R Davis never knows what the day will bring.
The Project Nashville checks on homeless camps. Sometimes people need to go the hospital. Sometimes they just need food or water.

Mostly they just enjoy feeling cared for, which explains in many ways why there is a beautiful tiny home sitting at Brook Hollow Baptist Church parking lot for a year.
To make a long story short, there was a proposed tiny house community.
Davis raised the money, got a church youth group, and built this house.
Then the deal to buy the property for the tiny house community fell through and this became the house without a home.
"So my challenge today is two fold," Davis said. "I need this to help the homeless, and we need a house. This place has homeless DNA. I also need a mover through the a generous heart to come and move this to a final resting place."
Alot of people have stopped and made offers as high as $10,000, but they want a hunting lodge or a playhouse. Davis said no way.
“We are willing to give it away, but it has got to go to the homeless," Davis said. "Let’s move it faster than you can say bob’s your uncle."
Who knows, maybe someone from the woods could one day call this home.
“The second someone says 'I have had enough get me out of here', we get them out of here,” Davis said.
If you have a great home for the tiny house, contact Davis at The Project Nashville.

I have had breakfast, lunch and dinner with many awesome men who are walking in the path of Jesus.
These men of God are men you all would want to have on your short list of people to share a meal with.
Personally I am constantly wanting to surround myself with wiser kinder people then myself.
May be hard to believe but I struggle every day...
There are days I don't want to get out of bed...
Perhaps it is my struggle with depression - or the real J.R. who has to force himself to be outgoing.
No it does not come naturally for me, I have to work every day on being a good person.
Don't get me wrong, at 61, I have a pretty good handle on this struggle, but I love finding out how other men of God are dealing with life.
One such man is Father Charles Strobel.
... and I had breakfast with him this past week.

Years ago when I was introduced to this man, my business partner H David Smith, Charlie embraced me and took me into his circle of friends.
Lets stop here for a second... and let you in on a few lessons I have learned from this man.

LESSON 1 - Ask yourself "Am I embracing people and letting them into my circle?"
Just a question I have to constantly ask myself.

Back to Strobel.
Back in the early 90's I was asked to help the The Room in the Inn Board with marketing material to help rase money for the new building. It was a clean white color project.
I say that because as I entered the compound, i would quickly walk though the hundreds of homeless people hanging at the doors, avoiding eye contact, avoiding pan handlers and quickly enter the office with a sign of relief.

Through this process I got to know Father Strobel.
Our first meeting I walk out and said to myself... "I was just in the presence of Jesus" -
Now some of my conservative Souther Baptist friends may question my faith when I'm so enthusiastic about this Catholic Priest but I am reminded what Paul from the Bible said to some people -
"if you don't understand who this Jesus fellow is - just follow me for a week and you will get it".
Wow! That I could ever be so bold.
But if you want to see who the man we call Jesus was all about - spend just a day with Father Strobel.
It was this man that showed me how to have a heart for people with struggles.

LESSION 2 - Strive to walk this life like Jesus did.

At this breakfast we talked about so much. One thing stood out, this man struggled with life just like the rest of us. Isn't it great to know that you are not alone?

LESSION 3 - Open up to others and let them peek behind the smiley face you have. Your honesty of your struggles may encourage another person to persevere.

Finally we started talking about the legalism that some faiths impose on their followers.
He gave me some great insight on the subject.
The Good Samaritan story is one that we are all so familiar with.
You remember the story, a man was in a ditch - beaten and perhaps near death.
People passing by ignored him, some moving to the other side of the street .
We focus on the people who passed with out helping with indignation.
How could they not stop?
Then YEA! Finally!
A good man - the good guy stops and helps the man - taking him to a place that would help him heal and paying for his care.

Father Strobel pointed out that there was much more to the story than bad people passing him by and a good man helping.
He explained that in the culture of the day - you didn't get near an unclean person. It was the Law...
So in a way - the people passing by were obeying the law.
Now here is the Kicker..
My friend sitting across from me as we ate our eggs and drank our coffee said to me.
"There is doing what is right... and then there is doing what is good."
In the oppressive law of the day - you don't touch the unclean.
But what was right as a human was to help this beaten man.

LESSON 4 - Ask yourself - Who are we walking past? How can we walk past those in need?
We must extend our hand to those in need - without hesitation - without question - without judgment.

Prayer,
Lord help me JR Davis to not walk past anyone in need.

I hope you pray that prayer yourself.

Thank you Father Strobel for your friendship, mentoring over the years and example you show us all every day.