the OCP blog

In Memory of Tom Dukes, Our Featured Volunteer of the Month “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame…” Romans...

We're Going Solar The premier issue of our time is climate change. New reports highlight the number of species dying, the number of children growing up breathing unhealthy air (94% globally), and the extreme warming and changes in Antarctica....

WRAP® Wellness Recovery Action Plan at OCP In April of this year, I was invited by a local non-profit, Strength in Peers, to attend a week long WRAP facilitation training. WRAP® is an acronym for Wellness Recovery Action Plan, a peer led...

In Memoriam: Teig Hogan & Tom Dukes Our community lost two beautiful souls this week. Teig Hogan and Thomas Dukes were community members, volunteers, and friends. “Dukes” was a faithful volunteer who could always be found in the...

Crap Happens: Some Thoughts on Suffering and Resilience My firstborn son, Ethan, would have turned 9-years-old on August 31st. He was diagnosed with a fatal birth defect at his 20-week prenatal check-up, and being assured that he was...

The Story of a Muscovy Duck and a Rooster For over two decades now, Our Community Place has been able to create an atmosphere of joy and acceptance and a sense of belonging to beings most of the community overlooks. People just walk on by them,...

Featured Volunteer of the Month: Richard "Gilligan" Entsminger “It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop.” Dieter F. Uchtdorf Just like the previous heart-warming and...

The Blessings of Service Annie has been working with a long-time community member. We’ll call him Abe. In recent months we all noticed Abe was getting slower and thinner, even falling asleep at the table at OCP.  Abe was getting so bad he just...

Featured Volunteer of the Month: Symonè Bolden “You are a person worthy of love. You don’t have to do anything to prove that. You do not have to earn love. You simply have to exist. We are worthy whether or not we accomplish anything.” – Sharon...

Our Partnerships With Local Universities Each semester, OCP hosts a number of college interns and classes who are assigned to work at OCP. For this last year, we especially want to thank Cecily (a work study student) for her energetic service...