Help a Veteran

You may need to click here to see the full story.  I have no idea if the flow through the old Our Peaceful Place social advertising network is still working.  But I've found a worthy successor to Barb in a new organization trying to get off the ground- Community Super Heroes.  Or maybe just one hero, though last night I'm aware he called for help to get a blanket to a man who was couch surfing, but locked out in the rain until 2 am.

Help this veteran, who goes by the name Guardian Shield and patrols the streets and apartment houses of the St. Mary neighborhood of Beaverton, get wheels so that he can expand his new neighborhood watch program.

Double Tap Patriot

It's hard to believe Barb Lescher has been gone for a year. As many of you know veterans were very near and dear to her heart. The last few years of her life she worked with Oregon's homeless vets at Salvation Army Veterans and Family Center. I heard this quote today and knew she would have loved it. "The American solder doesn't fight because he hates who is in front of him. He fights because he loves those who are behind him."-Unknown She would have also been very proud of Nate Fife. He recently helped relaunch Double Tap Patriot with three other guys who also want to help our veterans in need. A portion of each sale goes to local charities who help veterans and their families. Next time you see a veteran, young or old, thank them for their service. It's what she would have done.

In Loving Memory, Barbara Lescher

Barbara Lescher was born in 1953 and grew up in Bellevue Washington. She was raised with five siblings by her father. She was nine years old when her mother died. Throughout her high school years she worked as a hospital volunteer in an emergency room where she recognized that the smallest act of kindness could make a difference.
After graduating from High School she went to school in Seattle for medical assisting. She moved to Portland where she received training in restorative therapy. She worked in the health care field for many years in both Portland and in Denver.
In 1980, at the age of 27 she had a spiritual awakening. During a conversation with two friends she asked the question, “What exactly is a Christian?” One friend replied, “It is living under Grace instead of living under the Law.” The other said, “It is having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” Barb felt compelled to go to the cross. She recognized at that moment that she was one of the “all men” Jesus had died for. Her life changed from that point on.
Something clicked when Barb volunteered to help with the youth group at her church. She was effective. When she met Sr. Maria Francis, who asked her to begin a youth group for homeless kids, Barb was ready to sign on. Little did she realize that it was God that had planted the idea of a youth group in Maria’s heart and that God would use that season to prepare Barb to begin 30 years of her life’s work and passion… coming alongside Portland’s homeless.
Sr Maria started a drop-in shelter called Our Peaceful Place in downtown Portland for the homeless population in the area where anyone could stop by for a warm place to rest, get fed and feel welcome. When Sr. Maria passed away in a car accident in 2003, her friends banded together to keep the shelter going. It was at this time that Barb felt God calling her to carry on the work of Our Peaceful Place and made herself available to serve as the Director.
In 2006, the lease for the building expired and Our Peaceful Place did not have a space to continue its work. Not to be deterred, Barb took to the streets just as Sr. Maria did many years ago, to serve the poor wherever they could be found in downtown Portland. She handed out items of basic needs—such as over the counter medications, small items of clothing such as hats and socks, sandwiches and much more. She also frequently counseled people on other social service organizations where help could be had or when funds permitted, helped individuals with pressing needs directly. She would answer calls at all hours of the day or night for people in dire need of some assistance.
She worked tirelessly, often alone, in rain or shine. Portland was fortunate to be blessed with a person of such compassion and calling to lend help to the downtrodden. Even on the last day of her life, she had just made turkey sandwiches to take downtown. She will be missed by all who knew her but we take heart in knowing that she was welcomed into her Lord and Savior’s arms having served her Master faithfully to the end.
Barb is survived by her daughter Anna, son-in-law Nate and a grandchild.

Letter from the Chairman of the Board

Dear OPP Supporters,
It is with great sorrow that I want to inform you that our Director, Barbara Lescher has passed away. She died of an apparent heart attack on January 27, 2013. Her untimely death has robbed Portland of one of its finest daughters. She worked tirelessly on behalf of the homeless and the poor for over 30 years.
The Board expresses their deep sorrow on her demise and extends their heartfelt condolences to her family at this difficult time.
Barbara was the life and soul of this ministry and a tireless worker in the Lord's vineyard. She had a deep compassion for the downtrodden in downtown Portland. On most days of the week, she would walk the streets offering assistance to the poor - whether it was food, clothing, advice on social services or just a listening ear, she was there to help. Her years of service to this city will be remembered by all who knew her - friends, volunteers, donors to OPP and people whose lives she touched everyday on the streets.
We would also like to invite you to a Celebration of Life event in memory of Barbara to be held on March 16, 2013 at 1.00 PM at Crossroads Church located at 2505 NE 102nd Ave, Port-land OR 97220. Please mark the time in your calendar and come to the event if possible.
The Board of Directors are evaluating as to how to move forward this vital work among the homeless. We would like to solicit your input and would like to invite you to a meeting on Saturday March 9, 2013 at 8.00 AM at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. It is located at 14175 NW Cornell Rd., Portland, OR 97229.
If you have any questions, please contact us at ourpeacefulplace@gmail.com .
Thank you so much for your support to OPP over these years. Barbara Lescher will truly be missed.
Sincerely,
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Mathews Manaloor
Chairman
OPP Board of Directors

Our Peaceful Place - Services to meet the basic needs of the homeless in Portland Oregon

Our Peaceful Place - Services to meet the basic needs of the homeless in Portland Oregon: "A Celebration Of Live event in memory of Barbara will be held at the following date and location -

Crossroads Church

2505 NE 102nd Ave, Portland OR 97220

Date - March 16th 2013 at 1 pm

 "

'via Blog this'

Our Peaceful Place - Services to meet the basic needs of the homeless in Portland Oregon

Our Peaceful Place - Services to meet the basic needs of the homeless in Portland Oregon: "
Dear Friend
We regret to announce that our Director - Barbara Lescher, passed away on January 27th 2013. The cause of her passing was determined to be a heart attack.
The board expresses their deep sorrow on her demise and extend our heartfelt condolences to her family at this difficult time. Barbara was the life and soul of this ministry and a tireless worker in the Lord's vineyard.
She had a deep compassion for the downtrodden in downtown Portland and many days of the week, she would walk the streets offering assistance to the poor - whether it was food, clothing, advice on social services or just a listening ear, she was there to help.
Her many years of service to this city will be remembered by all who knew her - friends, volunteers, donors to OPP and to those lives she touched everyday on the streets.
The board will inform supporters of future plans for this organization shortly.
Meanwhile, if you have any questions, please email us at ourpeacefulplace@gmail.com . The phone number listed on this website will not be operational until further notice.

Thank you
The Board of Our Peaceful Place"

'via Blog this'

Update

Barb's mortal shell was cremated Monday, witnessed by 6 people. By the decision of the board, we are temporarily suspending our charitable activities until a new Director can be chosen. There will be a public, Old Town/Chinatown area celebration of Barb's life the second week of March, Nate is still looking for a venue for that.

Barb Lescher RIP

As I'm sure many of you have heard, our dear director, Barb Lescher, has died. Saturday night she and her family took a pack of turkey sandwiches downtown, her normal walk. Nobody saw her Sunday, and when she failed to report for work on Monday, Salvation Army called her daughter Anna. Her Son-in-law Nate found her on the floor on Tuesday morning, the coroner says most likely a heart attack sometime Saturday Night. She will be cremated and a private service February 4th. Still to be scheduled will be a celebration of her life, sometime late in February. Since OPP was a large part of her life, Nate says we will be intimately involved in the celebration; Tom Owens from the board of directors has stepped up. At this point, the plan is to keep Our Peaceful Place going, but the board meeting scheduled for this Saturday is canceled. RIP Barb. You were a living saint and an inspiration to us all.

It is a New Year

And with the fears of the fiscal cliff over, why not consider giving out of your surplus to people who have nothing? There are people who will be sleeping on the streets of Portland tonight; as the temperature dips. A pair of socks goes a long way in the wet and wild winters of northwestern Oregon; and that is where Barb comes in.

Not all of us can do what Barb does, walking the streets. Whether it is that we do not have the physical ability to do so, or the time while taking care of our families, or even the knowledge necessary to know who to help, Barb can be our stand in.

As Sustaining Circle Member Bonnie Owens writes: "I know that Our Peaceful Place provides very necessary services to the homeless. I'd like to volunteer, however I can't physically walk the streets due to bolts in my foot and a brace on my leg so I donate monthly to help provide the funds needed so she can continue the great work of OPP".

Please consider becoming a sustaining circle member today! You can even use your bank's Bill Pay system to automate your giving, Bank of America has provided a special account at routing #123000220 and account #153658912982. Or you can go to Our Peaceful Place webpage and make a one time donation through the Network for Good. Or alternatively, you can simply send a check to Our Peaceful Place, PO Box 3093 Clackamas, OR 97015

Barb Writes: Family moved into permanent housing

We were able to get a family into permanent, affordable housing Wednesday. We contributed to their deposit. They have rent covered but landlord would not pro rate the deposit. I was able to give them a hook up for furniture, too. Tonight, in Portland town where there are too many homeless, there is one more formerly homeless family snuggled into their warm, cozy home looking forward to looking forward again. Thanks to all our supporters... you did this!
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Please consider joining our sustaining circle. Here are the different options available to you if you wish to donate to OPP:
 Donate online via our website . Donations are handled by our payment processor—Network For Good .

 You can use your bank’s Bill Pay system to deposit directly to the Our Peaceful Place account with Bank Of America. Our Routing number is 123000220 and the OPP account number is 153658912982

 Send in a check to our mailing address—
Our Peaceful Place
P.O Box 3093
Clackamas, OR 97015

How do you get medicine on the streets?

It is a blessing for you and I to be able to stock our home bathroom cabinets with medicines and then go there to find remedies as we have need. When we can’t find the solution to our problem in the cabinet we can make our way to the local drug store and buy what we need. It’s not that easy for someone who is homeless.

One example of this need occurred recently when Barb had the opportunity to provide a toothache remedy to a young man who was suffering with pain to the point that he could not eat or sleep. He also had a dry skin condition that was making his existence even more unbearable. She was able to buy him an antihistamine and some medicated lotion. The edge was taken off his suffering. Barb was able to refer him for dental and medical care.

Visit our main page and join our sustaining circle today so that Barb can continue to help the homeless

Depression can be deadly

I must apologize to our supporters online, due to some issues in my own life, I haven't been able to help Barb post her stories since the very successful yearly fundraiser. Despite how successful that fundraiser was, it only provided about half our yearly budget- so will you please consider digging deep this Christmas and becoming a member of our sustaining circle? You can set up automatic payments at our main website

Recently Our Peaceful Place was able to provide a night of shelter for a man who was waiting to get into a treatment program. He had become homeless gradually after the tragic death of his precious fiancé. They had been childhood sweethearts. He had been working full time as a cook but was grief stricken over her death and unable to hold himself together at work so his employer had to let him go. He started drinking and using drugs to numb himself. His sympathetic landlord could only carry him so long before he evicted him

While homeless, he had been severely injured by razor wire. Multnomah County arranged for his medical care and up to 90 days of in-patient drug and alcohol treatment. He was medically and emotionally fragile... too fragile to spend another night on the street. Now he is ready for help and we were glad to support him on his way. This could not have happened without the generous support of people like you.

Feeding the poor

Ok, nearly messed that one up, but I should write a blog post anyway. Barbara doesn't just do surface charity- she gets down on the street and actually asks people what they need. If you saw the post this replaced, that's kind of the point (though I meant that to go to my personal blog). We in the more lucky classes of society think we know what the poor need better than they do themselves- and so we send condoms to starving kids in Africa. Here at home, Portland excels at all sorts of charitable giving for the homeless- but often, the larger organizations see the homeless as a group, instead of as individuals- and that's when individuals fall through the cracks. Help Barb fill the cracks! Come to our East Indian Dinner this Saturday!

Help us Help Others

A while back I posted about a young woman, with three children, and a father in jail for shoplifting. It took some time, but that mother finally has a landlord who will work with her, and this month we suspended Barb's salary so that we could fulfill our $500 commitment to helping this young mother get into housing. Join us for the East Indian Dinner on October 6th- and help us to help others like this young woman. Indian Restaurants from all over Beaverton and Hillsboro have donated food- Prince of Peace Lutheran Church has donated the space- the International Church Youth Group has donated the time. Let's add our money donations, all of which go to support this ministry. Go to our facebook page and RSVP to the dinner today, or go to our website to donate ahead of time.

OPP helps access to permanent housing

Sometimes, when the larger organizations fail to help the homeless, it is because of very small items that they were unable to budget for. Take the case of a young man, who had found housing, had already done the research for subsidized housing, had even found a landlord- but lacked a $29 application fee. Barb was able to help him out- and today, that young man is in permanent housing and off the streets.

We cannot do this without your help. Please consider going to the East Indian Dinner on October 6th, and visit our home page at http://ourpeacefulplace.org

Car seats for twins

Late on a Friday Afternoon, Barb got a phone call from a social worker, working with a homeless family that had 4 year old twins. The family did not have car seats or boosters, and the social worker had some job leads for the mother but was unable to find child care and the children needed to be transported around while the social worker took the mother to job interviews. Barb's daughter was listening, and knew exactly where to go- and for a $40 investment was able to secure two age-appropriate car seats for the kids.

It is exactly this sort of small expense that your attendance and gift at the East Indian Dinner represents- an investment that will enable that mother to work and get her off of the streets.

A Worried Mother

Our Peaceful Place - Services to meet the basic needs of the homeless in Portland Oregon:

Barb gets the strangest calls sometimes.  She recently got an out-of-state phone call from the mother of a mentally ill man in his late twenties who has been missing for several years.  Recently, she started getting solicitations in his name from a school here in Portland, and she thought the school had her address because he might have used it while trying to enroll.  Barb was able to use her 30 years of experience on the street to direct the mother to some places he might be using as a mailing address- so that she could send postcards to those shelters in hopes that he shows up in one- and gets the message to call his mother.

A hot day in August

Oregon has been experiencing a heat wave as of late. Did you ever wonder how homeless people handle heat? We know that several die of exposure every winter, but the heat can be just as bad.
One sweltering day in August, Barb and Our Peaceful Place volunteer Raliegh walked both sides of the Willamette in downtown Portland handing out ice cold bottles of water and sports drinks. They gave the bottles to friends and strangers alike; to people on the streets, people hanging out in the backs of trucks, or waiting for the bus, both those with homes and those without- those who needed to be out in the heat to keep their homes, those who had no homes to go to. Matthew 25 is the chapter of the Gospels that lists the corporal works of mercy- and giving the thirsty a drink is one of them. Who knows how many were saved from heat exhaustion by a simple act of kindness. This is what Our Peaceful Place is about- filling the gaps that larger organizations can't, filling the immediate small needs. A bottle of water doesn't seem like much- but it can save a medical bill.

Victims of Drive-By-Shooting about to be evicted

Back in February, we were all shocked to hear of Two men who had contact with Barb from time to time were shot at random in a drive by shooting. After they got out of the hospital, another organization put them up in an apartment for 3 months, thinking that one of them would be getting disability soon. That three months has passed, and for want of a $650 rent check, these men now have until Monday, July 16th before they are evicted- one of them still recovering from his wounds. You can contact Barb at 503-295-7774, or click on the Donate Now Network for Good button to the right of this article. ---- UPDATE: Barb has paid for this out of her own pocket. Donations still gratefully accepted towards this cause, but the men are safe in their apartment for another month.

Emergency Funds Needed

From Barb: I am currently working with a twenty year old mother of three (yes, she is 20 and has 3 children ages 5, 2, and 7 months). Her name is Brittney, she grew up in Portland in the foster care system, her boyfriend is in prison until 2017 for a Robery 2 conviction and she and the children have been homeless since his incarceration (almost a year). Brittney is working part time and trying to finish high school. Her partner's mother and adult sister live in an apartment complex in Gladstone. The landlord of their complex will rent an apartment to Brittney. The rent is $650. Brittney says she can afford the rent and her employer has promised to increase her hours but she needs help with the deposit. I am hoping we (OPP and friends) can come up with $650 for her deposit. She reports that her mother-in-law and sister-in-law are good support with the children but are unable to help financially. She and I are both calling resources but have been unable to find any assistance so far.