On December thirteenth, it was about 25 levels exterior when Nashvillians lined up for the annual Feed the Want distribution. Amongst them was Armistead.
The bins that day held acquainted vacation staples — turkeys, inexperienced beans, and boxed stuffing — and dairy, eggs, and shelf-stable pantry gadgets to assist households get by the season.
Simply three months earlier, Armistead arrived again in Nashville from Houston. He felt compelled to return to Center Tennessee. He had gone to highschool right here and had household right here. That household had since handed. He had misplaced three brothers and two sisters, all right here within the metropolis he nonetheless calls dwelling.
With no place to remain, Armistead slept in his automobile. He can nonetheless hear the rain hitting the roof of his automobile when he lies in mattress at evening.
“I slept in that automobile for nearly three and a half months,” he mentioned.
The pressure took a toll on his well being. His legs started to swell badly, and a go to to the hospital led to medicine meant to scale back the fluid. However with no steady place to relaxation, the swelling by no means totally went down. Compounding all of it, Armistead was nonetheless recovering from a hip alternative, his cane by no means removed from attain.
“I by no means thought I’d find yourself again in Nashville like this,” he mentioned. “Nashville is my dwelling. I simply by no means thought I’d be homeless right here.”
Armistead is 82 years outdated and holds two levels from Tennessee State College. When individuals ask how somebody along with his background ended up with out housing, his reply is easy.
“How did the person find yourself blind?” he mentioned. “He was born that manner. Typically issues simply occur.”
Finally, he reached out to the pastor on the church internet hosting in the present day’s distribution. That decision modified every part. Via the church and neighborhood connections, Armistead was in a position to transfer into assisted residing. He acquired clothes, help, and, most significantly, stability.
You see, again when Armistead lived in Houston, he would ship month-to-month checks to the church right here in Nashville. To repay his years of compassion, the church provided to pay for his hire.
Life at Schrader Lane has introduced small however significant moments of kindness. Whereas serving to in the neighborhood backyard in the future, a girl seen the mattress he had been sleeping on — a worn mattress that Armistead had strengthened with a wood board to maintain it from sinking. With out hesitation, she provided to assist.
“She mentioned, ‘Sir, you want a mattress, not a board,’” Armistead recalled.
That Saturday, she took him to a mattress retailer and purchased him a brand new mattress. “I had by no means seen her earlier than in my life,” he mentioned. “She paid $1,000 for that mattress. I used to be simply grateful I wasn’t sleeping on that onerous mattress anymore.”
At 82 years outdated, Armistead doesn’t want a lot to get his each day wants met. As a substitute of asking for much less, Armistead retains others in thoughts.
“Lots of people don’t have vehicles,” Armistead mentioned. “Automobile notes are working $700 a month. However individuals must eat first.” And not using a automobile, it may be arduous to get to the grocery retailer or distributions like this one.
For him, meals shouldn’t be one thing to be hoarded. It’s one thing to be shared. After the distribution, Armistead plans to present a portion of what he receives to individuals experiencing homelessness within the South Nashville neighborhood the place he grew up.
“If you’re hungry, it doesn’t matter what shade you might be or the place you’re from,” he mentioned. “If you’re hungry, you’re hungry.”
Armistead’s life has spanned a long time of service. He marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and later labored at Fort Campbell with the a hundred and first Airborne, educating studying, writing, and arithmetic to troopers. He noticed Second Harvest’s work there, supporting army households lengthy earlier than he ever imagined standing in line himself.
“I by no means thought I’d be right here,” he mentioned. “I had levels. I had jobs. However you get a blessing so you possibly can take that blessing to any person else.”
For Armistead, the field of meals he receives in the present day represents the prospect for him to maintain giving again — even now. Even in any case he has lived by, misplaced, and already given again.
“I’m only a steward,” he mentioned. “A doorkeeper. That’s about all I can do. And I’m grateful I can nonetheless try this.”
