Posts Tagged ‘Peace House’
The Wisdom of Powerlessness
Peace House Community”“A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBYÂ I”™ve had a horrible time coming up with an idea for this month”™s column. I suppose that if that”™s the worst thing to happen to me, I must be having a good week, but it”™s still frustrating. As I”™ve watched the Coronavirus pandemic unfold, I”™ve been struck by how hard it is for us to grasp the scope of what we are facing. This is, after all, a global pandemic on a scale we haven”™t seen in over a century. And yet, all over the world, everything from sports leagues to local schools are trying to keep to their normal schedules. Even at Peace House Community, I get asked every week when we will fully reopen. I answer that we don”™t know yet but are working on a plan, while inside I am thinking, “Are you insane?! Everyone on staff and all my volunteers are over 50 and most are in high risk categories. [...]
Groundhog Day
Peace House Community””A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBY Back in May, when people had settled into the Covid-19 lockdown, a survey by OnePoll asked Americans how their sense of time was being affected by spending day after day in their homes. The results included: The average American got confused about what day it was five times every week.59% of respondents didn”™t even know what day it was when they took the survey.65% of those polled said they were struggling to stay motivated during self-isolation. When I heard the results, my mind immediately flashed back many months to a meditation discussion I led at PHC. I asked community members what parts of homelessness could never be explained but simply had to be experienced. Several people gave answers that almost exactly mirrored the survey results I just mentioned. Among other things, the community members said: “It”™s like Groundhog Day. Every day is just like the day [...]
Steps towards peace: Peace via community
Marti Maltby By MARTI MALTBI Before I get to the point of this article, allow me to lay a little groundwork. Peace House Community has been open in the Phillips neighborhood since 1985. Our founder, Sister Rose Tillemans, established PHC at 510 E. Franklin Ave, and in 2013 we moved to our current building at 1816 Portland Ave. S. PHC is a community center (not a “drop-in center,” please) focusing on homeless and low income adults. As our full name indicates, Peace House Community is a community, a series of relationships and connections. The building is simply a tool for bringing people together. The focus of the day at PHC is what we call “Meditation,” although it is more of a group discussion. For 45 minutes a day, our community (community members, volunteers, guests and staff) discuss a question designed to help us understand and relate to each other. The questions can revolve around anything from community events to childhood experiences to the [...]
