Chapter One: Welcome to Crisis Ministries

Adam takes a train to Charleston, South Carolina. No one greets him when he gets there. He's walking around town and seeing all the poor and homeless people on the street. He walks 8 miles to the homeless shelter, Crisis Ministries, and almost gets beat up on the way. When he gets there, Sarge Mendoza takes Adam under his wing and shows him around Crisis Ministries. There are many rules to keep all the men in line. The one nice room is only for war veterans, so Adam has to stay in the grungy room where all the men are snoring loudly. The bathroom that Adam is permitted to use smells awful and looks like it has never been cleaned. Sarge shows Adam an extra spot on the floor where he can stay the night. Adam's goal in this chapter is to describe the nastiness of homeless shelters to people who have never been in them. By describing this typical urban homeless shelter, Adam shows his readers that it takes the right attitude and acceptance of surroundings to work one's way out of the slums and into wealth.