The Alley Newspaper

In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, I’ve heard a lot about systemic racism. As far as I can tell, though, no one is saying anything new. I first heard of systemic racism in university over 25 years ago, and I’ve heard it discussed consistently since then, and now I’m hearing it discussed more loudly. […]

I decided that this month I wouldn’t mention Coronavirus (it didn’t take long for me to fail on that count, did it?) because it has dominated so much of the news that I wanted to give you a break from thinking about it. I hadn’t fully grasped how pervasive Covid has become until I tried

I recently attended an all-day seminar put on by a couple of colleagues from North Dakota. Their organization, Ministry on the Margins, has a similar mission to Peace House Community, although their activities are more diverse than ours. Among other things, hey provide toys to children. Sister Kathleen Atkinson, who runs the agency, shared many

After over 20 years of working with social services agencies that serve the homeless, I have seen many different responses to ending homelessness. Some have been more successful than others, while some have benefitted from having good salespeople promoting them as the next big thing. Recently, I have been encouraged by the work of the

“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.” -Edmund Burke I first encountered that quotation when I read Bob Geldof’s autobiography Is That It? Geldof had reached the part of his story where his band The Boomtown Rats couldn’t get any of their songs on the

“The Homeless”, a title that should only describe a person’s living situation, but often describes so much more. On the one hand, being part of the homeless population automatically means sleep deprivation, instability, the daily challenge of finding what you need and so much more. Unfortunately, that is only the objective side of homelessness, the

When Sister Rose founded Peace House Community, it quickly became known as “the living room on Franklin Avenue”. Sister Rose wanted anyone who walked through the door to feel like they were going to a friend’s house where there was acceptance without invasive questions. People could share what they wanted or not share as they

Each day that Peace House Community is open, we host a “meditation” for our guests, volunteers and community members. It isn’t meditation in the traditional sense; we focus on one topic and discuss it as a group to help us understand each other and develop a great respect for the people and world around us.

When asked to name a person’s most basic needs, most people will reliably name food, shelter and clothing. A quick Google search adds air, safety, warmth, health and sex. Sometimes one or two other ideas like companionship get tossed out, and Wikipedia adds sanitation, education, healthcare and internet to the list. (I suppose if you’re