$$$ in tha tank.

     These ridiculous gas prices are really putting a pinch on my wallet.  I'm big on car-pooling and generally it's a much cheaper method of transportation.  But with gas at almost $4 a gallon, the car-pool thing is starting to suck.  By the way it's looking, people are just going to be working their asses off to pay for a way back and forth to work their asses off.  Absolutely stupid.  Someone needs to mass produce $100 electric four-seater freekin' mopeds and be done with it.  Just sayin.

The experience of Life.

    Now-a-days, it's very normal to see single parent families and live the independent lifestyle.  A lot of the time, it's heard that it's a fine choice but a difficult one.  Especially when you have children.  From my own experience, I know exactly how hard it is to be on your own with a child and work from beneath the surface to the top of the mountain.  Having a child at such a young age, being eighteen, seemed to be a barring gift.  I knew it would be hard to raise a child, finish school, support her and myself, and try to make it to college.  So far I've learned that it is a very hard thing to accomplish, being independent and raising a family, but with hard work and dedication it all seems to work out.  So super corny I know but it's so super true.  I never would have thought I'd make it this far but now I'm off to UNC to get my Criminal Psychology degree and ready to get my life a rolling.

Favorite Movie

    "Remember the Titans" is an all-time favorite of mine for a gaggle of reasons.  For one, and most importantly, Denzel Washington has one of the lead roles.  My man.  Secondly, the issues the movie tackles are both very important to me and my life.  Its set back in the times of civil rights movements.  Once schools became unsegragated, the schools began to be mixed in race.  Set around one schools football team, the group of students face challenges in overvcoming the divide between blacks and whites during the times of apartheid.  It's about coming together for one sole purpose of good, regardless of you're orientation or ethnicity.  It's such an amazing flick, and once you see it you'll wanna watch it again and again.  Did I mention Denzel Washington was a lead in the movie?  Just sayin.

The First Saving Grace in Jackson

     The Jackson Interfaith Shelter is a shelter for the homeless, founded by Beverly Garges. On April 10^th, 1975 the original Jackson Interfaith Shelter had opened. It was located behind the Jackson Coney Island on Michigan Avenue by the train station (Garges 7). Originally the shelter was for men only; there was room for only thirty-eight homeless men. The shelter served two meals a day to anyone who was hungry (Garges 9). They would later move to a new location on the corner of Franklin and South Blackstone Streets. The shelter is a Michigan non-profit corporation. Their first donations were from various churches in Jackson, along with other organizations. In the winter of 1974, a bingo group from St. Stanislaus Church, which Beverly had attended, would come to bingo each week loaded with boxes and bags full of towels, wash cloths, and blankets, all to help the shelter get started. Those linens would soon go in the shelter's fist linen closet. The St. John's Convent donated enough sheets and pillows, with cases to cover all thirty eight cots. After word got around the phones rang constantly with people wanting to donate, they sent money, clothing, canned goods, linens, and hygienic supplies (Garges 13).

     One day while searching for a table big enough to serve several people, Beverly met a man named Bob Z He and his brother owned a business called Brothers bar and Restaurant Supply. He told her to give him a call and he would help her find a table that was the right size. When she called him he set up an appointment to meet with her at the unfinished shelter. When he arrived he pulled out a tape measure and began measuring every inch of the shelter. Later that week Beverly got a phone call and was asked to meet with Bob at his restaurant supply store. He presented her with a blue print of where everything should go to make the shelter's space most efficient. The blue print consisted of a sink, stove, refrigerator, coffee bar, and several table and chairs, along with thirty-eight cots for the homeless men to sleep on. By that time she was worried and unsure if Bob knew she was going to be running the shelter strictly on donations. Beverly had little money as it is; with no money to buy equipment. He then took Beverly over to a warehouse and showed her various pieces of equipment, paper dishes, tables, chairs, and counters. According to Garges, she really started to panic when he suggested that he could deliver next week, until he told her he was giving her everything free of charge. She just hugged him and thanked the lord for answering her prayers and that's how the original Jackson Interfaith Shelter came to.

     Over a short period of time, the word spread about the shelter and the people who needed help started to multiply. There were men, women and children all coming to the shelter looking for help. Because of the size of the shelter they could not board men with women and children. The state wouldn't allot it she would feed them, talk to them, and try to clothe them, but the thought of having to turn people away with nowhere to g just broke Beverly's heart (Garges 22).

     The shelter's location had a three-year lease, so when Beverly had six months to go, she knew she had to find a new place for the shelter. The shelter needed a bigger building, one that would be able to feed and board more people, including women and children (Garges 79).

One day, thee people from the shelter mentioned an empty church building on the corner of Franklin and South Blackstone not far from this location. Beverly went and visited the church. While standing inside the church she could visualize a whole new shelter, with room for everything; a linen storage area, a place for can goods, a walk-in freezer, a very large dining room, a place for the kids to have some toys, also a counseling room and an office. It was perfect. On May 3^rd, 1978 twelve people spent their first night at the new Jackson Interfaith Shelter (Garges 80-82).

     Today more than fifty-five people reside there, with beds for about sixteen more. There are thirty-two beds for men and thirty-nine for woman and their children. The men have their own side of the building with no access inside other than the main entrance. They have their own facilities, like bathrooms, showers, hygienic supplies, linen closets, and a T.V. Area. The men who stay at the shelter are allowed to hang out with the women and children until bedtime at 11:30. The men's sleeping area is totally different than the women's; they have one large room with sixteen double bunk cots, equivalent to thirty-two available spots. The only exceptions ever made are when a homeless father and daughter come in together. The shelter provides cots for them in the toy room located off off the main dining area. The rooms are sectioned off with 4-6 beds per room. The women's dorm is located through a hallway also off the main dining area. The shelter has very strict policies when a person arrives. The attendant on duty has certain guidelines they must follow when checking someone into the shelter.

     The most important rules are all men and women must have a valid picture I.D., and if they have children, they must present a social security card. The adults immediately take their I.D. Down to the police station and get a request. A request is when the station runs your information through computers and proves that you are who you say you are. They then check your record to see if you have any warrants. If you have a warrant the police department will detain you for that charge. It only takes minutes for the department to fill out a request form. When the police department finishes properly filling out the request form, they bring it back to the shelter and start filing out the entry forms. Every new resident that arrives at the shelter must make an appointment with Katrina Sims, the client advocate between the hours of 8 am. And 4 pm. Monday through Friday. The residents are allowed to start staying there while they wait for their appointment. Usually the appointment is scheduled within days of their arrival. Homeless people from Jackson are allowed to stay at the shelter for one month. People from out of town can stay for two weeks. When their time is almost up they can continue getting extensions for as long as the shelter allows; which is usually until they break the rules. Extensions are based upon what the resident has been doing with their time since they've been there, whether or not they have tried to get jobs or if they are looking for housing. Almost everyone is granted an extension.

     After filling out all the paperwork, the attendant will show their new residents around the shelter. They receive new sheets and pillows, a washcloth, towel, personal hygienic products, and anything else they or their children may need upon arrival.

     The shelter serves three meals a day. Breakfast is served to everyone at 7 am. Each morning. Lunch is at 11:30 am. for in house residents and noon for outsiders. Dinner is served at 4:30 pm And at 5 pm For everyone else. Everyone must sign a meal sheet before every meal, mothers must sign for their children. The clipboard with the meal list sits on the beginning of the counter, people must sign before they even get a tray.

The shelter runs strictly on donations. They count on those meal sheets to keep track of how many people they serve each day, just so the shelter can keep track of how they are doing on their food supply. They definitely cannot afford to run short. The average people served on a daily basis is around forty five people for breakfast, eighty for lunch, and around 110 for dinner, all 365 days a year.

     Some of the shelters major donations come from different businesses and organizations such as Kroger, The Salvation Army, Jackson Public Schools, Stone Hearth Breads, Jackson Jaycees, Memorable Creations Catering, West Texas BBQ Company, and many others. All meals are decided by, made by, and served by whoever is volunteering that day. The in house residents are usually the ones who serve breakfast, considering it is served at 7 am. Most volunteers don't arrive until 8 am. A few of the consistent volunteers are students from Concord and Napoleon High School, North Parma UNC, St. Mary's, Spring Arbor Free Methodist Church, Kiwanis Club, and of course people serving probation can choose to work out their community service hours at the shelter. All volunteers, except for those on probation, take turns rotating the days that they volunteer each week. Most of the student volunteers only come once a month. People on probation usually come four or five days a week so they can get their hours over with.

     Over time the shelter has accumulated some low rent properties; five houses to be exact. Two of the houses sit on the north side of the shelter on Blackstone Street, another house sits on the west side of the shelter on Blackstone Street. They use all of their houses as rooms to rent out. They only rent to people who have jobs or social security coming in. The rent is anywhere from $200-250 a month, fully furnished. All renters get a surprise inspection once a week by the manager Chris Chmielewski. He makes sure no one is drinking, doing drugs, or damaging the rooms and the property in them.

     The staff of the Jackson Interfaith Shelter consists of the Director Keith Krusky, Manager Chris Chmielewski, Assistant Manager Martha Moten and Attendants Mike Grieves, Richard Hubbert, Sheryl Sabo, Carol Atkinson, Chris Douglas, Michelle Roderick, and Shauna Brown. They all play a big part in the daily operations of the shelter. Because the shelter runs on donations the money supply is very limited. The state agrees to pay all employees of non-profit organizations.

     Some of the attendants live right there at the shelter. They work when management leaves, or after business hours. They make sure the residents, especially keeping their 10 pm Curfew, follow all the rules. If any of the residents have questions or concerns they go see the attendant on duty.

      The shelter has a very strict 10 pm. Curfew for all residents. The only exception is if you ask for an overnight or a late pass. You can only get a late pass if you worked past 10 pm. Every resident is allowed one overnight per week. An over night is where the resident is allowed to stay some where other than the shelter for two days. On the third day they must return to the shelter by 10 pm. If they fail to do so they will be immediately kicked out. A few other things will get a resident booted like fighting or stealing, bringing drugs or alcohol into the shelter, disrespecting any of the staff and continuous disrespect to fellow residents.

A lot of different people come and go at the shelter with all types of different stories of how they got there or the people and lives they used to have before they were homeless. They tell about all the different trials and tribulations they have been through in their lives.

     Mike, a thirty-eight year old homeless man, allowed for questioning about his recent stay at the shelter. Mike was from Jackson, born and raised. He grew up in a house on Burr Street. He lived there until his parents were unfortunately killed in a car accident. A drunk driver took their lives when Mike was only seven.

     After his parents passed, he had to go live with his uncle and aunt, who was his mother's sister. On Mike's tenth birthday, his uncle was struck by a car and killed. As unlucky as life had been, Mike still was on a downfall. Two years later his aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer and was taken by the disease.

After his family died, he had no other choice but to go into foster care. Since he was only twelve he really didn't get to make any choices about where he should be placed. Basically he got passed around from family to family until he was fifteen, at which time he was placed with a middle class family who had no children of their own. He thought he had finally found a place to call home. He lived there for about nine months. Then the foster father started abusing him. He hurt him so bad one night that he had to be rushed to the hospital. He was in a coma for two months. The doctors said he would never be the same again. Well, they were right. He never was the same. He never let another person get close to him again. He ran away from everyone and everything. The sate finally gave up and let him live on his own. He was only sixteen. Mike is a very street smart man but has no formal education. He only made it through the eight grade. Mike has lived a very hard life and I probably one of the more stronger people that I have met along the way. Nobody wants to hire him because of his record, and some due to his lack of education. You can't pay bills if you don't have a job. So where do you end up when you have nowhere to go and nothing to eat? The shelter. According to Mike, he has been at the shelter for about six months now. He used to live with a friend, that is until the apartment they were living in burnt down. Mike has been trying to get a job ever since he arrived at the shelter. He would very much like to become independent again, have his own place. Like Mike said, “It's hard to survive out there in today's society. But I will survive. I always have.”

      For the people who are less fortunate and aren't lucky enough to have a shelter in there area, they are forced to live outside in the cold winters with their children and eat out of dumpsters behind fast food restaurants. They must travel town to town to find shelter and support.

     The Jackson Interfaith Shelter helps thousands of people each year. They serve and feed tens of thousands of hungry people each year. It kind of makes you wonder what the crime rate would be like in Jackson if homeless people had nowhere to go. And if starving people had no food to eat, how else do you get food for yourself and your children. If parent's couldn't go somewhere and get free clothes for their kids to wear in the winter, if they had nowhere to sleep at night? What do you think life in Jackson would be like then, if you think it is bad now.

Works Cited

Burkhart, Rob. “Jackson Interfaith Shelter Has Been Serving For More Than Four Decades” Jackson Citizen Patriot. February 2, 2011. Web. 19 Feb 201

Garges, Beverly. The Cry of the Lamb. Jackson, MI. Bowen Creative Services, 1982. 15 Feb 2011

Mike. Personal Interview. 16 Feb 2011

Winning.

    I was on my way to a Geology lecture this morning, listening to the radio and trying to forgot about the next two and a half hours of my life being wasted on the crucial sediments in a balsaltic igneous pebble.  Gag me.  But during my period of self-pity, a newscast came across the waves.  According to our local radio station, K-105.3, Charlie Sheen is on his way back to "Two and A Half Men".  Apparently the producers had released a statement claiming Mr. Sheen has apologized for his recent trials and is welcome to working with CBS producers to get the show back on primtetime.  It's obvious that the company is in it for money.  His antics haven't been forgiven or forgotten by all those who lost their jobs during the plummet, even though the downfall was pretty entertaining.  Yet, I wonder how serious Charlie is taking the new proposal?  He is still on his Violent Torpedo of Truth tour, and still acting like a fool.  In my opinion, everyone seems to be super greedy and no one really cares what Mr. Sheen spews out of his mouth next.  I'm down for the ride.

All me...

   To be quite honest i'm not much of a blogger. This particular blog my teacher said we could blog about anything we want. To start off, I think it is stupid that UNC Charlotte charges $5500.00 dollars more a semester for out of state tuition. U have to live in North Carolina for a year to be considered a resident. So what does a person do, take a year off of school or pay $8100.00 for 12 credits? You would think they would want new people to move to their state but, I guess not. Plus, they totally hold a person's late teens and early 20's against them. I have to jump through so many hoops just to try to get in, not to mention I have already put out $70.00 with out even knowing if I have a chance to get  in. Always money............ I have a 3.4 GPA, shouldn't that speak for something. If I wasn't serious I wouldn't care about getting anything other than a 2.0, passing. I guess nobody cares anymore for the little guys...............

Shot over $95.00........

        Yesterday in Hazel Park a 19 year old boy was shot over a cell phone. Johnathan Clements who lived at his aunt's house posted an ad on craig's list for an android phone. Little did he know it would be his last post. An unknown suspect answered the ad and told Johnathan he had one for sale for $80.00 and would also deliver it to him for an extra $15.00. When the suspect showed up to sell him the phone, he instead shot Jonathan and fled the scene. $95.00.  Is that really all it takes to get killed these days? It's totally senseless. How could a person live with themselves after commiting such a hanous crime. What could he have possibly got with that $95.00? He already had to put gas in the car to go to and from the city of Detroit to Hazel Park if that is even where the suspect came from. When this suspect gets caught, which I believe they will, as long as the officer's and detective's do their job, he will have a long time to think about what that $95.00 cost them. Their entire life is what it is gonna cost them and when they are older and have been in prison 10, 15 years or so and think to themselves how stupid and senseless their crime really was, they will have regret. Regret will not let you out of prison, regret will not bring back Johnathan , and regret will not ease the pain that will be lingering in the hearts of Johnathan's family for the rest of our lives. I say regret because to say he would be sorry after a crime like this that was planned all over an ad for a cell phone, you can never truly be sorry I don't care how much you regret it you are not sorry.