So it turned out that we did get put to work yesterday afternoon, but not today! Yesterday afternoon when we went back “home,” Janice (she lived and worked at the Recovery Center where we stayed) happened to have something for us to do. So we drove up to the north side of Nashville and helped a woman named Marcia who had flood damage to her home (but it was still livable for the time being). Janice told us that Marcia had been very stressed since the flood, since she also was taking care of her five grandchildren and was battling for custody from her drug addict daughter. We were supposed to help box up items from the living room and dining room and move them out of the way so that Janice’s team could come in to put in new flooring. But when we arrived, Marcia was frustrated and hurt that Janice had sent us to “clean up her clutter.” She bristled at having her home being called cluttered, considering the fact that she takes care of five young children, a flood-damaged home, no job, and only one faucet in the house with running water.
But we just listened to her patiently, and assured her that her home was in great shape considering her circumstances. And it truly was! I think that Janice just used the word “clutter” without thinking how it would be perceived. Marcia showed us her system of washing dishes in the bathtub (the only working faucet in the whole house, as a result of the flood damage). She had lots of nice dishes in the dining room that were very dirty from the flood water, so we washed a lot of those and packed them into boxes. She was grateful as we left, but it was good to note how much difference even one misplaced word can make.
As for today, we got a special tour of the Parthenon from one of Larry’s friends, and then we headed over to Adult Day Services for some more bingo. But no one was there! We found out that they had cancelled metro schools because of Thursday’s snow flurries (though none had stuck today…see the above picture of the Nashville "Snow Day"), and so our program was cancelled as well. We were only scheduled for a couple of hours today anyway, but we used the extra time to explore Belmont University and we had a delicious meal at Monell’s (if you’re ever in Nashville, check it out because it is fantastic!!) before going downtown again. (We went to their art museum, the Frist, and it was kind of a joke. They only had two small exhibits. Needless to say we didn’t spend very long there.)
But to recap on the trip as a whole, I had a fantastic time this week! I think it helped that I didn’t really have any expectations coming in. I knew that I would just experience something new and be able to draw on those experiences in the future, which is exactly what happened. My favorite aspect of the trip was by far getting to hang out with the Bordeaux members. My impressions of the nonprofit world didn’t really change over the course of this trip, it was more of just adding on to my knowledge about a new area of the nonprofit world. I don’t think that I’ll alter my career goals or anything else as a direct result of this trip, but I will surely use the knowledge of this new experience in many of my future endeavors.
-Hannah S.
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