HE FIRST CAME TO A BIBLE STUDY I ATTEND AT ONE OF THE STATE PRISONS IN NASHVILLE. HE WAS QUIET AND A “SHORT TIMER”… GETTING OUT IN JUST A FEW MONTHS, FLATTENING HIS SENTENCE. HE HAS SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE IN PRISON AND NOW AT 58, TOLD ME THAT HE KNEW WHAT ALWAYS BROUGHT HIM BACK TO PRISON… DRUGS. HE WAS GETTING TO OLD AND WOULD NEVER DO DRUGS AGAIN. IT ALWAYS TOOK HIM BACK TO PRISON. I REALLY DIDN’T KNOW HIM WELL BECAUSE HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO THIS PRISON ONLY MONTHS BEFORE, BUT WE CONNECTED… HE WAS A MUSICIAN AND THE MEN IN THE GROUP SAID HE WAS THE BEST GUITAR PLAYER THEY HAD MET. HE SPENT MANY YEARS IN ARKANSAS PRISON SYSTEM WHILE CLINTON WAS GOVERNOR – AND HENCE PLAYED WITH BILL CLINTON AS THE GOVERNOR USED THE PRISON BAND TO BACK HIS SAX PLAYING AT THE GOVERNOR’S HIGHBROW PARTIES. HE WAS RELEASED FROM THE CHARLES BASS CORRECTIONAL COMPLEX ABOUT 4 YEARS AGO. A GLADIATOR IN PRISON WORK, BOBBY MCELHINEY, PAID FOR HIS FIRST HALF WAY HOUSE. (HALF WAY HOUSES USUALLY ASK FOR DOWN PAYMENT – FIRST AND LAST WEEK’S RENT IN ADVANCE - $450 WHICH ADDS A GREAT FINANCIAL BURDEN ON THE MAN GETTING OUT) HIS RELEASE WAS ON FRIDAY AND I WAS PRODUCING A MUSIC VIDEO ON MONDAY AND HIRED HIM TO WORK AS A GRIP ON THE CREW. AS IT TURNED OUT WE PUT HIM IN THE VIDEO AS A GUITAR PLAYER BEHIND THE ARTIST JULIE INGRAM… CHECK IT OUT AT – www.http://youtu.be/2NDgbLNNWTI You may have to go to Youtube and put in Julie Ingram Thank God video or copy the link to your browser. HE WAS THRILLED to be included in the project AND and an even bigger thrill for me to include him. THE FIRST MORNING IN HIS HALF WAY HOUSE JEFF GOT UP AND WALKED DOWN THE STREET TO A HOUSE THAT WAS BEING RENOVATED AND ASKED THE CONTRACTOR IF HE NEEDED HELP. “NO” WAS THE RESPONSE AND JEFF PROCEEDED TO OFFER TO WORK FOR FREE AND IF THE CONTRACTOR LIKE HIS WORK – THEY COULD TALK ABOUT FULL TIME WORK. THE CONTRACTOR HIRED HIM. JEFF REPEATED THAT “I’LL WORK FOR FREE BIT” WITH TWO MORE CONTRACTORS AND FINALLY LANDED HIM A JOB AS THE MAINTENANCE MAN FOR A MAJOR RESTAURANT GROUP IN DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE. HE WORKED FOR for the chain for THREE YEARS. I OFTEN WOULD BRING ADDICTS I WORKED WITH TO HAVE LUNCH WITH HIM AND LISTENED TO HIM COUNSEL THE MEN AND ADVISE THEM ON HOW TO GET OUT OF THE GRIP OF THEIR DRUG OF CHOICE. HE WAS A STRAIGHT SHOOTER AND SAW THROUGH THE EXCUSES ADDICTS HAVE… HE WAS A GREAT COUNSELOR. THEN ONE DAY A NEW EMPLOYEE STARTED A THE RESTAURANT. AND HE OFFERED JEFF SOME HEROIN… SLOWLY JEFF’S WORLD STARTED TO FALL TO PIECES. HE STARTED TAKING OFF WORK… SOLD HIS NEW TRUCK HE WAS SO PROUD OF… GOT KICKED OUT OF HIS HOUSE HE WAS RENTING… AND FINALLY… HE LOST HIS JOB… I TOOK HIM TO DETOX 6 TIMES AND REHAB TWO TIMES. BUT H WOULD NOT LET UP ON ITS NASTY GRIP ON HIM. HE WAS HOMELESS – AND WE continued to find HIM SHELTER BUT THERE WAS ALWAYS CONFLICT AND HE WOULD GET KICKED OUT. HE WAS HUNGRY AND WE FED HIM BEST WE COULD… HE NEEDED TO WORK AND WE FOUND HIM JOBS… BUT HE WOULD ALWAYS HAVE A CONFLICT WITH THE BOSS… H HAD BECOME HIS MASTER… IN THE MIDST OF ALL OF THIS HE STARTED COMING TO CHURCH WHERE I ATTEND… PASTOR TOM ASKED HIM TO READ SCRIPTURE ONE SUNDAY… AND HE DID IT MASTERFULLY. A WEEK LATER HE READ SCRIPTURE AT THE ROOM IN THE INN. HIS STRUGGLE WAS ENORMOUS… HE CONTINUED TO STEAL – AND CON AND PANHANDLE… TO FEED HIS ADDICTION. WHEN RELEASED FROM PRISON A CLOSE FRIEND TERRANCE COHAN GAVE HIM A GUITAR TO HELP HIM GET SOME GIGS – HE WAS HIRED BY A COUPLE BANDS TO PLAY AT THEIR SHOWCASES. THE LURE OF being HIGH OVERCAME HIM AND HE SOLD THE GUITAR FOR DRUGS. WHEN TERRANCE ASKED HIM IF HE WAS STILL PLAYING THE GUITAR – JEFF ADMITTED HE HAD SOLD IT… AND APOLOGIZED. TERRANCE, ONE OF THE KINDEST INDIVIDUALS I KNOW, ACCEPTED HIS APOLOGY AND TOLD HIM HE WOULD GET HIM ANOTHER… I DELIVERED THE NEW GUITAR TO HIM JUST TWO WEEKS AGO… HE SOLD IT ALSO… WED NIGHT JEFF LOCKED HIMSELF IN A BATHROOM AND SHOT UP HIS DRUG OF CHOICE. 911 WERE CALLED AND THEY KICKED THE DOOR OPEN AND FOUND HIM WITH THE NEEDLE STILL IN HIS ARM… DEAD. MY HEART HURTS AS DOES THE HEARTS OF FRIENDS THAT HELPED HIM - FROM OUR PASTOR – OUR CHURCH – TERRANCE – BOBBY – CRAIG – JORDAN – JOHNATHAN – KATHY – BILL R – BILL C – FATHER STROBEL – JEFF AND RACHAEL – STEVE – KATHY M – SUSAN – JIMMY – THE MEN IN OUR PRISON GROUP AT RIVER BEND MAX SECURITY PRISON – CHAPLIN HASKINS – JULIE – AND MANY MANY MORE PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES WERE IMPACTED BY JEFF’S LIFE. HE DIDN’T HAVE TO DIE… But he did. Inspite of all the people who encouraged him and gave him clothes and warm boots... SO… THE QUESTION IS WHY? WE MAY NEVER KNOW. BUT MY FRIEND Craig a PROJECT NASHVILLE SUPPORTER - SAID IT BEST… “JEFF DID CONFESS WITH HIS MOUTH THE LORD JESUS AND BELIEVED IN HIS HEART… THAT HE WOULD SEE THE FACE OF GOD AND REST WITH HIM FOR ETERNITY” … AND THAT HELPED ME. THANK ALL OF YOU WHO SUPPORT OUR CAUSE. PS. THE DAY JEFF DIED, BUT BEFORE WE KNEW OF HIS PASSING – CRAIG AND I TOOK A MAN TO LUNCH THAT JUST GOT OUT OF JAIL. HIS LIFE AND PERSONALITY SIMILAR TO JEFF’S… “WE HAVE A NEW JEFF FORGI”…I TOLD CRAIG… SO – WE WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT THE FIGHT!
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Did you ever think about walking into a bar and in a big bold voice say…
"Drinks for everybody" and then pick up the tab? Well I got to do it last night. (except I didn't use a big bold voice…and it wasn't a bar) It was late and I was hungry, so I stopped at a downtown McDonalds. When I walked in I saw some familiar faces. Twelve of my homeless friends were huddled around a table sipping coffee - and hanging in a warm place until they were pushed out for staying to long. I asked them if they had eaten anything and they all said no. I said… "Well come on - get up there and order anything you want…its on me". Boy did those faces turn into smiles. We sat and talked for about 45 minutes. It cost all of $39 dollars. Now I'm not bragging - please know that… In fact - I hope that I am encouraging you to step out and do the same… in your own way - with your own personality. Maybe get a friend to go with you on your venture of reaching out to the homeless and down and out. They all want off the streets - they all want a normal life… and it takes people to advocate for them and hold their hand to get them to the place were they can break the cycle of homelessness. I was once asked what a person needs to do to help the homeless… My answer was simple - just start doing it… I finished my meal - got to know them better and headed out the door. The hugs and thank you's were soooo worth it. So there is your challenge… Just start doing it!
2015 - can you believe it???
We started in the summer of 14 and are excited about the folks we can help this year. Our purpose is to engage one on one men and women on the street - gain their trust - and become their advocate. Why? Everyone needs help through life's journey. I suspect that you had someone help you as a child - perhaps in High School - or on your first job… Some people never have anyone stand up for them - help them - advocate for them. We have found that this is one of the keys in working with the homeless -- one on one - person to person help. A 60 year old man that we are helping told me that he has never had someone stand up of him - as down and out as he has lived his life - but that of the volunteers at TPN. Wow that is refreshing to hear because the success in what we do is often not seen for years. One volunteer one homeless person at a time. It's cold out as you all know and because of your support TPN has been able to put new clothes on a man who got off the streets into housing. We have supplied food to a number of our friends in tent cities around Nashville. Boots to wear in the cold - butane for heaters and cook stoves - Jackets - socks - long Johns - We have delivered bags of sweaters to homeless outreach workers and joined other groups such as People Loving Nashville and Open table with their efforts to help make life on the streets a little more bearable. We were able to contribute money for essentials to a family whose house burned down just before Christmas. Thank you Susan Sherrill for shopping and spear heading this. Up coming event you can join. Look for the Hillyeah5k.com race on Feb 7the to benefit the Room in the Inn. If you are a runner come on out - If not come and volunteer - If its to cold for you to leave your house consider making a donation to this cause. Go to www.hillyeah5k.com and donate. Thank all of you for the help support and prayers… it means a lot. and continue to pray that we will be able to find new and innovative ways to battle homelessness in our cities. There was a man… His name was Jesus. He walked this earth years ago. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, calmed the sea, and even brought people back to life. He did the for a couple of years. Then He told us that we should do the same. In fact He told us that we would do even bigger things than He had done. Then He said "Go". This command is typically used as a evangelical charge to go gather the masses and bring them to Christ. But the "Go" in the command was much more far reaching. He said to "Go and share with other the things that I have taught.", Those things were beliefs - morals - Love - compassion - and lessons to live by, This week a friend of mine - Steve Lindstrom completed a journey and listened to the command to "Go", But the journey started a couple years ago in a homeless camp by the river near downtown Nashville. Steve, Ingrid and Lindsay of Open Table were the champions and are living the word "Go" in their daily walk.
This past week we completed a journey with one of our friends caught in the homeless cycle, and helped him map a plan to get out of the dirt. It was not an easy plan. There were many struggles. There was deep addiction. Honestly there was little hope. But a few folks took this mans hand and walked him into sobriety - created an income source to get him on his feet and reunited him with his family in NY. Some time ago Steve Lindstrom heard the word GO - and he went. We need more like Steve. Merry Christmas JR Davis Thanksgiving Day… Most of us are with family, around a huge spread a the table, sitting in front of a warm fire - thankful for all God has given us. The names in the title of this post are homeless men and women. They may find food today… but just like yesterday they will have to search for it… A few will be invited to churches to eat a great meal and even fewer will go to homes of volunteers to celebrate Thanksgiving. But most will sit in a tent or in a homeless shelter thinking about Thanksgivings past, and the love ones they shared it with. The High temp to day is going to be 39 - and the low 27… I'm in my home office and the heat is on and I am toasty warm… I have nothing to complain about… Absolutely nothing. Some of our homeless friends will be in front of a fire - only to keep warm or perhaps to warm a hotdog or some ramen noodles - that is if they have food at all. One camp in Nashville is urging their group to save on food stamps so they can have their own feast today. That camp will feed around 40 - and who ever else wants to join them… The hunger of the homeless is everyday not just this day. They are hungry every day. They are cold every winter day. They get sick just as we do… They get tired just like the rest of us. They are people just as we are people. and we can't forget that. Today the heroes of the streets are Father Charles Strobel - Ingrid - Lindsay - Steve - Melinda - Johnathan - Nathan - Rachael - and her sister Ryan and his brother - Bobby - Craig - George - Irene - JoAnn - Tom - Jordan - Jon - Jeff - Ming - Dina - Feeby and her mother - Daniel - Kathy - Paula - Mia - Cindy - Lisa - Sherry - another Sherri - Gibson Cage - Jeff G - Komail - Judy - Barbara - Fred - Dot - and the list goes on and on of all the people who support and work with the homeless. Please perform an act of kindness for someone in need today… and then do it again tomorrow and the next day and the next. You will be richly blessed. … and please say a prayer for the names at the top of this post. Happy Thanksgiving JR Seven days after entering into detox… Richard Cole is released. We are encouraged about his mental attitude and resolve to complete the plan. That plan the Steve and Lindsey of Open Table worked on with him was one of recovery. The Plan? Well it is pretty simple. -Quit drinking -Remain sober -Go home and become a father to his teens -and become a son to his mother. Simple plan right? Well it really is. Except for the grip addiction has on individuals… Because of that Grip… A plan such as this is very difficult. As was the case with Richard. He worked hard for this. He worked his craft of making crosses out of drift wood and vines… Selling them to supporters of his cause. His goal to make enough money to use to travel to NY and have money to get started in his new life. He succeeded! The money he made will help him do just that. For Richard the move from the dirt in the homeless camp life he had known for 15 years was an emotional one. For starters the city had threatened to tear down the camp six months earlier… 30 + volunteers set up camp and lived with Richard on the banks of the Cumberland River - in a statement of solidarity and convinced the city to allow Open Table to continue working on finding stable housing for those in the camp. The City agreed and gave them 6 months. Open Table whose success rate of placing homeless people in housing far exceeds other organizations, did just that finding housing for the 7 remaining people in the camp. Richard was the last. Volunteers came and helped pack up Richards belongings packing them in storage bins and loading them onto a trailer… Ch 4's Dennis Ferrier a great friend of good causes came and reported on Richards move out of the dirt and the plan was to then go directly to the hospital. But it was not to happen… Richard needed more time to reflect - say good by and rid his mind and heart from the place he had called home for so long. It wasn't just this camp that he was leaving - it was a life style of homelessness that he had mastered for so long. His parting was not as much the physical place he called home but the people who he had helped by giving them a safe place to camp as they plowed through the streets of homelessness. Richard's heart was always giving -always feeding - and always protecting his fellow man. But this day - he needed time… Time to release the past… Many would have said the hell with it - stay in the woods - but Steve and Lindsey stayed with him for over 19 hours as he struggled to move from the vacant site on the river to the doors of the detox facility. Finally he walks through the door into a new life… and it is still to this day amazing to see the man Richard has become in sobriety, After a week - Steve and I picked Richard up at the hospital ready for our road trip to a re-hab center 2 and 1/2 hours away from Nashville. When checking out the clerk gave Richard his personal items locked up at check in. I noticed two beers in his bag. My heart sank as I knew that this would be his first test. I pulled Steve aside and told him… We both shook our heads… What do we do? Sit back and watch him drink his last beers as we take him to rehab? Certainly not the first time someone has grabbed a last chance to get high when going into a treatment program. Steve said to Richard. "Before we go we need to take care of those beers." Richard replied "Trust me…. Trust me…" We walked into the parking lot heading for the car when Richard stopped took the two beers out of the bag and popped the top of the first one. "These are the last two beers you will ever see in my hand he announced" I liked that statement but didn't like that he was going to chug them in front of the Detox hospital. Boy was I wrong. Richard started pouring the beer on the parking lot - first making a cross - then spelling his street name "Papa Smurf" on the pavement. He gave a quick wave to the patients on the third floor - we watched this pre-arranged and well planned symbol of his road to recovery. He said - " I hope that this will be an inspiration to those watching up there - to do the same when they are released." We were amazed at the new Richard and also inspired by his continued resolve to beat his addiction and enter society once again. To date the reports are that he is his doing great. We would love for all of you to write to him and give him a word of encouragement. If you would like to do so you can write a note to him in the following space. and please continue to pray for him as he works on his new life. Many of you have been following the stories on Papa Smurf now better known as Richard Cole. Steve with Open Table David with Veritas Schools and I spent time with Richard yesterday. HE LOOKED GREAT! You can already see in these pictures before he went into Rehab that the transformation has already started. Yesterday we met a sober Richard who was calm and resolved in his recovery - willing to continue in a 30 day program starting this week, I was amazed at the new Richard and his sobriety. He has a long way to go but with prayer and sticking to it he has a great chance to continue on his recovery. Please keep him if you prayers. When we get his address we will send it out to give you a chance to write and encourage him. We are always looking for the future and what we will do when this and that takes place in our life. Richard is in his future - as he planned to do this for himself - for his mother and for his children months ago. We too are in our future… Last year we all looked to the future - So, last years vision of the future is now. We are all in our future…Now is the time to act… Now is the time to move… Now is that time to DO… Don't let your future pass you by. Today is the day you need to have the resolve to make a change in your world - in your life… Today we need more people like Steve - Ingrid - Lindsay - and Jeannie… The people of Open Table Nashville. Because today they are making a difference in the lives of the homeless in our city and in the lives of people like Richard Cole. Whose life will you have a positive impact upon today? Trish and Ken are a couple…
Both have records… Criminal RECORDS - NOT RECORD DEALS… (It's Nashville so one has to clarify…) They are homeless. We are trying to put them into housing… Few places take non married couples. and fewer places take felons… and it takes a while… usually months. We have helped transport them to interviews, their parole office visits and social service agencies. We have fed them and introduced them to agencies that will help them long term. The temp hit 20 degrees this week. The homeless camp they were living in was taken down and they had to move to another camp. No one I know is camping this time of year… only the homeless… So we found them another camp. In Nashville we have 200 to choose from.. 200 camps that house over 2000 people… The new camp is a well run camp. Clean and organized. There is a Captain and a Lieutenant who run the camp, and 30 people living in the camp. We know many of them from working with People Loving Nashville who feed the homeless on Monday nights. The Lieutenant took them in cleared a spot in the brush and helped them set up their tent. So… They have a place to stay… in a camp… in 20 degree weather… Today... I'm warm, watching football, just had a snack for lunch, drank more coffee than I needed and have a glass of fresh OJ by my side. I'm pulling out the chips and dip at halftime… Then I might take a nap before the next game comes on… Trish and Ken are cold and looking for a warm place to huddle in and scrape for their next meal… The contrast drives me crazy. The need of helpers makes me even more diligent in spreading the word of the plight of the homeless… and the reality of hunger on the streets of Nashville saddens me. Count your blessings today my friends. Consider your wealth in comparison of those in need. and reflect on what you can do to help the people on the streets. Robert was on the mend…
He was trying to get out of the dirt… Making his way out of homelessness… On the street he was approached by by two men who were trying to rob him. Robert held them off and quickly called the police. When the police arrived they looked at ID's and found that Robert had an outstanding warrant out of Knoxville. The warrant was for a robbery that occurred while Robert was locked up some 5 years ago. He was arrested on the spot - Locked up for 14 days - then transported to Knoxville where he was held for 19 days. After 33 days he went before the judge who saw the mistake and released him immediately. He was transported back to Nashville and dumped on the streets. No money - no food - nothing. This is yet another example of the pathway to prison the men and women on the street are faced with every day. In bad weather, people on the streets look for shelter - be it a vacant building or a church doorway - think about what you would do to keep warm and dry. We all watch the popular TV show - Survivor - We see the game played for a prize of a million dollars. The people on our streets are not playing a game for money - they are playing the game of life and trying to survive. Consider this. You wake up in the morning and go to the kitchen and fix breakfast. Usually anything you want. Fresh orange juice,.. some scrambled eggs with bacon… At lunch you eat out or have a sack lunch… And dinner? Again eat out or stay in… After dinner you curl up on your sofa and read a book or watch a movie or TV. Our homeless friends wake up in the morning hungry… There is no lunch… If they have a meal it might be one that they have to walk for miles to one of the many feeding places for the homeless… - some simply don't have the strength to walk miles. They go out and panhandle trying to get enough for a burger at Mc Donalds or even a few things at Kroger... They can't store food as it simply goes bad after a day in their back pack. Add the element of addiction and those slaved to it's grip, spend their money on booze and drugs. Wow! I'm getting down just writing this… There are two things that I have found to be the positive when working in such sadness… First it is the power of our God stepping into the lives of these people captive on the streets of our cities. So who will tell them about this God we say we believe in? Do we believe He can change lives" Do we actively tell others about the God of creation? Do we Really Believe that the faith of a mustard seed can move mountains? It it takes that little faith - think about how easy it must be to have the faith to help a human move out of the dirt into a new life off the streets. Second - It takes people. People to Pray - People to Volunteer - People to Give. When a person takes the hand of another person and helps them - The power of two is amazing. I suspect that is why God created male and female… Why Jesus sent out disciples in groups of two… Most of the people we serve on the streets are the ones who fall through the cracks… They have lost hope and see no end to their homelessness. When a person like you or me enters their world with hope… they respond… When we build trust… they listen… When we take their hand… they bond… and when they bond they are ready for the help that they need. So… Back to Robert's story… He was dumped back to the streets of Nashville and again was homeless. He had absolutely nothing… Nothing that is - except for the Volunteers of The Project Nashville who found him emergency housing thanks to Room in the Inn, Who fed him for a week and helped him get around town. On his own, Robert found a Half Way House to move into after a week at RII One week later landed a good job in his field of carpentry, After two days on the job he was recommended to become a foreman for the company. The one thing that makes Robert unique in the homeless world is that he has a great attitude, doesn't blame others, picks himself up when down. and doesn't expect a hand out. He is addressing his addiction and going to "meetings" every week. Robert is doing all the right things. Robert has his issues but don't we all… He is out of the dirt and we all celebrate his success!!! Because of our Volunteers we were able to offer assistance to Robert with a Hand Up instead of a Hand Out. Thank all of you who helped Robert. |
JR DaviswalTActivists for homeless - inmates and the poor of this world.
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