MikeyV – Amen

Mikey V’s commanding appearance almost always gets him mistaken for a rapper. That is until he belts out the most melodic and soulful blend of what would not be considered modern rhythm & blues. His lyrical edginess on current hip hop & 90s r&b type- infused beats, quickly puts you in the mind of Jaheim at his best or Jagged Edge and the So So Def 90’s R&B reign. Atlanta vocalist, Mikey V, (“V”…

I am grateful for the things that you have done. I am grateful for the victories we've won. I could go on and on and on about your words. Because I'm grateful, grateful just to praise you, Lord. Flowing from my heart...are the issues of my heart...is gratefulness

- Grateful by Hezekiah Walker

Grateful is how I would describe how the past month has gone and how I will come to describe our last month together.

While I may have moved a little earlier than expected, I know I can handle the transition when the program ends (AS MUCH as I DON'T want to). I have moved from the larger, more spacious Edmond house to the smaller, more tilted Milgate house. I went from one attic to the other and yet couldn't be happier.

One of us switching houses became inevitable some time ago. It wasn't an agreement we came to easily as a group nor was it me moving the first switch we tried for a little bit. When all is said and done, I along with Dan, Sam, and Rochelle will finish out the program as the Milgate house.

While I still went through a short period of readjusting to actually living with the other 3 members of the program, I could already tell on the second night I was already happy with what coming home meant for me. I am still the last one to fall asleep, first one to wake up and go to work, and the first one to come home. 

The difference has been the chance to finally live in a house community within the larger community. Every night has consisted of two, three, and sometimes all four of us doing several different activities together. American Ninja Warrior, board games like Sequence, Pirates baseball games, museum tours, movies in the park, a stroll in the neighborhood just to name a few. I actually get to experience what I had hoped community to be, something I could only dream about while living at Edmond and be envious Milgate were doing all year.

While I'm still waiting for my post-Change A Heart plans to become official, I can really say I'm grateful for how this year and how this past month have gone by.  

About a month ago, I was asked which of our clients would be willing to come in and be interviewed about their experience with us serving them at the East End Cooperative Ministry (EECM) Food Pantry. About two weeks later, they asked me could they film me in the pantry after we closed up for the day. Eventually I found out that we were making this video for the agency's major fundraiser, A Flavor of the East End.

For how short it is, the video captures how we come to serve each and every client. From the sign in process, to the produce in the box that we have to check as it comes in, to bagging all that a client requests, it captures all that I get to do along with every volunteer I come to work with. Her story speaks to what we strive to do as an organization and what I get to do for close to 400 families each month.

After I watched the video the first time, it was a good reminder of the work all 7 of us in this program are doing in the lives of others. I had to be reminded of the compassion we bring to our sites and the amount of support we give to those in need of it. It's hard not to lose the perspective I had when I first began when you are asked to be the guy in charge and pick up the slack for a supervisor who is well loved and well respected by our clients and all who have worked with her.

If her story moves you to make an impact when you do see a homeless person begging for help or a neighbor needing help, there are concrete ways to help them out. There are many places out there who will serve a free lunch to the homeless. There are different homeless shelters and groups who are willing to do free checkups. You can offer to join them in visiting a doctor if they are finding trouble getting there or anywhere they have to go. We all need help with something at some point. Everything we go through is not meant to be handled all on our own.      

Credits go to Chad Green - Community, Donor, and Volunteer Relations Assistant at EECM for creating this video.