The christmas spirit.

Last night, a few friends and I met at Lake eola to have dinner with our homeless friends. There were about 70 people there. It was an absolute feast. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, corn casserole, green been casserole, fruit salad, apples, brownies, donuts, cupcakes, cookies, cold drinks. After everyone was well fed, Jordan played some holiday music for us. It was great to see friends and share a holiday meal with them. As Jordan played I saw an old friend Phil sitting in the back of the crowd.

Phil is in his late 40's. He left for New Jersey about 8 months ago to work construction there. Work up north is seasonal, because of the cold weather and snow they are unable to poor concrete and continue building. He and many others migrate down to Florida for the winter. Hard times awaited him when he arrived. Dan, Phil's close friend, was also back from Kissimmee. The two are having trouble finding work. Its heart breaking, they want nothing more than to find work and get off the streets, but times are tough for everyone. It was very bitter sweet to see him.

We had a ton of food left over. Not wanting to let it waist we headed to the coalition. When we pulled up there were 7 or 8 people sleeping on the sidewalk covered up with blankets and sheets. We drove through the gate and told the guard we had food. He directed us to the kitchen (the back part of the pavilion) all across the campus people laid covered up to sleep for the night. We carried our left over food to the kitchen. As we walked in the back door I raised my eyes to see 300-400 men laying on the concrete floor. Some where passed out asleep. others fixing there "bedding" before they lay down. some were still sitting around talking. I followed the others, we stepped around a few men who were a sleep on the floor and dropped off the food. It was my first time at the pavilion when men were in it getting ready to sleep. A sight my eyes had never seen except for movies. I am still trying to process it. At least they didn't sleep on the streets right?


David Blackwell

Sister Margret

Philly

We made it up here to New Jerusalem late Friday night. Sorry it has taken so long to get a post up about it. Their weekends here are pretty light so we have been checking out the city and hanging out here with Dave, the guy we are staying with. We went to check out the city yesterday then went grocery shopping. We have a pretty laid back day again today, probably drive around again to see the community and city here. Tomorrow we will start observing the program and meeting with the staff.

From what we heard the potluck went well.
Thank you everyone who was there.
Potlucks would not exist without you.

Peace be with you.

David

Washington D.C.

We stopped at this really sweet spot in DC called Bus Boys and Poets. Its a really nice restaurant/coffee shop where the proceeds go to support and Activist book store and education program. Jordan and I ate excellent food and were pretty excited about the place. Then we went to the Book store that is connected to the restaurant and fell in love when we saw the book selection. There were huge sections on Peace keeping, eastern poetry, politics in the middle east, African American studies. If you are ever in DC you should definitely look this place up and check it out.


David

Savannah Ga

Jordan and I are on our way up to Philly to go stay at New Jerusalem and to learn from them. We are supper excited about this trip and are working on some amazing things for next year. We are in Savannah, Ga now. We just stopped for dinner and coffee, then we are on our way to Raliegh, NC. We are sad we will miss the potluck. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

We will be frequently updating this on this trip and in the future. Keep checking back for futher updates of our learnings and travels.