An Afternoon at Nashville Rescue Mission

Cassidy, Hillary and I went to the Nashville Resue Mission one afternoon to talk those who use the services available there. According to the Web site, NRM seeks to help the hurting of Middle Tennessee by offering food, clothing and shelter to the homeless and recovery programs to those enslaved in life degrading problems. When we walked in, we talked to the director of transient operations about our project and he was more than willing to help us with whatever we needed. Thanks to him, we were able to interview five men who lived at NRM about their experiences and thoughts on how the media portray homelessness.

Much to our surprise, most of the men were unwilling to to go into detail over how they became homeless and what their stories were. A few shared a general overview with their experiences, such as a sudden illness or a bad experience with a family member they were living with, but other than that, they preferred to keep their stories to themselves. We just assumed they would be more than willing to tell us about everything that happened to them because that’s the way they’re portrayed in society. Whenever a homeless person is given the opportunity to tell his/her story, they openly give details about their situation. I guess we’re vulnerable to accepting stereotypes as well, even if we are out to discontinue them.

Even though the men did not give much detail on their personal stories, they did shed light on how homeless men think the media portray them. A few said that they are lumped into one category as dirty and uneducated even though they have college educations, proving that every group has a stereotype that may fit some, but definitely not all. One man recounted a particular occurrence where he was treated as less than human just bacuse he was homeless.

It was fascinating to step out of our comfort zones and hear what actual homeless people had to say instead of relying on what others say about them. It’s something more people should do in order to break down the stereotypes that exist.

Tags: Homelessness, Nashville Rescue Mission