"Campus of Hope" Ministries are for Any City, USA!

A Campus of Hope provides life saving shelter, clothing, food, showers, and grooming items for the homeless, but also provides practical and spiritual training to spark hope for their future.  The impact of Christian love to those who have absolutely nothing to offer in return is a major encouragement that somebody does indeed care. Large numbers of compassionate Christian volunteers are needed for these "Campus" programs:

1.  Day Center...safe, warm shelter, showers, educational center, library, spiritual and academic classes, Post Office services, local telephone, personal items store, locker storage, addiction recovery classes, clothing distribution, job placement, case management, counseling, transportation assistance..this is truly a hub for the homeless to find peace and hope.

2.. Room In the Inn…every night from November 1 to March 30, during the cold weather months, Churches of all denominations have volunteers spending "a couple of hours a week" to pick up a Van load of homeless persons at the Campus between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., take them to their Church, feed them a good hot meal, provide unconditional love and Christian fellowship, a mattress or cot to sleep on in the warm gym or classrooms, a shower the next morning, breakfast, and return them to the Campus at 6:00 a.m. so they can get to work. The Campus gives out numbered tickets early each morning to as many homeless persons as there are Church beds scheduled for that night. Around 5:00 p.m. homeless persons with tickets are organized into groups according to the promised schedules made by the congregations. These groups are issued sheets for their beds for the night to carry on the vans. The sheets are brought back to the Campus laundry the next morning, to be reissued nightly.

Without Room at the Inn, untold dozens of homeless persons would literally freeze to death or become incapacitated by illness from raw, brutal exposure. 150+ congregations rotate serving Room at the Inn, according to their volunteer availability, many rotate hosting responsibilities among Bible study classes each month to "share the blessing". Even though just under 200 homeless persons are served nightly through Room at the Inn in small groups of 6-12 per congregation, and another 186 are housed, all together in a dormitory style setting at the Rescue Mission, the bulk of the 3,000 homeless persons in Nashville are obviously left out in the cold. The need is great. This service "pulls" the homeless population to this "hub" exposing them to all the other rehabilitative opportunities that the Campus offers without pressure.

3. Guest House…the Campus has a special section and trained staff to unconditionally, lovingly and patiently provide temporary accommodations for "Guests", persons under the influence of drugs or alcohol who would normally be arrested and processed through the criminal justice system, a process that takes an average of 4 hours of a policeman's valuable time, as well as the valuable time of the judiciary, saving several hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to jail, house and feed chronic alcoholics.  "Guests" are surrounded by staff skilled in Alcohol and Drug rehabilitation, who encourage the guests to get help through their programs. Many souls are healed and restored through this program.  What an excellent place to offer opportunity to enter the Layman Lessons Residential Christian Discipleship Training, to overcome addiction.  The "feeder" program of Guest House is a natural ministry partner for Layman Lessons.  Of course if a person rejects the opportunity to enter a rehabilitation program, they are free to leave when they have spent enough time to regain sobriety and function normally.

4. Alcohol & Drug Case Management…Campus Case Management will of course offer Layman Lessons Residential Christian Discipleship Training to overcome addiction.   Some people are not a good fit with the Layman Lessons programs.  Case Management is about determining the rehabilitation option that fits best in each case.  Campus referrals to other rehabilitation options depend greatly upon the attitude and realities of the individual needing help.  After completion of the chosen treatment program, a Campus case manager works with the person in a supportive environment to secure regular full time work, learning to budget money, obtaining education (GED), and eventually getting into their own housing.  Again, Layman Lessons Re Entry program will be offered to those that fit it well.  The 12 step Alcoholics Anonymous program and Oxford House program is a option for long-term support after program completion.  National studies have proven that Rehabilitation programs of less than 3 months are colossal failures, whereas a majority of those completing rehabilitation programs of 6+ months are successful.    Case Management is vital to long term success.

5. Medical Respite Center…just imagine for a moment two very painful personal situations:

i. Being discharged from the hospital with a major medical problem and having no place to go…your only option as a homeless person is the street, in extreme weather, living in constant terror that at any time you could be robbed, beaten to death, or killed for your meager possessions. The Campus offers the medically fragile homeless person a place to recover from an illness such as bronchitis, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, cirrhosis, diabetes, gastrointestinal bleeding, cancer, heart disease, post-surgical recovery, and trauma/assault. A Registered nurse and a Case Manager provide education and help with transitional needs..

ii. Spending weeks in that room alone recovering physically. What an opportunity for volunteers to encourage and make a difference by investing a couple of hours a week visiting and ministering to the sick.

6. Education… At any time "the spark" of encouragement can make the difference in turning a life around. During these classes many times the "spark" of encouragement fuels courage to improve.

· Literacy classes, on computer, teach reading and writing in a "life skill" format that teaches computer training as a result.
· GED classes, on computer, get the homeless ready for their GED test, enabling them to pursue jobs that pay higher wages that require a high school education.
· Bible Classes…group classes that showcase incredibly bright minds, articulate and eager to learn more about God. The interactive classes bring out the best, build self esteem, provide great spiritual growth, and blesses every individual who attends, whether homeless, Campus staff, or volunteer.
· Creative Writing classes provide improved skills, but are also great outlets for persons that have been beaten down, truly "poor in spirit" and oppressed. · Art classes are also terrific outlets and self esteem builders, and the art itself is often incredibly good work.

7. General Store…personal grooming items taken for granted by Americans are considered as prizes to the homeless. A points system allows homeless persons to accumulate points for attending and participating in education classes, or any of the programs at the Campus, as rewarded by Campus staff. These points allow homeless persons to redeem razors, shampoo, toothpaste and tooth brushes, lotions, caps, pantyhose, etc. at the General Store using the points.

8. Post Office…homeless persons have no address to receive mail. The Campus provides a Post office so the homeless can use the Campus mailing address to send and receive mail, particularly vital for job acquisition…it is hard to get a job without a home address to put on the application.

9. Job Placement…constant assistance to the homeless to find and keep good jobs requires volunteers to find cooperative business persons willing to extend opportunities to the needy.  Several programs to employ the chronic homeless and disabled are available to Any City, USA that needs employment for homeless.

10. Assessment…staff and volunteers assist with "Intake" assessments which document the needs, circumstances, skills, and abilities of homeless individuals through personal interviews at the Campus. Case managers work on behalf of the homeless individual to secure all available services and opportunities to maximize the quality of life and support each homeless person who wants help.

11. Homeless Advocacy…who will champion the cause of the downtrodden, the poor in spirit, the unlovable, those who have nothing to give in return for your time? Campus of Hope is committed to "share the blessing" Christ gave mankind with their personal sacrificial life of service that Jesus himself modeled. The commitment is to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves. Statistics tell us a great many working Americans are within just a few paychecks of being homeless.

12,  Mental Health Treatment ... the vast majority of homeless persons have "serious and persistent mental health issues", which can be overcome with appropriate treatment and care.  Mental Health is often an issue of chemical imbalance caused by serious trauma and stress that depletes certain chemicals,  which medication can correct in order to give nature time to rebalance an individual through counseling, relief of stress and trauma, education, and case management.  Anxiety and Depression normal with Mental Health trauma/stress circumstances are the prominent triggers in most cases of Alcohol and Drug Abuse...in fact they are the prominent triggers of most addiction types.  Would people thinking clearly CHOOSE to live on the streets in the brutal elements if they had a choice?  That should speak volumes to those of us with compassion.  We believe in appropriate medication for those who need it, without guilt trips linking spiritual issues with chemical issues.  Mental Health screenings and treatment are the answer to helping the homeless...not condemnation.