Bus stop

I offered to bring the grocery cart back from the bus stop. Mr. Patterson was concerned that someone else might need to use it. On the short walk over there, we didn't talk about what brought him to this place or the ninety degree heat, or the fact that he'd had to not only ask for food but also for the bus fare to get back across town. We talked about dentists and Nashville drivers, the price of gas and the war.

Rose and Mr. Patterson, shopping for clothes

Mr. Patterson rode the bus over to Madison from different part of town. He got off the bus not really knowing where to go. Luckily, the second church he went to was affiliated with the food pantry and gave him directions to get there. He didn't know he'd get to pick out five pieces of clothing at the thrift store to go with the food box so, surrounded by women, he asked for their advice (smart man) on his choices and got plenty of answers. It ended up being a lot of stuff to haul back across town on a bus but Ed wasn't complaining; in fact he thanked every one, repeatedly.

New friends and old ones

Some years ago, Rose Nicks left a relatively fluffy white-collar job to run the Christian Cooperative Ministry in Madison.

"I'm a nicer person because of it", she says. "Before, I would look at the homeless people and I'd look at different people in the community and go: Why don't they get a job? Why don't they do something? but you never know what their story is. You just don't."

Just off Gallatin Rd.

Don't think for a second these ladies won't hook you up with a food box if you need it. And that's just the beginning. They run the Christian Cooperative Ministry in Madison. It's a food pantry and thrift store, supported by sixteen different churches in the surrounding community. Like everyone, they have some regular customers and some that are only temporarily needy or displaced. From left to right we have: Irene, Rose, Millie, Edyth, Irene, and The Captain, Flo.