13/Oct/2008
In the spirit of giving…
Baptist Collegiate Ministry Helps Rehabilitate NYC Homeless
By Emily Holden
While many LSU students spend their winter vacations relaxing and catching up on sleep, about 25 will dedicate one week of their break this year to helping the homeless in New York City. This is the third year that the Baptist Collegiate Ministry will send volunteers to work with the Bowery Mission Transition Center, the third oldest homeless mission in the city.
Mandy Trammell, BCM associate director, said the Bowery Ministry focuses its efforts on helping homeless men who have fallen on hard times, usually because of job loss or some type of drug or alcohol addiction. The program is a long-term effort to help these men transition back into a stable lifestyle and escape the cycle of homelessness and poverty.
Participants usually live in the facility for six to nine months. The Ministry helps them receive high school diploma equivalents, career training and family restoration classes.
LSU students do everything from leading bible study and worship services to wrapping presents and cleaning showers. They often give testimony or sing at chapel services. The Ministry also visits parks with large homeless populations to hand out free meals.
“It’s a pretty astounding thing to show up somewhere at 10:30 a.m. with a hot meal for lunch and already see a line of people standing and waiting in freezing December temperatures,” said Trammell.
Trammell said there are a million ways to serve by meeting physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs. However, she said the students recognize that all needs other than spiritual are temporary. BCM volunteers work to open the participants’ eyes to the way that God is already addressing their temporary needs, Trammell said.
“We’re very pleased to be able to work with that program to meet temporary needs,” Trammell said. “But at the same time, this is a very practical program to give long term assistance to people so they can get in the position to help themselves and others.”
Trammell said the BCM puts a great emphasis on service as part of a student’s spiritual experience. LSU sophomore Autumn Autrey said the mission trip helped her see people for “who they are, not what they do.” Autrey was told that volunteers rarely communicate with the program’s participants. She said one man told her she was the first person to look into his eyes in more than a year.
“It really rocks your world when you stop viewing people as being homeless,” Autrey said. Autrey also said most of the needs she met were spiritual and emotional, rather than physical. She still corresponds with two of the men she met at the Bowery Center and is coordinating a similar trip to New York City with a small group of friends.
“As a college student, you have freedoms, you have opportunities and potential that many other people don’t have,” Trammell said. Trammell encourages students to make those breaks count.
“They want to be a blessing to their community and they want whatever place they’re in to be better because they’re there,” she said.
The cost of participation in the New York mission trip is about $200 and a plane ticket. The money covers some travel arrangements, lodging, meals and supply costs for anything the students make or give away. Trammell said most mission trip participants are BCM members, although some students become members after traveling with the group.
Baptist Collegiate Ministry Helps Rehabilitate NYC Homeless
By Emily Holden
While many LSU students spend their winter vacations relaxing and catching up on sleep, about 25 will dedicate one week of their break this year to helping the homeless in New York City. This is the third year that the Baptist Collegiate Ministry will send volunteers to work with the Bowery Mission Transition Center, the third oldest homeless mission in the city. Mandy Trammell, BCM associate director, said the Bowery Ministry focuses its efforts on helping homeless men who have fallen on hard times, usually because of job loss or some type of drug or alcohol addiction. The program is a long-term effort to help these men transition back into a stable lifestyle and escape the cycle of homelessness and poverty.
Participants usually live in the facility for six to nine months. The Ministry helps them receive high school diploma equivalents, career training and family restoration classes.
LSU students do everything from leading bible study and worship services to wrapping presents and cleaning showers. They often give testimony or sing at chapel services. The Ministry also visits parks with large homeless populations to hand out free meals.
“It’s a pretty astounding thing to show up somewhere at 10:30 a.m. with a hot meal for lunch and already see a line of people standing and waiting in freezing December temperatures,” said Trammell.
Trammell said there are a million ways to serve by meeting physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs. However, she said the students recognize that all needs other than spiritual are temporary. BCM volunteers work to open the participants’ eyes to the way that God is already addressing their temporary needs, Trammell said.
“We’re very pleased to be able to work with that program to meet temporary needs,” Trammell said. “But at the same time, this is a very practical program to give long term assistance to people so they can get in the position to help themselves and others.”
Trammell said the BCM puts a great emphasis on service as part of a student’s spiritual experience. LSU sophomore Autumn Autrey said the mission trip helped her see people for “who they are, not what they do.” Autrey was told that volunteers rarely communicate with the program’s participants. She said one man told her she was the first person to look into his eyes in more than a year.
“It really rocks your world when you stop viewing people as being homeless,” Autrey said. Autrey also said most of the needs she met were spiritual and emotional, rather than physical. She still corresponds with two of the men she met at the Bowery Center and is coordinating a similar trip to New York City with a small group of friends.
“As a college student, you have freedoms, you have opportunities and potential that many other people don’t have,” Trammell said. Trammell encourages students to make those breaks count.
“They want to be a blessing to their community and they want whatever place they’re in to be better because they’re there,” she said.
The cost of participation in the New York mission trip is about $200 and a plane ticket. The money covers some travel arrangements, lodging, meals and supply costs for anything the students make or give away. Trammell said most mission trip participants are BCM members, although some students become members after traveling with the group.
