Tennessee Bound: The Community that Remains

It has been said that there truly are no goodbyes when it comes to seeing someone off on their trip, and that's what I hoped as I watched one of our dear clients begin his journey to his native Tennessee. His belongings packed onto his bicycle and trailer, he was ready to make the trek across the country to reach his home, see his family, but most importantly to create more awareness about homelessness in our nation.

But I suppose it would be appropriate to tell you about him before he left. Undoubtedly, there are almost too many personalities to count here at Corpus Christi, but let us say that this man is on a new level entirely. From his brightly colored bike clothing to the Southern drawl that follows each word, everyone here knows and loves this man. At a mile a minute he speaks to each person here with energy and enthusiasm and he is always someone who likes a good joke (including the time when he tried to sneak through the entire place with his bike expecting no one to notice). There is also a rumor that he wrote an entire book about previous adventures, but unfortunately he lost it. Aside from his antics and more importantly people here not only know him, but they recognize him as one of the core people amongst the Boise homeless community (I think he has been here for nearly five years). To my knowledge he arrived here in Boise as a bull rider, and if you don't believe me you should see the picture of him atop a 800 pound bull on his MySpace page. Unfortunately, he became far too familiar with illegal substances and soon found himself in prison. However, since his release, he has been nothing but a light in many dark places for the rest of the clients here.

So with only a few weeks shared with him, I watched him make his final preparations and share his last few embraces with the people here. Most everyone came to the back of our building to see him off and that was when I saw the true face of Boise' homeless. They are just like any other group of human beings: they are a community that takes care and loves one another. There were tears, phone numbers and addresses exchanged, and many chuckles about the times they had shared. In fact, it was difficult to see any difference between that and my own goodbyes at the end of my recent undergrad years at Gonzaga. Just before mounting his bike, he pulled out a Navajo flute and accompanied his departure with a melody that sent shivers down my spine as I began to understand how much this community would miss him and how I too would miss him dearly. With a grin stretching from ear to ear, he rode away towards the unknown future with a simple sign attached to his trailer. Written was "Alaska to 10 AC [Tennessee]: With Faith and Donations" I hope that we can all share his faith in the fight against homelessness and in the endeavors we may face. Farewell my friend, may faith carry you always...