‘Peace House Community Journal’ Archives
PHCJ: The Sacredness of Used Clothing
Peace House Community Journal: The Sacredness of Used Clothing by Marti Maltby Like many nonprofits, Peace House Community relies on donations of both money and items to offer services to its community. Sometimes the items we receive are essential to our work, but often we receive donations that cause more problems than they solve. I used to work at a housing agency that had to deal with six burial plots. For decades, the plots showed up on the company’s balance sheet, never being used and having nothing to do with the agency’s work. I’m sure the donor had good intentions, and they probably received a nice thank-you letter, but honestly, it would have been better if they had thought about their donation a little more before filling out all the forms. When nonprofits receive those donations, we often roll our eyes. We know someone just created a bunch of work for us. Dealing with the donation will take more time and energy than the gift provides. It happens all the [...]
The Trouble with Normal
Peace House Community Journal By Marti Maltby A friend of mine who struggles with addiction recently told me about a hiking trip he took with a group of acquaintances. He didn’t know anyone in the group very well, but he knew them well enough to talk with them throughout the day, and he enjoyed his time with them. I was surprised when he told me that later on he had suffered a severe bout of depression because of the hike. “I feel like I lied to them. I tricked them,” he explained. It turned out that as part of his recovery from addiction, he tries to be completely honest with others, not living a double life as he did when he was actively using drugs. Understandably, he hadn’t used the hike as an opportunity to tell the group about his addiction, and he was worried that they thought he was “normal.” He felt like he had pretended not to have any problems, when from his perspective he was an addict who was totally messed up, despite the time he had been able to [...]
A Penguin Walks Through the Door …
Peace House Community journal by Marti Maltby A few years ago I came across a list of questions employers could ask potential employees to test their creativity and their ability to adjust quickly to unexpected circumstances. My favorite question was “A penguin walks through the door wearing a sombrero. What’s the first thing it says?” I actually used this during a few interviews, and I got to see a wonderful array of responses. One man broke into laughter at the ridiculous nature of the question. That turned out to be a benefit to him, as he had been nervous up to that point in the interview. The question helped him relax, and he showed a friendly demeanor from that point on. Another applicant responded immediately, “I don’t know. I don’t speak penguin”, and then waited for the next question. I learned that he wasn’t easily thrown off by unexpected developments and could think quickly when needed. Someone else told me the penguin would say “I’ve [...]
