Notes from the Guest House | July 2019
"I wish we didn't have to be here. But finding Family Reconciliation has given us hope." —FRC guest
It's summer, and the community at Family Reconciliation gets brighter and brighter with each passing day. We're chatting and laughing, grilling and gardening, sitting on porches and sharing morning coffee.
It seems redundant these days to tell you we've been welcoming more and more new families to our numbers, because they continue to find us and join our community in droves. More partners, more parents, more children, more friends are visiting their inmates in Middle Tennessee facilities during the day and at night finding haven, rest, and the first fruits of community at Family Reconciliation.
Just last weekend, we welcomed two new families to our midst—and, it turns out, their children went to the same high school ("many moons ago!"). Suddenly a shy house of strangers became of a boisterous one of friends, sharing names of people they'd all known for years, reminiscing on favorite neighborhood spots, swapping stories of experiences they didn't know they'd shared.
It was a small thing, but it made a big difference for two families who would have otherwise found this experience to be an isolating one. And it wouldn't have been possible without Family Reconciliation Center. Because we exist, these families can find a place that fulfills a practical need and a human one. Because of Family Reconciliation, they now have a place where they can not only be welcomed without judgment, but also contribute to that experience of welcome for others.
As House Managers, we never tire of these moments, nor of the privilege to shepherd them whenever we can. It's a remarkable thing to witness the birth of hope in an otherwise barren season for these families.
Thank you for helping this community grow.
—Jason and Anna, House Managers
June at a Glance
Want to Volunteer?
Running a hospitality house requires a lot of helping hands. Are you looking for somewhere to invest your time and energy? We could use you!
Here are the most pressing needs for our community:
Serve a Saturday night dinner. Want to spend time with the guests at Family Reconciliation? The best way to do that is to serve Saturday night community dinner. A typical community dinner serves 8–12 people, and you can cook it at home and bring it over or use the FRC kitchen to prep everything.
Making beds. We have a lot of beds to make every week—ten, to be exact. We always need help pulling sheets and putting them back on. This job is never-ending, so even volunteering once a month to make beds goes a long way!
Gardening and weeding. Are you a master gardener? Or do you just need a good excuse to play outside? Our front and back gardens always needs lots of weeding, trimming, and more.
To volunteer for any of these opportunities, contact our house managers for more information!
Family Reconciliation Center is a nonprofit hospitality house located in Nashville, TN.
We provide free overnight rooms to anyone visiting an incarcerated loved one.