Since 2008, volunteer trained JUST Listeners provide willing ears to anyone wanting to be heard in the area of Kensington Avenue and Hagert Streets in the distressed Philadelphia neighborhood of Kensington. Listeners are available (and often prescribed) for patients at the House of Grace Catholic Worker Free Clinic and St Francis Inn.
JUST Listening empowers people simply by providing a space in which they can speak and be heard without judgment, condition, or ego. Most of us can count on one hand the number of times we have been deeply listened to; people living lives of vast social exclusion may never have experienced the embrace of a listener at all.
Ideas, insights, analysis, new perspectives and solutions often arise from the generative space created by listening. Suddenly we can hear ourSelves and the Inner Wisdom we hold. To read more about the experience of the Kensington Listeners, read:
How Listening Gave Me My Sight
Donna Duffey Spring 2013 House of Grace Newsletter
and blog entry, Leaning into Love
To inquire about becoming a listener, please contact us. Any scheduled trainings will appear on the Upcoming Events page.