Connections

Today a group went to the old Bryan’s House to dig up sod. Within the past two weeks Bryan’s house moved into the facility that we are volunteering. They now have two facilities one for special needs children and the other facility is a low-income childcare facility. Bryan’s House used to have a respite care facility and a hospice program, but no longer have those programs. If a family needs a child to be cared for overnight, there are ways for them to stay at Bryan’s House for up to 72 hours. Four of us went to the other facility to dig up sod that we are replanting at the new facility. We also had the opportunity to go to a partner organization called AIN (AIDS Interfaith Network) to deliver bread. This organization had multiple services available! The main belief of the organization was based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. They provided breakfast and lunch to individuals daily. They believe that if people’s basic needs were being met they would be less likely to be out on the streets engaging in risky activity. Along with this they believed that by providing food and housing to HIV infected individuals it was also preventing others from contracting the illness. When people have access to their basic needs they can focus on treating their illness. The program director was very passionate about what he does. They serve thousands of individuals every year! Some individuals come and go and it depends on the month if they are around. The program also provides counseling services and Christian based programs. They have individuals who are in charge of outreach and prevention. The program is a thirteen county program and only 15 individuals work at the facility. They depend on volunteers to keep the organization going. They are funded through state and federal funds, but they also apply for grants to sustain them. We received a great tour of the facility that was full of information about HIV and AIDS. This program shares clients with Bryan’s House, but primarily serves the parents. Here is their website. http://www.aidsinterfaithnetwork.org/

Today we filled Easter eggs in preparation for an Easter egg hunt Friday morning. Every day we volunteer in the classrooms from 9am – noon take a lunch break and then do an activity from 1-3pm outside of the classrooms. The children take a nap or have rest time, so we try to stay out of the way. Today we had quite a bit of commotion taking place. There were very strong thunderstorms in the area, which brought tornado’s with them. As the tornado warning went off our students did an incredible job of going into action. We assisted the staff with moving the children into the hall and into a safety position. I could not believe how fast the staff had the 60 plus children into the hall. By the time we got from the other side of the building the majority of the children were in the designated tornado protection area. The staff was incredibly poised and made sure that each child was being cared for. Our students teamed up with a class and helped as they were needed. For the most part it was very quiet. Occasionally a child would start crying, but mainly it was because they had just been woken up from a nap. The nurse walked the hall and gave medication to children and managed their other needs. We sat in the hall for a while as the storms passed us by, thank God! Bryan’s House staff were very concerned about us and we tried to reassure them that this is a part of our reality every spring to early summer. After the tornado warning was we started to hear about the damage in the community. We didn’t know if our housing was still standing or if we had neighbors until we went back to our house after service. We were very blessed not to have been directly impacted by the storms, but close to our rental house there was quite a bit of damage. We appreciate everyone who called or connected with us in some way to see how we were doing. Once again, the staff at Bryan’s House did a great job ensuring that everyone was safe.