Hey! I’m a Teacher Again!

I was invited to speak to a 6th grade class in Jenks recently to share about homelessness, as the students are preparing a presentation on this important issue. They had called several non-profits in Tulsa serving in the homeless arena and guess who was the only one who gladly took them up on their offer? The old 6th grade science teacher from way back in the day!

I loved the opportunity to get before kids and teach, as I loved to do in my early career, and did it pretty well I think. Life has come full circle, as in reality, I’m a teacher again. While my official “title” is Founder of Eden Village, in realty, I’m a teacher again. Yes, I’m wearing a lot of hats right now, from fundraising, to social media, general contractor, marketing, accounting, HR, and on and on. The bottom line is that I’m teaching, not about Newton’s 1st law or photosynthesis, but on the realities and solutions for people living without a home.

As many men who have been blessed with and experienced some success in their professional careers, along with their share of challenges and failures, we can sometimes struggle after that perceived nirvana of retirement hits us. At least for me, and I think for many other Boomers, it’s not really what it’s cranked up to be. One can only play pickleball so much! And a fair share of us have more money in our retirement nest egg than we could ever spend, or waste, in an entire lifetime. We now have all of this time free to do whatever we want, along with the wisdom of a lifetime of learning and experience. Overall, our generation has better health, more longevity, and more money than any previous generation in our history. So, what do we do with that?

I’ve decided to be a teacher again. I’m in the 4th quarter of my life, but the game has not ended, so I’ve determined to finish strong, and not just cruise to the finish line. What good athlete does that, great sports team, or a guy like the Apostle Paul and even Jesus? Did they put it on cruise control towards the end?

We have a huge problem in Tulsa, as in other cities, in trying to solve this homeless problem. So, I’m working and teaching hard to help make a difference, creating a new tiny-home community that will lift 63 former chronically homeless people off the streets and giving them real hope for their futures. After this first community is built, we’ll look for land to build another, and another, in order to meet the needs we have now.

I sure don’t know it all, as I’m fairly new to this battle. I do know enough to teach about homelessness and will speak to anyone, anywhere, about it. I don’t have a blackboard or an overhead projector to use and I won’t pull out the old film projector when I’ve failed to do a lesson plan, as I did 45 years ago. I will teach the facts and share from my heart, and from my experience and others. I will press on to reach the end of the race, as the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3. And, I invite and challenge others to partner with us in our community-wide efforts in making Tulsa really be a city where no one sleeps outside.