the homeless Archives - Ellen Morris Prewitt

Spiritual Bottleneck

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 10, 2016. Posted in GOD, HOMELESSNESS. 10 Comments

Early Wednesday morning, the man who’d spent the night on the streets walked the hallway at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral. He stopped at my table, lingering. He did not look happy. I think of this church hallway as the “neck” between Sister’s Chapel, where we hold the church service attended mostly by those living on the streets, and Martyrs...

“Working” with “The Homeless”

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 6, 2016. Posted in HOMELESSNESS, LOVE. 8 Comments

He calls me over. Wants to know if I work out. “‘Cause you sure got a nice shape.” The breakfast St. Mary’s offers for those currently homeless is almost finished. He’s mopping up his grits. His friend on the other side of the table is interested in my answer to his question. The friend cranes his neck, surveying...

What Can I Do: Part 4 (or just one more)

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 6, 2015. Posted in HOMELESSNESS, Racism to Reconciliation, Writing. 10 Comments

Do you call those without housing “the homeless”? Do you talk about “entitlements”? When someone commits a crime, do you respond with “thugs”? James Deke Pope, who has served on the Community Advisory Board of Memphis’s Africa in April, suggests we pay attention to the language we use and change it if...

We are The Champions

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 17, 2015. Posted in HOMELESSNESS. 8 Comments

When I began talking about a Door of Hope writing group book, people told me the book had to include my voice. Feature my voice, even. This was not what I wanted. Specifically, I didn’t want to be the well-off white woman who began working with those who had no shelter and immediately had the bright idea to write a book about her experience....

Scars on My Heart

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 5, 2014. Posted in HOMELESSNESS. 13 Comments

Today as I was leaving the 8:00 church service, which is mostly attended by folks living on the streets, a man stopped me. I was in my car; he was on foot. He stood in the exit to the parking lot, flagging me down. He’d already stood before me in the hall where breakfast is served, asking me to go find the pastor. He didn’t remember...

So Easy

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 26, 2014. Posted in General. 6 Comments

So my friend had three polyps; two benign, one malignant. So he had to have another colonoscopy this year to recheck things. So he’s on Medicaid. So Medicaid doesn’t pay for the prep material that you must drink and cannot have a colonoscopy without. So he had to postpone the colonoscopy until a day came when he didn’t have...

Thank God Dogs Gotta Pee

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 19, 2014. Posted in General. 2 Comments

Thank God dogs have to pee. My time at my dad’s family reunion this past week was invaded by the Door of Hope book, Writing Our Way Home: A Group Journey Out of Homelessness. Calls from TV news anchors; an interview with Leonard Gill of the Memphis Flyer, which resulted in this great article: MEMPHIS FLYER All wonderful stuff but, for...

Old Stories Found

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 3, 2014. Posted in General. 5 Comments

After a long hiatus, I submitted a couple of short stories to literary magazines today. I’ve been working on the new website, mulling over what stories I wanted to include. The website will have a “Photo Bio” featuring a sentence about my life that reflects a dominant themes in my work and a representative photo. Click on the...

It’s Here—The Cover Art!

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 29, 2014. Posted in General. 7 Comments

WRITING OUR WAY HOME: A GROUP JOURNEY OUT OF HOMELESSNESS (THE BOOK)

Becoming a Writer

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 28, 2014. Posted in General. 4 Comments

Way back at the beginning, I was puzzled about how 15 writers and a nonprofit could publish a book. What would be the arrangement between the authors and the nonprofit? What about the understanding among the writers, some of whom had many entries, some of whom had few? How would we make this fair? The questions overwhelmed answers. My former-lawyer...

Tag: the homeless