Thursday

We started our day off volunteering at Frederick Elementary School again. On our way there half our group had the wrong address entered into our GPS and ended up getting very lost. We had the road as Frederick road instead of avenue and we ended up in Ellicott City. After our nice scenic drive we figured out the right address and finally arrived at the elementary school. We returned to the same classrooms we volunteered at on Tuesday. The kids were very excited to see us come back and seemed more receptive to us helping them. It was really hard to leave, we had many of them gripping our legs or arms when we tried to leave and begging us to stay or to come back. It was one of our favorite places to volunteer; we are hoping we can find a way to come back again.

We then grabbed some lunch and went to Sara's House for the first time. It was located on the army base, Fort Meade. After having a discussion with one of the guys in charge about what Sara's House does, we started helping out. Half of us went outside to take inventory 0f the shed while the other half organized their toy room. We then helped serve dinner and ate with the family's staying there. The children staying there were very excited to talk and play with us. After dinner we all split up with some of us helping kids with their homework, others tutoring families, and the rest of us sorting their canned food.

Can't believe the week is almost over.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning we went back to the Baltimore Station, where we had been the first day of our trip. We met a few more of the men who live there and heard their stories. One of the practices done to the men at the Baltimore Station is acupuncture, because it is said to help detox the body. Two members of our group were able to receive acupuncture, and they said it made them feel more relaxed than they have ever felt. While this was going on, the rest of us helped in the kitchen making sandwiches for the men's lunches. After this we helped organize a closet upstairs. There was a closet filled with suit jackets, pants, and shorts that were available for the men who live there. The clothes were unorganized and men who came to get clothes had to search through piles of things to find their size, so we went through all the clothing and labeled them with sizes. We then met up with Al, an alumni of the center who now works there, and he gave us papers with words relating to the Baltimore station on them, such as addiction, recovery, self-esteem, etc. We talked for a little about the words, and then split into two groups. One group wrote and performed a skit relating to the words, and the other group wrote a short story/poem.

Wednesday night we went to the girls' house from Girls Hope Boys Hope. There had originally only been a house for boys, and the boys wrote a letter to the show Extreme Makeover:Home Edition because they wanted a house built for the girls. The house was built by Extreme Makeover this past summer and was really big and nice. Because the house is new, only four girls currently live there, but there are looking for more girls to move in. We cooked dinner for the girls and staff members, and did some cleaning around the house.

Tuesday Afternoon....

After an exhausting day at the elementary school, we packed into the vans and headed back to the house. While traveling on 695 East, we encountered a car that was stopped dead on the highway, most likely entranced by the accident already on the side of the road. Unable to break fast enough, both vans suffered impact with a small vehicle sandwiched in the middle. Luckily, no one was injured and the cops were already on the scene because they was already another accident at the sight. After two hours of standing on the highway sporting our asb purple shirts, the rental vehicles came and we were able to continue on our way

Tuesday Morning

Well, the morning started out really nicely. There was sun, it was warm, and we were headed to an elementary school in Baltimore City to help out in the classrooms for the day. We weren’t sure what to expect, but were open minded and excited to be working with the kids. Walking into the school, it reminded me of my own elementary school with the short sinks, tiny chairs, and murals throughout the open lobby. We ended up being divided up, one college student to each classroom to help with various grades. My class was a 5^th grade class where they were learning about the states of matter. I spent most of my time that morning helping two students work on their spelling words, to catch them up with the rest of the class. We got through a few words, but I’m not quite sure how much they remembered of what we covered. Hopefully they enjoyed the new person in the room though.

Lunch was an interesting experience. I heard there was lots of yelling, fights, and weird food. But that’s okay, it’s what you could expect when any large amount of kids are in one room together. Recess was the same story. Kids were running all over, I heard some taunting, and a football was flying in all directions. I was happy to see the kids outside though. Apparently most schools in the city are lucky if they can allow for the kids to have recess once or twice a week- most schools can’t offer it because of poor funding.

Anyway, the morning was a great success and we all loved being at the school. We can’t imagine working there all the time. It takes so much patience and energy to be one of those teachers- I admire them. It was after we left the school that things got really interesting…

Day 2- Our Daily Bread and Boys Hope Girls Hope

Our day started out with a trip to Our Daily Bread, a shelter in Baltimore. When we first arrived we were given a tour of the facility, which was huge! I was not expecting a homeless shelter to be so nice. One half had a career center for people to get their lives back on track and the other half had an industrial kitchen and dining area to serve the homeless. After the tour we did an activity where we were put into the shoes of a disadvantaged family in Baltimore. We had to use a $3000 combined monthly income to decide how to spend our money (paying rent, buying food, etc). This activity made me extremely grateful for not being in such a tough situation. It was so difficult to decide how I would spend the money and I could not imagine doing this every night.

After finishing our tour and activity, a few of us continued the day by serving during the lunch period. Our Daily Bread serves around 600 people days during lunchtime. We were all given various tasks. Some served bread and tea, some passed out sandwiches and I collected plates and utensils and cleared away food. By working the lunch shift, I interacted with some of the Baltimore homeless population. I was surprised by the large amount of mental disability and also surprised by the amount of food wasted. This was definitely an eye opening experience and something that made me feel extremely grateful for the opportunities I have.

We finished off the day by cooking dinner for Boys Hope Girls Hope, and organization that houses middle and high school teens. The kids that get to live in the houses are nominated by teachers, and the director we met in the afternoon couldn’t say enough about how great and promising all of the kids in the program are. We will be working with this organization throughout the week, but tonight we cooked dinner at the boys’ house.

After cooking and eating with the 8 boys who live in the house, I really got the feeling of being part of a family. Talking to the boys who are about to graduate, we were all so inspired about how far they had come. It seems as though it would be easy to say that a program this small can’t make a big difference, but the difference it has made in the lives of these boys is unbelievable.

Day 1- The Baltimore Station

Today we went to the Baltimore Station, a substance abuse rehabilitation center for male veterans. This program is special because residents can stay as long as they want to and don't get kicked out after a specified period of time. First, we had no idea what to expect, except to come with "an open mind." From the moment we entered the door the were extremely welcoming and willing to tell their stories. Residents came from all walks of life, some even making 6 figure salaries and driving BMWs and Lexus's. This was very surprising to most of us, since many of the men we met were very successful professionals and in their 30s when their addiction took its toll on their lives. Clearly addiction can affect anyone and is present in the lives of people from all walks of life.

We learned so much from these men and cannot wait to go back. After touring the center and getting to learn about the facility and all they do, we got to prepare dinner for them and eat with the residents. All of us got to speak with different residents of the program and learned so much about them and got a lot of very valuable advice. The men all had great insight on the world and interesting life stories. We are planning to go back and do something special for them to show our appreciation for being so open with us and letting us into their lives so willingly. If this is what we got to experience and learn the first day we cannot wait to see what the rest of the week holds for us.

And for the first day of spring we celebrated by getting free Ritas :)