Posts Tagged ‘Peace House’
Silence, Please
Marti Maltby By MARTI MALTBY I’ve recently been reminded of the value of silence, or at least having a break from all the noise that assaults us each day. With so much negativity in the air, it can be difficult not to get infected, not to become judgmental, not to lash out or over-react, not to get overwhelmed, and not to break down. Silence, having the space to think and regroup and nurture oneself, is an antidote to everything that comes at us. I use the word “antidote” because the hostile attitudes that are becoming more common pass from person to person and infect each individual, causing damage that is sometimes irreversible. We don’t just need a break, we need something that can heal the infection and inoculate us against it in the future. I rediscovered silence by accident. I was driving home from work and couldn’t find anything on the radio I liked, so I turned the noise off. When I arrived home and found I was calmer than I had been for several days, I wondered what had happened. When I didn’t listen to music the next day while riding my bike and found I enjoyed just looking at the passing scenery, I realized I was on to something. Recently, one of the volunteers at Peace House Community led our group discussion time by inviting us to silently listen to meditation music. I was thrown off at first, since speaking is the point of a discussion, but the silence brought something to the group that talking wouldn’t have. Of course, I’m not the first to discover the power of silence. Religious and spiritual practices have valued it for centuries. School teachers use it every day in their classrooms. But when you are a “grown up” in the “real world”, you don’t have time for silence, you need to get things done. In our digital age, we need to stay informed, responding quickly to whatever pops into our email inbox or our social media feeds. Or so we are told, and so I believed. The truth is that silence still has the power [...]
Peace House Community: To the Unsung Heroes
Marti Maltby. Photo: Courtesy the author. By MARTI MALTBY Today I attended the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits’ annual conference, and I got to see four people receive Unsung Heroes awards for work they have done to improve their communities. As you would guess, these individuals go about their volunteering quietly, but their dedication and concern has inspired others. I love the idea of unsung hero awards, because so much recognition goes to people who are already well known, or whose work is plain for all to see. With few exceptions, Nobel prizes, academy awards, and many other awards go to well-known individuals, while few “everyday people” are recognized or rewarded for what they do. I think that’s a shame, because so many people work so hard to maintain sanity and stability for themselves and those around them, without the advantages that the big names have. Yes, it would be fabulous if a scientist found the cure for cancer, but they would do that only if they had a well-funded laboratory and a quiet space to think for years at a time. Single parents who keep their kids in school, fed, clothed, and safe from drugs and gangs would usually love to have just one evening of peace and quiet to think. I can think of several people who I would nominate to receive an unsung hero award. At the last Ventura Village Neighborhood Association meeting, one of the Board members ended the meeting by thanking all the volunteers for doing “the most thankless volunteer duty you will ever do”. That sounded about right. Ventura Village/the Phillips neighborhood is at the top of the list for crime and at the bottom for wealth in Minneapolis, but many who live here are determined to stay, to make things better for their neighbors, and to keep plugging away, whether they get properly recognized or not.A few years ago, I met a single mother who suffered from schizophrenia, and who was raising a son who had fairly severe autism. I only spoke with her for [...]
Peace House Community: The Greatest Sacrifice
By MARTI MALTBY Never having been in the armed forces, I don’t have personal experience with the idea of leaving no one behind on the battlefield, even if rescuing them requires great personal risk. I understand it in concept, but I’ve never had to live it out. Only recently did I realize that I get to see others live it out every day that I come to Peace House Community. Many of our community members make decisions that confound anyone from a middle class background. They decline housing opportunities, or move into housing and then get kicked out for inviting all their friends from the street to stay with them. They get into fights with their best friends and the next day act like nothing happened. They buy, sell and barter items from each other in a system that often looks like a giant commune. Most confusing of all, they stick with friends who they know are dragging them down. I hear so many questions that start with “Why don’t they …”, as if people who have never lived on the streets know what the community members should do. The questions are usually well-meaning, but they say more about the questioner’s ignorance than about the best way to escape the streets. Knowing how to live on a moderate income in a reasonably safe neighborhood doesn’t mean much to someone with almost no income who faces predators, dealers and pimps every day. The answer to “Why don’t they …” usually comes down to friendship, or at least community. Those who have little are forced to rely more on others than those who have enough to take care of themselves. When they are at their neediest, they are more likely to get help from people who understand their position than from others who have an excess but who don’t grasp the seriousness of the situation. Paradoxically, PHC’s community members often get their protection and security from the same streets that threaten them. By establishing and maintaining their friendships, the community provides for [...]
Peace Housing Community: Standing Still
By MARTI MALTBY I spent last week visiting my parents in Jasper, a small town in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. It was the first time since my 11 year old twins were born that I have been away from them for more than two days consecutively. It was also the first time in over 20 years that I spent time with my parents without other family around. My time with them reminded me of some of life’s simple truths. Marti with his parents, Margaret and Roger I visited them because my dad has been declining for several years, both physically and mentally. I wanted to see how he was doing for myself, and to let the rest of my family know what I saw. The experience was bittersweet, as I got to spend more quality time with my parents than I have in all of the last two decades, while at the same time realizing I will probably never get to have another good in person conversation with my dad. He will simply be too far gone by the time we get together again. One of the joys of the trip was that we had no plans for what we wanted to do. We were content to sit around together if we wanted, or go for a drive, or watch a television show together, or … whatever. In the midst of a pandemic and facing the coming winter in a job where I watch homeless and marginalized adults try to keep it together in the face of horrible circumstances, my time with my parents helped me refocus. When we face crisis, we often fall back on the old rallying cry, “Don’t just stand there! Do something!” During the pandemic, almost everyone had ideas of what we should do. It was a time for action, we thought. But as a wise friend once told me, sometimes it is better to yell, “Don’t just do something! Stand there!” Sometimes it is better to take time to appreciate what is still working, to enjoy the moment with those around us, and to gather ourselves for what lies ahead. The problems will still be there, and sometimes they will have gotten worse while we were resting, but we will [...]
Looking Forward
Peace House Community”“A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBY A recent email from HousingLink, a local nonprofit that works on low income housing issues, contained links to news articles with depressing titles like: â— “Elderly and homeless: America”™s next housing crisis” â— “New report shows Minnesota LGBTQ teens and adults overrepresented in homeless population” â— “Homeless and facing winter in Minneapolis” â— “Homeless families struggle with impossible choices as school closures continue” â— “Homeless advocates blame Minneapolis”™ continued lack of affordable housing for ”˜Wall of Forgotten Natives”™ resurgence” â— “Neighbors object to Ramsey County plan to convert St. Paul hospital into a homeless shelter” While I try to find positive things to pass on to others, especially during this convergence or homelessness, covid, increasing mental health challenges, and an impending end to the eviction moratorium (a news story that didn”™t even make HousingLink”™s email), at some point I need to face the fact that life sucks for a lot of people, and it is about to get worse. Some of you reading this know this far better than me because the headlines are speaking about you, or about your friends and neighbors. The United States has had a homeless crisis since at least the 1980s. By itself, homelessness is bad enough. It robs people of their identities, destroying physical and emotional health, removing security and flaunting the nation”™s wealth in their faces. Combined with Covid, it is catastrophic. Of course, Covid and homelessness are not the only issues out there. Sex trafficking, racism, and any number of other issues have put Americans in perilous positions for decades or longer. Solving these [...]
