Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Room In The Inn Over 30 Years

by Charles Strobel, Founding Director

Over the years I’ve wondered just what impact Room In The Inn has had on people—I’m not really sure.  I do know this.  I was out in the country recently and looked up at the stars and saw all these thousands and thousands of stars.  And I wondered that if each of those stars represented a person who had come through Room In The Inn over the years—if they had nothing else in their life that meant anything—they could at least say that once upon a time in Nashville, Tennessee, I met some people who loved me just the way I was.

I am not sure the Nashville community at-large understands Room In The Inn’s importance.  Can you imagine the last 30 years in Nashville without the Room In The Inn?  Imagine the additional hardship and misery that some of our citizens would have had to endure if it did not exist.

Instead, we are thankful that the Room In The Inn religious communities realize that the suffering of the homeless is a burden that thousands of volunteers cannot ignore and must carry together.

So we celebrate thirty years of service, but we also look ahead longing for the day when all of our citizens can find a permanent place—their own room in the inn.

What started out in 1986 with 4 congregations has grown in size to 190+ during this time.  In addition to our winter shelter that addresses emergency needs of food, clothing, shelter and personal hygiene services, we have added long-term services of education, employment, medical and residential.

Finally, Room In The Inn gets its name from a story in the Bible of a family coming to a small town called Bethlehem and not finding any room in the inn.  We cannot go back in history 2,000 years and change that story, but what we do in Nashville each evening we are open, is to reverse that story’s ending by providing room in the inn.

As we continue our 30th season, we have so many reasons to give thanks.  So I want to thank you for all that you’ve done for us in our past and ask for your continued help in our future.

3 comments:

Mark McCaw said...

As a church volunteer for Room in the Inn, it has meant a great deal to me in so many ways. It gives me the opportunity to cross cultural boundaries to see my common humanity and need for community. It allows me to live out the Matthew 25:35 ff scriptures where Jesus gives his followers their job description. It has definitely touched my life and been a personal blessing to me. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to grow deeper in my faith walk with Christ Jesus.

Unknown said...

As a former homeless person who came through room in the inn over thirteen years ago I can honestly say room in the inn gave me hope when there was none. I was treated like a person that mattered. Through the grace of God and the kindness of strangers I was able to survive being homeless. Thank you father strobel you will always have a special place in my heart.

Unknown said...

As a former homeless person who came through room in the inn over thirteen years ago I can honestly say room in the inn gave me hope when there was none. I was treated like a person that mattered. Through the grace of God and the kindness of strangers I was able to survive being homeless. Thank you father strobel you will always have a special place in my heart.