DAY FOUR IN MEMPHIS

Hello fellow loved ones,

 

Today we had a busy, but fantastic day. It started with an earlier than normal wakeup call at 7:10. We all took our time getting ready and had to hurry out the door at 7:40. We then made our way to Cross Town, it used to be the old Sears building but is now turned into a shopping center as well as office buildings. That is where we had Lucy J’s for breakfast with some sweet and savory pastries, orange juice, bananas, and cuties. We then got to do a budget based on the minimum wage in Colorado - specifically in Denver. It was really eye opening to see that a lot of people live paycheck to paycheck and how fast the money goes. After that, we went to an organization called World Relief. They help migrants with housing as they come to America. We helped set up three houses for multiple people. One house we set up was going to have 10 people in it. It was very rewarding to see the impact we will be making in a few short days for these families. After that we split up; Mr. Alcorn’s group went to the Bass Pro Shop pyramid - which was super cool. It was gigantic inside and filled with much to do and look at. We then went to check out the Mississippi River, which was very cool, but also very cloudy and foggy. After that we want to go pick up our delicious pizza: pepperoni and sausage, Hawaiian (birthday girl’s choice), and cheese. The pizza was super yummy! After that we hung around waiting for the cooking group to arrive back to the Bunkhouse. We finished the night off with a surprise little birthday party with singing and cake as well as some games and reflection. I am looking forward to seeing what tomorrow will bring.

 

Love,

The Birthday Girl

Bree Hall

 

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Dear family and friends,

We started off the day with an early morning and headed over to Crosstown, a large building full of restaurants, activities, offices, and even a high school. Here we met up with Taylor, Jeff, and Tracy to talk about budgeting and comparing the differing salaries and minimum wages between Memphis and Denver. We looked at the average minimum wage in Memphis, which was significantly lower than the minimum wage in Denver. We did an activity where we used the numbers from a salary in Denver for one month and listed out all the average expenses a person would need in order to survive. Some of these include rent, utilities, and the different kinds of insurance. I learned that by using the minimum wage of Denver, we were only a few thousand dollars over the poverty line in Denver. I also saw that after we had to budget all the necessary things we needed to live; it didn’t leave much money for entertainment or fun activities to enjoy like going to a movie or sometimes even going out to dinner. This was a very eye-opening activity that made me realize how much I still don’t understand about budgeting and how important it is in a person’s life for them to survive. If you don’t budget well, you may fall behind in expenses and fall into trouble.

After Crosstown, we headed to World Relief where we learned about the mission of the organization and got started right away! The group headed to a few different houses and furnished the houses for refugees arriving in Memphis in search for safety. This included filling the kitchen with kitchenware and groceries as well as constructing beds for the refugees. It was very eye-opening to see how many people would be living in the houses and how blessed they would feel walking in. As soon as I walked into each of the houses, I was so grateful for the opportunity to be able to be involved with making the houses feel like homes. I also learned about the inequity this organization is involved in. World Relief works to avoid inequity by providing refugees with homes, furniture, and groceries. Many of the refugees might be coming in with nothing. Often, language barriers and culture shock exist for these refugees. This organization works to provide these refugees with what they need to start their life here and work towards a successful future. Imagine this: Mr. Alcorn explained this concept as one guy that is super tall and is standing on a box. Another guy is super short and standing on the same size box. They are standing on the same sized boxes, but at different heights, so they are seeing from different heights. In another example, one tall guy is not standing on a box while the short guy is standing on a taller box that makes him the same height as the tall guy. For this, the tall guy didn’t need a box, and the shorter guy needed a taller box. This is one example of creating equity. The shorter guy needed an extra boost to be the same height as the taller guy. In a sense, this organization is giving the refugees a boost to be able to have the same opportunities as other people to search for jobs and other income opportunities right off the bat when they arrive without having to worry about having a bed in their house or a shelter for their children.

I also went back to Crosstown and ate good burgers with my cooking group. I really enjoyed today and look forward to what we can accomplish tomorrow. 

Much love,

Peyton Kreutzer

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Dear Friends and Family, 

To start off today, we went to the Crosstown which used to be the old sears warehouse that has been turned into office buildings, a school, restaurants, and shops. We were in a conference room and talked about inequity and the challenges people must face when getting paid minimum wage and dealing with paying rent, insurance, groceries, phone bills, a car, and so much more. This brought into perspective that one person who is making minimum wage can potentially afford all their bills with not much money left for entertainment, but if you have a family, it is really hard to meet all of the needs of your family with the amount of money that is being made. After leaving I felt shocked that I had never thought about the amount of bills that most people have to pay and how it can be super hard to determine how to save as much money as possible. 

 

After we went to Crosstown, we made our way to the World Relief office where we learned the mission and vision for this non-profit organization that helps refugees find housing and get on their feet to help them get a jump start on their future. We went to one house that had a pipe burst due to cold weather, so we had to go to another house to get ready to flip and get ready for the next family to move in. We did everything from carrying in mattresses to building bed frames to organizing dishware. Seeing the house come to life and finally look like a home was super special. Getting to envision the people that will move in later today or tomorrow was surreal and hard to believe.  

 

My small group then left at 2:00 pm to go and get groceries to head to The Room at The Inn. The Room at The Inn is a building that houses people who don’t have homes. There are families and any people who need housing to help better their futures. It was my group’s turn to cook dinner and we cooked chili! The process of getting to the kitchen and cooking the meal went smoothly! Everyone had a role whether it was cutting onions and peppers, cooking the meat, draining the beans, making the corn bread, and getting the toppings ready. When we finished it was SO GOOD! We then went to bring chili and talk to the guests. There weren’t too many people there, but it was such a good experience. I was sitting at a table with three guests, and they were so sweet and had so many stories to share. I first started talking to Cedrick. Cedrick walked in and his eyes lit up. Again and again, he expressed his gratitude for us being there and cooking chili. This happened to be his favorite meal! He told me that he had a really long day at work and seeing us and then getting served chili made him feel like God really brought us here today to make his day better. He wasn’t eager about going to work tomorrow but when he remembered that he could bring chili he was so excited. A little later another gentleman walked in and sat next to us, when Frances and I were talking to him he shared that nothing makes him happier than seeing people our age be able to have a conversation with anyone and being so welcoming even when we don’t even know them. The third gentleman then came over and was in a wheelchair; his name was Joel. He seemed super apprehensive when he first came in. Once he finally started feeling comfortable, we all were talking about all things sports, all things Colorado, all things Memphis, and his past. One thing that he said that really stuck out to me was when he was talking about how he broke his leg in three places and how hard it was. After he broke his leg, he immediately grabbed onto his other leg. He told us that he did that because it was the only thing he could control. He couldn’t control that his leg broke, but he could control how he acted about it. He held onto his leg as comfort and to show his strength. This showed me that I need to focus on the things that I can control. If I worry about the things I can’t, I will end up running my energy out on things that God has in control for me.  

 

I truly had a great time being able to make meaningful relationships and being a good part of someone’s day. Even doing work behind the scenes will allow the people to start their new chapter on a good foot. 

 

Morgan Landow 

 

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Dear Family and Friends, 

 

Our day started off by first going to Crosstown which consisted of a marketplace with a school built within it. I went yesterday with my small group for dinner, so I had already been familiar with it, but I enjoyed visiting again, more specifically, Lucy J’s bakery. This bakery’s purpose is to employ the unhoused with secure jobs with minimum wage, giving them a job to make money to support themselves and their families. We met with the owner’s wife who discussed the importance of how money can diminish in seconds. Daily costs add up and can leave people with almost nothing. The purpose of Lucy J’s is to help this cause, making it easier for people trying to get back on their feet. I admired the work that the family who started it put in and how much they have helped change the workforce by employing homeless citizens. 

We then went to the World Relief Center in Memphis which worked to provide housing for those who are trying to get on their feet again. We helped move furniture into two houses. It would’ve been three but one of the pipes burst in the houses which caused a set back and we didn’t get to the house today. I wondered what would happen to the family that was supposed to move into the house today or tomorrow and what that would mean for them. One setback can cause a family to move back in the process and disrupt the housing that they were planning on receiving. It was an eye-opening experience, and I am glad we got the opportunity to help this organization and their mission. 

Lastly, my group, or Mrs. Cole’s group, consisting of Danny, Morgan, Rudy, Francis, Anna C, Seb, and I all left early from the center and went to The Room at the Inn to make and serve chili to the guests living there. We went to the grocery store before to get all the materials and extra snacks; we got started around 3:30. We made two batches of chili and cornbread for the guests, and it was so, so good. I never knew we could all come together like that and make such an amazing and heartwarming meal. As we served the dinner, only about two families showed up and ten guests from the recuperative care wing. I got to sit with and talk to a woman named Valerie who was very nice. She opened up to me about her journey and how she saw the Lord amidst it all. She gave me the advice to “always read the fine print.” She made the comparison between the Bible and a contract. The notes on the side margins of the Bible are often skimmed over or not read at all and so are the tiny letters on a contract. Those words may be missed but they aren’t just any words - they are the most important. I found this really interesting to hear as I never had thought about it in that way before. She also said to “always trust your intuition” - that your intuition is almost always right. If you don’t go with your gut, you may end up down the wrong path. I thought it was amazing how she noticed the wrong choices in her life but is now reflecting on it and is attempting to change how she acts in the future. 

I also had the privilege of talking to a man named Reggie. He was super nice and talkative. He was in a wheelchair with a cast on his leg. He talked all about what excited him in life but also what scared him. What I admired about him the most was that he was real. He was real about what changed him, he was real about what excited him, and he was incredibly real about what scared him: the ocean, AI made phone calls, and ghost stories. He shared a story with me about his grandparents and parents. They built houses so that he could live in them - so that he could have a childhood and be spoiled by his grandma. He held onto these memories and even though he was in a current state of disability and not being as stable as he may have wanted to be, he wanted to do the same for his own grandchildren. He wants to get to a place where he is stable enough to provide a home for his grandkids so they can get excited about going there and be spoiled by Reggie as their grandfather. He has a goal to improve his living conditions and he has a goal to be better - not just for himself - but for his family as well, which touched me. As I finished the dinner and serving, I Iooked around the room that the guests were having dinner in, and I noticed painted sunsets on the windows and hand-crafted banners with the words of “hope”, “trust in God”, and “believe.” I hope that I served as a pillar to the people I helped today so they could find a hint of hope and a sense of believing not just in themselves but in their journeys as well.  

 

Ella Neiman