“The hardest thing for a homeless person is sleep and a conversation,” said Pastor Garrett with Safehouse Outreach. On Lovett’s Service Initiative for Ninth Graders (SING), advisory groups went out to various social service organizations. At these organizations, students completed diverse community service projects to help the Greater Atlanta community. My advisory group went to three places: United Way, Safehouse Outreach, and World Relief. The service at each organization was different, but overall my view on homelessness has changed. During my SING experience, I learned about the issue of homelessness when conversing with Pastor Garrett who works for Safehouse Outreach.
Garrett knows first hand what it is like to be living on the streets. Garrett served our country in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not only did he leave the military with an honorable discharge, but he also left with no compassion what so ever. Garrett, still compassionless, felt compelled to work with a church in his hometown in South Carolina. He was sent to a …show more content…
When living on the streets, having a conversation does not come easily, yet it can be the catalyst for a new beginning. For example, when we were in Woodruff Park talking to homeless people and highlighting programs at Safehouse Outreach, we met a man named James. James woke up with no hope. He had no one to lean on for support, but we as an advisory group, were able to change that. Simply by having a conversation with this man, he decided to take our advice and go to Safehouse so that he could enroll in the work program. Safehouse also gave James new clothes and began to look for resettlement options for him. This meant that James would be working within a week. Overall, I have learned that having a basic conversation is the simplest, yet most impactful of actions that can change a homeless person’s