The Breach

So It's the middle of November now. I'm about two and a half months into my first semester as a full-time college student. I'm a freshman at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I'm not too far from home, but things are definitely a lot different here than the comforts of my hometown, Lake Bluff, Illinois. Instead of knowing my way around every nook and cranny of tiny Lake Bluff, I'm now in the middle of a legit city, barely knowing which way is north versus south.

I can honestly say, I am thankful for having a smartphone and very much so for Google Maps.

Even though my classes have been challenging and tough from time to time, from day one I have enjoyed what I have been learning so far. This is probably the first time in my schooling career that I am taking classes that I really enjoy and that I look forward to attending (for the most part).

One of the classes I am taking is called Culture and Health. The class is through the College of Nursing and it's a Service Learning class. Before I go any further, I just need to mention how sweet it is that at Marquette I can be a Journalism major in the College of Communication, yet still take a class in the College of Nursing. Thank you required Diverse Cultures course credit!

Anyways, this class is a Service Learning class. This means that I need to register at least 20 hours of volunteer service at an approved location in order to get a decent grade in the class. This semester, I have been volunteering at a homeless shelter/resource center in Milwaukee called The Repairers of the Breach. Volunteering at this place has probably been the most influential part of my education at Marquette.

The Breach is unlike any homeless center I have been to. The cool thing about the place is that it is mainly governed by the homeless people themselves. They are the ones making positive contributions to the center, such as guarding the place, cooking food, housekeeping chores, providing encouragement at their weekly meetings, and lots of other things.

I have started volunteering at the Breach twice a week now and it has truly been an amazing and eye-opening experience. On Saturdays, I attend their weekly house meeting where they lay down the ground rules for the place and provide LOADS of encouragement for the homeless people at the Breach to turn their lives around. The small first floor of the shelter where the meetings are held is always packed. Almost every seat of the place is filled. This meeting has a sweet name too: Book Shaka Laka!

I am not homeless yet these meetings have even been having an impact on me. At the meetings, I sit in the back of the room. This is a cool experience because I get to sit right with the homeless people and interact with them. I often find myself having small side conversations with some of the people I sit next to. Despite my slight unification with the homeless people, during the meetings, I still am sort of in the mindset that I am just their to observe and soak in this culture that I have never experienced before. However, I find that the encouragement and positive thoughts from the meeting having been pouring into my heart more than I have expected them too. I just feel more joyful coming out of these meetings. We sing high-energy songs, we clap our hands; everything we do in the meetings points toward the message of making the most out of your life and coming over your obstacles. It really is powerful.

Another thing I want to note is that this place is in a neighborhood that is eye-opening in itself. When I was there about a month ago, it was pointed out to me by a guy there that the building across the street is a crack house.

Wow.

I have read Josh Hamilton's book before about his battle with a cocaine/crack addiction. I read about the crack houses he had associated himself with, but now to be suddenly looking at a real crack house, just 30-40 feet away from me was very surreal.

I remember that I was on the second floor of the Breach when the crack house was pointed out to me. Suddenly, I started to notice more and more the people cycling in and out of the crack house.

I couldn't take my eyes off of the place.

I was just a five minute bus ride away from campus. The realism of the crack house floored me.

As I slightly brought up earlier, it has also been amazing to get to interact and form relationships with the homeless people there. I have become friends with a man who helps out with the cooking. He is a recovering alcoholic and I enjoy seeing him every time I go to the Breach. I have also become friends with one of the security guards at the Breach.

The cook has told me parts of his story. He told me that he used to have a house, a nice job, but he lost it all because he became addicted to alcohol.

I do not know the security guard's story really at all, but I found out that he has recently gained custody back of his two children. I was lucky enough to be a part of the filming of a video we made to help raise money for a heating system for the place.

Just in case you had forgotten, winters in the Midwest are kinda cold!

Anyways, I got to interview homeless people at the Breach for the video. This was really cool because not only was I able to help for a great cause, but I was able to practice my interviewing skills, which is great for my aspiration to be a journalist. I found out about the security guard and his kids when we interviewed him. As he told us this story, tears started pouring down his face. His raw emotion for the love of his kids... it was just so powerful.

Having been exposed to these trials that these two men have faced, so many questions have come to my mind.

How did these guys get to where they are?


Why do the addictions and crippling troubles hit these people and not I?


Why were these people destined to be homeless and not I?

Each and every time I go to this place, I further realize more and more that the people at the Breach are just like me. Yes, they are homeless; our lives in a lot of ways are completely different, but my eyes are being opened more and more that I am just the same as them; I just happen to be more fortunate. It could easily be me sitting in that center on a Saturday morning, seeking... desperate... for even a sliver of hope and encouragement that this life is going to get better.

Instead now, I am sitting at my desk in my dorm room. My room is nicely heated. I have a comfortable bed. I have a decent shower and a bathroom just down the hallway from me. I have a dining hall that I can eat all of my daily meals at just a few floors below me.

I am lucky.

I am blessed.

Before I started taking classes at Marquette, I had an idea that my education here would be different from what I was being exposed to in high school. Now I don't know the stipulations of every college in the world, but I just don't think you see this kind of education I am receiving at the typical state school. Marquette's whole motto is "Be The Difference." I don't know how much of an impact or difference I have made so far at the Breach, but I can't deny that I am becoming a familiar face at the Breach and that my Marquette education is definitely changing me.

My required 20 hours of volunteering at the Breach are almost up. After that, I can walk away from this place forever. I can pretend all I want that everything is fine in this world. I can be naive and tell myself that the poverty and corruption isn't anywhere near the bubble I am living in. I can deny all I want that just a short bus ride away from campus, a homeless shelter and a crack house lay in war zone.

Something tells me though that I'll be back volunteering at the Breach even after this semester has ended. I'll be back to experience the search for hope, for a light. I want that. It's contagious.