Tavaris Barnes - Proud of you my man!

Oct 10, 2016, 11:09 AM

Just saw this post on Facebook from Tavaris Barnes about him staying with a group of homeless men during Hurricane Matthew. I was deeply moved by it and wanted to make sure more people saw it. This is the kind of man that we want representing our school.

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I was heartbroken when my event got canceled on Friday because of Hurricane Matthew. Therefore, these past few days instead of spending time with my family during I decided to spend two nights and reside in the shelter with some of the homeless, less fortunate men of our city. It had been on my heart the whole week to still give back in some way regardless of the weather.
The response I got from most people that I told of my idea was less than favorable. People told me I was crazy, and even as far as calling me dumb for not being with my family. However, my rebuttal was simple, I'll die helping people...because I have come to the conclusion that this is my passion.
It started to flood and no one of panicked. We continued to play spades and laugh with each other. As simple as this may sound, the experience brings you back to reality and helps you to realize that many of the trivial matters that we frequently complain about don't matter in the grand scheme of things. However, I'm not sure anyone would appreciate the smell of my breath being tht it smells like I been eating raw Moose eggs ??or my foul body odor.
A common misconception about the homeless population is that a meal will fix their problems. Let me tell you there is a dire need for food. The food we did receive was fed to us like pigs from a trough. I left my wallet at home so we ate all the meals together. I'm not gonna lie it was hard to put some of it down, but you got to look at it from their perspective. Without food there is no survival. You have to be strong willed to survive on the streets.
Here are a few ideals that I was reminded of and that I latched on to during my time at the shelter:
1. God is my savior. I trust him and thank him for keeping us safe through the storm. I left my kids and told them I love them because I didn't know if we would make it but I felt drawn to being at the shelter and that it was God's will for me to spend this time with them.
2. Stop taking everything for granted. Things that I consider a life necessity are luxury items for some of these men like toiletries. Many of them have no soap, toothpaste let alone a toothbrush. They don't even have the ability to wash their clothes. Yet I often find myself bummed when I can't get the newest pair of shoes or new clothes, which now seems silly to me.
3. Make the right choices and be MENTALLY tough! We are all one mistake away from being homeless. Many of the gentlemen I met here at one point in time had their own businesses, cars, all the basic necessities in life and lost it all because of mental illness or bad choices. With mental illness, you often don't realize you have an issue much less no where to go to get help until it's too late. A lot of guys were depressed and lost everything. Depression is real, please talk to someone don't try to take on everything by yourself!
To all you folks asking me what they need ... please donate TOILETRY items. We are aiming to reschedule this year's Come Bacc To Give Bacc on October 21st, but I will let you all know for sure when it's confirmed. We gone turn up in a major way for our community. Not gonna lie part of me didn't want to leave because I'm about to go back into the world where there's so much sense of entitlement and selfishness. Many of us really need a reality check and to step back and evaluate life and what's important to us. This crazy some of yal really need a reality check man, don't nobody owe you nothing and you take everything for granted. Really disgusted but hey who am I?
And I said all that not for recognition not for likes or anything but for someone to see that ITS BIGGER THEN YOU... Spread love and don't be so concerned with ME ME ME.. God bless!
- A concerned civilian ??

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Tavaris Barnes - Proud of you my man!

Re: Tavaris Barnes - Proud of you my man!

Re: Tavaris Barnes - Proud of you my man!

Re: Tavaris Barnes - Proud of you my man!

Good man*****

Awesome story - where was it that he spent the night?

Re: Awesome story - where was it that he spent the night?

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