I Want to Live in Caritas

written by Sara Swisher
Edited by Madeline Faber and Carl E. Moore

Memphians don’t go downtown or anywhere at night. Downtown is dangerous and most people are up to no good at night. Haven’t you seen the news? On August 11, 2014, a man was beaten on Beale Street while a crowd of onlookers recorded it on their phones and stole his wallet, phone, and clothes.
 
“This city is falling a part and we’ll never get it back,” they say while changing the channel in disgust. There are certain neighborhoods Memphians don’t go to, neighborhoods amidst poverty, Injustice, and heartache. In one of “those neighborhoods” lies a wonderful place called Caritas Village. The Village is a vibrant community center adorned with art and positivity and features appetizing food, smiling people, and optimistic volunteers who are trying to change the world through after school programs, art workshops, bible studies, and etc.

I drove down Hollywood Street like I always do, eyes glazed over and with my hands accustomed on the steering wheel. My thoughts were focused on my new classes, my new internship, and my need for a nap. My eyes adjusted to trash thrown on the street, weathered houses, and chained dogs in front yards: blight. I made a right turn onto Harvard Avenue; blight lost a well-fought battle to an attractive building adorned with signs that have words like “peace” or “love” painted on it. A warm message, “love never fails” greeted me on the entrance door; it was love at first sight. I knew this was a place where the community met to interact with each other on an emotional and spiritual level. I could feel its presence from the moment I walked in. I felt it when the other volunteers took sincere interest in me and asked me questions about my life. This was really a place of “Caritas” which is Latin for “love for all people.”

Public art pieces by local artist Frank d Robinson, Jr.

“Are you hungry, Sara?” Wayne, a regular volunteer in the kitchen asks me as I walk into the Village for my internship.
“I already ate but thank you,” I reply shuffling to a nearby booth, ready to start on a new article for the newsletter.
“How has your day been?” Wayne asked.
 
“Good, thank you.” Wayne always takes sincere interest in me. Every day he always asks me how my day or weekend was and if I'd had lunch yet. He cares about everybody that walks into the Village and he treats everybody the same. He asks me the same questions he asks homeless men who walk in off the street.
 
Lee is a regular at Caritas Village. He is in a wheel chair and was homeless for twenty years. He is a recovering alcoholic and was bounced around to different foster homes when he was a child because his parents were abusive. Lee believed what his parents and other people said about him, which made him bitter. He ultimately hated losing people all the time, which was what led him to leave homelessness behind and ask for help. His friend told him he wasn’t going to enable his homelessness. He told him that if he wanted to continue to be homeless, that was fine but he could not continue with their friendship. He told Lee if he wanted to get off the streets, he would help him get situated into society. While he told this story in detail, he gave me the image of himself in a West Memphis hotel room, on his knees, praying for God to help him with his decision. He left the streets behind for good that night, October 1, 2007. His friend helped him get situated into an apartment in Midtown and he has been off the streets for almost seven years. Currently, he lives in the Caritas Village Community House and loves his roommates. Lee is a Marine and loves to sing, laugh, and play cards.

Lee

“I have the Cadillac of Scrabble boards,” he says.

“I don’t believe you,” I say in my usual sarcastic tone.
 
“Here,” he shows me this unbelievable blue Scrabble board. He opens it up, it’s made of plastic and draped with perfect plastic squares that hold the letters in place so they won’t slip of the board.
 

Caritas Village

“That really is the Cadillac of Scrabble boards.”

 Despite Lee’s rough past he still continues to smile and make people laugh. He says Caritas Village is a real community and is one of the best places in Memphis. Lee regularly eats and hangs out at Caritas. He plays cards with volunteers and his fellow neighbors He says people really care and are concerned about your well-being. Lee has taught me that one should never give up. Even in the darkest of times it is possible to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and continue on.

Caritas Village is full of colorful individuals from the neighborhood that teach you about fancy Scrabble boards and how one can always manage to smile despite their dreary past. The volunteers teach you about kindness and what it means to truly serve everyone. The Village is welcoming and full of life. “Caritas” means love for all people and this place has it. I want to save the world. I want to live in Caritas.