"Getting out of the dirt"

NO,  she is not dead.
She is high on  - no telling what.

If this was a video,  you would see her rolling around in the dirt…
talking crazy…Cussing God and everyone around her…

The woman in the picture was screaming obscenities...
I leaned down to see if the she wanted help.
I touched her arm  - she was burning up…
She was unresponsive to my words…
I stood and said to my cohort  - 
"This is Crazy" not intending for anyone to hear but him,,,

The woman on the ground - still rolling around and cussing 
responded…
"I'm not Crazy… YOUR CRAZY - your all CRAZY!"

The mood in the camp that day was intense…
There was an eerie sense of evil - 
a sense of blackness…

What you don't see sitting just to the left of the picture
is a woman - over 65 years old - so high on drugs that her breast
are exposed - not on purpose… not because she is trying to be sexy…
There was nothing sexy about this scene…
But totally oblivious to her surrounding and her condition.
Her 'wife beater' t- shirt  is soaked with sweat…  
She was mumbling…
"Give me  some pot - give me your wallet - give me your cigarette - ( wee were not smoking)
take me with you - give me a joint…"

When I turned around and the woman in the dirt was gone…
She up and ran into the woods.

This is the sad picture of homelessness.
I don't see scenes like this often -
But the image of that day will last in my mind for a long time.

Mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction plague our streets and the 200+
homeless camps in our city alone.

I know that the poor will always be with us…
But I am convinced that we can help the ones that fall through the cracks to 
get our of the dirt… and live a productive life.

Nashville has some amazing organizations that The Project Nashville has partnered with.
These groups help people just like I have talked about today.  
It is our calling to get these people in the dirt and 
introduce them to the help they need.

Won't you volunteer and help The Project Nashville give loving help to those who
need it most?