Sunday, April 13, 2008

POLICE AT THE MISSION

The Police Came to Wayside

Yes that is right, the police came for a visit and I was amazed at what happened. Rookies now are asked to work in a homeless shelter for a day to learn more about homeless people and to get acquainted with community resources (the shelters) that they will likely use in the future. This group of seven men and women surprised the children at Wayside with an XBox 360 and six games. WOW! The kids have been at it non-stop. You may be like me and wonder if video games are the best way for teens to spend time, but I have found with a little monitoring and controlled access the games can be entertaining for children and adults. My son Timmy, now 11 years old, has me stop daily at the Game Stop to see if any Wii consoles have arrived. A Christmas gift that was in an envelope continues to be an anticipated surprise since the units are in short supply. Yes, and I am looking forward to the new system myself. Enough of that…. the Metro Police rookies had a busy day at the Mission, setting up an exercise room for our families, playing with the kids, serving meals to our many residents, then meeting with several of our recovery clients discussing addiction issues on the street. This type of training is another fine example of the professional training that many of the officers are receiving today. They hopefully better understand homeless people and services, and on the other side, the children surely have made some good friends of the men and women in uniform.

Keep up the good work LMPD!

Rev. Tim Moseley, CEO
Wayside Christian Mission