We Are Bound Together

The Campus for Human Development can be an intimidating place to drive into. The entrance from 8^th Avenue is into an alley between the Campus buildings and the Davidson County Health Department’s Downtown Clinic for the Homeless. Many people are always hanging around the alley, and I’ve learned to take it slow when I’m turning into the alley so I don’t hit anybody. I’ve also learned to wave at the guys who are hanging around, some of whom are drinking out of bottles in paper bags or smoking something (probably not tobacco). What I have taken from my first week at the Campus is a realization of the remarkable similarities that I hold with these people.

I met Jimmie, a gentleman who is in the Campus’s Odyssey program, which is a residential treatment program for those who are chronically homeless. Whenever we see each other it’s “hey, Terre Haute—we’re cruisin’ the ‘Bash!” He lived in Terre Haute for a year and worked at the McDonald’s on Wabash Avenue.

Lunch is served at the Campus on Thursdays (and other locations on other days). I happened to be wearing an ISU shirt that day and I heard from across the room while I was waiting for another chair in the small dining area to open up so I could call the next number – “Home of the Sycamores!” A homeless gentleman who was waiting on a free lunch (which was great: lasagna, rolls, salad) played football for Indiana State in the 1980s. He wasn’t happy to learn that the Sycamores are on a pretty long losing streak. They won four games in his last season there. He lived in Cromwell Hall, and talked about the excitement of winning a big game against Wichita State.

The Campus also serves many musicians. One gentleman is a songwriter and has released CDs. There is a former political science professor among the ranks of Nashville’s homeless population who was forced to quit teaching when his schizophrenia became unmanageable.

Yesterday, I spent the entire morning in art class, which was very relaxing. An art teacher comes in to the Campus several days a week and helps teach the men to do different types of art. The immense artistic talent of those who come to the Campus is evident when you walk into the building. Many paintings and other artworks line the walls through the entire building. The art room is a true haven for these guys. Brick walls and large windows help inspire them to express themselves through artistic rather than violent and chemical means. Yesterday’s class consisted of only one participant, Troy, and two interns (I and John who is a student at Vanderbilt). It was great to just sit and talk with Troy and watch him paint a great picture of a cabin in the mountains, while I got to do a painting and got my first introduction to pastels. Edith, the teacher, is very talented at getting art out of people and teaching them different techniques. Some of the works produced in the art room will be shown in art shows this fall and sold so new art supplies can be purchased. It is one of many routes of healing that is offered at the campus.

I also attended my first AA meeting this week. Hi, my name is Jeff, and I’m not an alcoholic, but I was allowed to sit in on one of the two daily 12-step meetings the Campus provides. It was amazing to hear stories of lives transformed, and attempts at reconciliation with families and friends. The difficulties these men face in being immersed in a culture for which drinking and using is a means of survival are immense. These pressures are not that different from those that face all of us from time to time.

What incredible ties bind us all together, whether we live in a multi-million dollar home in Nashville’s Belle Meade area as many of the people from Second Presbyterian do, or in a cardboard box under the stairs of a downtown building as many of the people I work with at the Campus for Human Development do. It is when we become aware of those ties that we are able to see the image of God in our neighbors and find new ways of living that transform us and the entire body of Christ.