Monthly Archives: February 2015

Conscience or Critic? Your Choice

21 Saturday Feb 2015

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Barbara Scoville, LCSW

Graffiti in Florence, Italy Graffiti in Florence, Italy -photo taken by Barbara Scoville

It’s eight o’clock in the evening and you have just sat down with your favorite drink and a book, when you hear a nagging voice whispering, “You shouldn’t be reading; there’s still work to do.”

Or…

You’re having lunch with a friend in your favorite restaurant. You look at the menu and see your favorite dish, and then the voice makes itself known again, “You can’t have that; it’s too many calories. Look at the skinny menu.”

Or…

You are exiting the freeway and see a family standing in the median with a sign that reads, “Stranded and hungry, anything will help.” You hear a voice whispering, “Go to Wendy’s and buy them dinner.”

Some people might call that silent voice their conscience, but is it really?

In Don Miguel Ruiz’s best selling book, The Four Agreements

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Valentine’s Day and VOA Homeless Youth Resource Center

14 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by in Altruism, homeless, homeless youth, humanitarian service, making a difference, Pioneers of Peace, Resilience

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POP Operation Love Bundles Drop Off Day -Annie Peterson from Target standing next To Anna Stapley, Center Coordinator VOA Homeless Youth Resource Center

POP Operation Love Bundles Drop Off Day -Annie Peterson from Target standing next To Anna Stapley, Center Coordinator VOA Homeless Youth Resource Center

IMG_2843I sat down at my desk, opened my computer, and while I was waiting for WordPress to load, I lifted my eyes from the screen to look out the window. The wind chimes hanging by my back door were singing, as were the birds, and I beheld the beautiful sunrise pictured above. A perfect Valentine’s Day morning.

Aside from the picturesque sky, I can attest to “There is beauty all around.” That phrase is from a popular hymn that continues with… “when there’s love at home.” 

Maya Angelou said ” I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself”

Yesterday finally arrived. We loaded up seven over-sized Target bags holding two hundred “POP Love Bundles,” and delivered them to Volunteers of America (VOA) Homeless Youth Resource Center.

We were welcomed by a lovely young man who offered to help us carry the heavy bags inside. Once inside, we saw food for the taking lining the shelves. We met Anna Stapley the program coordinator and she took us on a tour of this amazing facility.

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When they say “Homeless Youth Resource Center,” they aren’t kidding! From the outside, the building looks quite small. When you walk in, the space feels cramped…but just you wait; as we began touring we felt like one of the below:

  1. We had actually walked into Dr. Who’s Tardis
  2. Hermione Granger dipped her hand into her magical purse
  3. IKEA had swooped in making the best possible use of this very small space

There were shelves holding large bins of hygiene supplies, baby supplies, food, clothing, shoes, backpacks, blankets, dress clothes for job interviews, sleeping bags and much more.

There were two computers, seven showers, a large open area that I think doubled for serving meals and holding groups.

The center is open:

Mon – Fri  9:15 am- 1 pm (drop in-center)

Mon – Fri  9 am – 5 pm (appointment only or drop donations)

Breakfast served: Mon-Fri 9:15 am – 9:45 am

Lunch served: Mon-Fri  1- 1:30 pm

Dinner served: Friday only 4-4:30 pm

Different groups offered include: Art group, Get an I.D., Horizonte Group (GED and education), Yoga Group, Music Group, Haircut and a Movie Group, Homeless Court (for kids with legal problems), Zine Group (run by the Community Writing Center) and two other groups for talking about what’s on your mind and learning new skills.

…and the services continue…case managers helping youth get connected to community resources, job interviewing skills, assistance for obtaining new social security cards (remember, you can’t get a job without a social security card,) and so much more that I can’t even begin to do it justice. I can’t remember the exact ratio of full time employees to volunteers but I do know there are 20 who give their time freely to help vulnerable youth get stabilized.

Volunteers of America’s mission statement is:

Volunteers of America, Utah is a ministry of service organized to reach and uplift those in greatest need and to provide opportunities to experience the joy of serving others.                

We at Pioneers of Peace resonate with that sentiment wholeheartedly.

Right now I wish you could feel what is inside my heart. Take a moment and try to imagine the feeling of seeing so much good being done for so many vulnerable people and then on top of that, add all of the effort on everyone’s part to make POP Operation Love Bundles possible.

We would like to thank each one of you who contributed to the success of this project. From cheering us on, to sending positive energy and prayers and sharing our goals, to financial support, making scarves, buying fabric, socks, protein bars and lip balm. Thank you for writing quotes on paper cranes and then lovingly folding them, and also the actual assembling of the love bundles; We say…THANK YOU! WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT. We have all walked, not just talked.

Our rough calculations show that together we spent $1,030.00 and served 100+ hours for POP Operation Love Bundles. Well done everyone!

Our goal was to let our homeless youth know they are not forgotten. We hope in some small way we fulfilled Maya Angelou’s beautiful quote.

” I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself”

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone XOXO

~Barbara

American Fork, Utah Target Employees are ROCK STARS!!!
POP Operation Love Bundles Drop Off Day -Annie Peterson from Target standing next To Anna Stapley, Center Coordinator VOA Homeless Youth Resource Center

P.S. FYI, VOA HYRC can always use donations. For more info visit www.voaut.org

Kick Ass Lentil Soup (excuse my French)

11 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by in Recipes, Wellness

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IMG_2826Sunday morning I woke up feeling like a dragon had taken up residence in my mouth. No I don’t mean bad breath; I mean my mouth was on fire. I had a headache and every nerve in my body was screaming.

As much as I hated to admit it, I knew I needed to go to an Instacare. I arrived shortly after 8:00 am, thinking if I could just get this over with I could get on with my day. After all, I was expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 guests for dinner. The day before I made the most awesome (I hate that word, but it works) chicken stock  and was planning on serving homemade chicken noodle soup, fresh bread and salad.

The good doctor walked in, told me to say “Awww”, and then escorted me over to the mirror. Shining his light into my mouth he asked me to take a look. “Holy cow! What is wrong with me?” to which he replied, “You have hand, foot, and mouth disease.”

As visions of farm animal galloped through my head, he quickly followed his diagnosis with, “No, no, it’s not what your thinking.” This is an illness that mostly  children get. When kids contract it they have sores on their hands and feet, along with their mouth. Adults only get it in their mouth. It’s a virus. Sorry, there isn’t any treatment for it, but I can give you numbing medicine because it’s only going o get worse before it gets better.”

Stunned, I said, “How contagious am I?” “Pretty contagious; You shouldn’t be preparing food for anyone.” 😦 😦

So that’s a long explanation for why I have been home sick all week. My apologies to all of my clients I had to cancel, but trust me: You don’t want this.

For those of you who know me, sitting for anything but knitting, watching Blacklist, or meditating, is not my thing. Needless to say, this has been a hard week on many levels. So yesterday as I began to turn the corner, I put my disposable latex gloves on and made my favorite lentil soup. I took pictures along the way so that I could share the recipe with you. It used to be called “Lentil Soup” but yesterday in my somewhat sick state I renamed it, “Kick Ass Lentil Soup,” because well, I was feeling like kicking some ass after sitting on mine all week.  I think the name is going to stick. Forgive me.

This is my offering to those of you I could not be with this week. It is comfort food. As for the rest of you who are reading this, enjoy the offering.

Kick Ass Lentil Soup

Ingredients: 1 large onion diced, 2 garlic cloves minced, 2-4 T olive oil, 2 quarts good stock, 1 med sweet potato peeled and cubed, 1 large carrot grated, 3 cups fresh grape tomatoes, 1-2 cups fresh baby spinach, 1 T crushed basil, 1 tsp herbs de Provence, 1 tsp coriander, red pepper flakes to taste, salt to taste. Optional garnish, but well worth it…roasted peppers sliced thin, grated lemon zest, and hot sauce (I prefer Tapatio).

Heat 2-3 T olive oil in heavy soup pot and sauté onion and garlic until transparent.

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French Lentils

French Lentils

Add French lentils and broth. Bring to boil and simmer 1 hour.

After simmering for 1 hour, add diced sweet potato and simmer another hour, watching water level.

Meanwhile wash grape tomatoes. Turn oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil. Toss tomatoes in remaining olive oil, herbs de Provence, kosher salt and pepper and roast for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

After the soup and potatoes have simmered for an hour; add tomatoes, grated carrot, spinach, basil, coriander, and red pepper flakes. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Decision time.  If you like your soup chunky it’s done. Salt to taste and enjoy. Personally, this is where I get my immersion blender out and puree it. If you are a lover of the Salt Lake City restaurant, Mazza, you won’t want it any other way.

To make it extra special; after ladling the soup into bowls, garnish it with lemon zest, thin strips of roasted yellow, orange, or red peppers, and for extra spice, splash it with hot sauce.

Voila! Bon Appetit!

Voila! Bon Appetit!

Have a great week everyone and may you always find your cup half full 🙂

Love,

Barbara

P.S. For some reason I was not able to add links to my post today. The chicken stock I made was from Ina Garten and can be found both on Food Network’s website and The Barefoot Contessa’s website.

Mazza Cafe is located at 1515 1500 E Salt Lake City, UT
(801) 484-9259
Mazza Middle Eastern Cuisine
912 East 9th South
Salt Lake City, UT
(801) 521-4572

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To the Young Man Sitting Outside the Door

09 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by in Altruism, homeless, homeless youth, humanitarian service, making a difference, Pioneers of Peace

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American Fork, Utah Target Employees are ROCK STARS!!!

American Fork, Utah Target Employees are ROCK STARS!!!

I was running late already, but when I turned left instead of right my fate was sealed. As I approached the library in a harried state, I saw a young man hanging out close to where I was going to park my car. Is this safe, I questioned.

No time to worry now; just park the car and get everything inside. Everyone will be arriving soon; we have booked the library for two hours. Will everybody show up? … and the big question, will we be able to assemble 200 love bundles in that amount of time?

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Everyone did show up. We folded the scarves in half length wise and laid them out across the conference table. It was kind of like making Giada De Laurentiis’s lasagna roll ups. First the scarf, then a layer of socks, next a layer of hand warmers, and on top of that a protein bar. Alongside the protein bar, lip balm, and then the piece de resistance, a paper crane containing the most important spice; an inspirational quote. Roll that all up nice and neat and tie it with a piece of raffia. Viola a “Love Bundle.”

Someone was singing “Rollin, rollin, rollin, rollin, rollin, rollin”, there were other songs from the Lion King, and comments like, “I am rocking these love bundles,” and “Make sure you blow a kiss into each one of these babies.” We talked about the TV show Blacklist, catching fireflies when we were kids and Moulin Rouge. Each team member disclosed their signature strengths and opportunities and at one point, someone said, “I feel really close to you guys right now.” It was hard to tell if the comment was playful or dare I say sarcastic, but personally… I felt like I had 6 new best friends.

Because of all the frivolity I don’t recall when I first noticed, but I saw that the boy who was standing by my parking place had moved inside. He was sitting on a chair that made it possible for him to see everything we were doing. Throughout the two and a half hours we were there, my eye would catch him, and I was reminded he was there.

What’s he doing? Something is not right. At times I couldn’t tell if he was sleeping or just slumped over playing on his phone. Is he homeless? Is he waiting for someone? Does he just like hanging out at the library?

And then I would be carried away in the friendly atmosphere of new found friends who on their own time, chose to come together to make a difference in the lives of homeless adolescents.

Someone once posed a question similar to this, “If a star appeared in the sky that held some great significance: would you see it?” I’ve thought a lot about that question over the past month and have wondered if I would.

About an hour and a half into assembling “Operation Love Bundles,” I walked out into the hall and approached the young man. I said, “Just hanging out at the library today?” He didn’t look up at me, but said in a flat voice, “Yeah.” I said, “You’ve been sitting here a long time.” Again, without looking up, he said “Yeah.”

I walked back into the assembly room wondering if I should do anything more.

To make a long story short, I didn’t. We finished the project and ended with so much oxytocin floating through the room, it was intoxicating. Thank you’s and promises of working together again on a charitable cause carried us out to our cars.

Out to our cars… As we were loading up 7 oversized Target bags containing 200 love bundles, I noticed the boy standing in the same place he was standing when I drove up. What is he doing I asked myself again. Should I do something? Should I give him a love bundle? Should I ask him if he is okay?

I drove away.

Today is February 9. We are dropping the bundles off at HYRC on the 13th. We are experiencing a record breaking heat wave in Salt Lake City. Our love bundles were created to let homeless youth know they are not forgotten and to keep them warm on cold nights. Participation on this project has been overwhelming. Many have walked, not just talked and for that, we at Pioneers of Peace are so grateful. We know there is a magical synergy that takes place between the giver and the receiver, and all are measurably edified…and that’s what Pioneers of Peace is all about.

But as I reflect back on “Assembly Day,” I can’t help but think I missed the star. If I could have a do-over, at the very least, I would call up my courage and try harder to engage the young man. Perhaps I would’ve asked him to help us. What is the irony in putting together 200 love bundles in the middle of a heat wave when there might have been 1 with us from start to finish, and we did nothing.

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” `Maya Angelou

To that young man, I say, “I am so sorry. I will do better next time.”

 

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