After nearly a decade at the helm, longtime activist Elizabeth Hallett reflects on her tenure as Meg Wade prepares to take the reins at the Ashland nonprofit

By Kayla Heffner for Ashland.news

Peace House in Ashland is honoring its outgoing executive director and welcoming new leadership, ushering in a new era for the nonprofit.

Elizabeth Hallett, a beacon for peace since the 1960s, has spent nearly a decade at the helm of Peace House in Southern Oregon, nestled in the hills at their headquarters on South Mountain Avenue.

Wearing a crown of flowers during an evening gathering on Thursday, Dec. 18, the former director sat down with Ashland.news to reflect on her time with Peace House, along with some other notable times over the years. 

“We moved the Peace House from the (Historic Ashland Armory) to the location we’re in now, and that was a very big, memorable moment because we had more space, we had an actual home that we could work out of,” Hallett recalled.

A challenging time during Hallet’s tenure was working during the global pandemic.

“During COVID, we couldn’t feed people inside, and so we had to devise a different way to get food on the street. We bought a van and had people cooking four days a week and the food was packaged, then it was taken in the van and it was distributed at five different locations,” Hallett said.

Hallett worked with Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice and the Monday meal program to deliver food on the other days of the week, and that’s how Peace House helped feed hungry people on the street during COVID.

“It was more than memorable, it was a marathon. (Oregon state Rep.) Pam Marsh really helped us to get it set up so that we could do it with sanitation and with approval from the city. I’m always going to be proud of that,” Hallett said.

Other endeavors the Peace House focuses on is educating people year-round on anti-war issues and nuclear war. The highlight every year is honoring the Hiroshima Nagasaki bombing at a vigil in August with a ceremony to remember lives lost as a prayer to prevent nuclear war in the future. 

For Hallett, though, what she will miss most are the folks who worked tirelessly alongside her over the years. 

“The most memorable thing is just the people that I work with. They’re wonderful, beautiful people and they all feel very deeply about trying to create a world for peace,” Hallett said. 

In 1993, the first project Hallett got involved with was Uncle Food’s Diner. It’s still going 33 years later. 

The food program has existed in one location or another and finally found a more permanent space to feed people at the parish hall at Trinity Episcopal Church. Two different teams of 15 people each, cooking and serving food, show up and help every week. Hallett says it’s an honor to work with people who are caring and committed to serving others.

In the 1980s there was a group resisting sending weapons to Central America. During the time a lawyer was deliberately run over by a train and lost both of his legs during the demonstration while holding the Nuremberg Principles in his hand. Hallett said she became actively involved working with war veterans after that and, when she moved to Ashland, she sought to become involved with the Peace House.

“Peace activism is a culture, and I got a taste for it in the 1960s and kept going after that,” Hallett said. 

At a random cookie decorating party, Hallett met Meg Wade, who will become the new executive director. Hallett told Wade Peace House might be a good fit for them. Wade started out volunteering with the nonprofit, which quickly turned into working for the group a few months later. 

Hallett says Wade has just the right amount of “moxie” and “go-getter attitude” for the job and is excited for what Wade will bring to the table for the future of Peace House as its new leader. 

For Wade, they say peace and non-violent social justice is ingrained in Ashland’s culture, so it was only natural for them to become involved with those issues in the community here.

“Well, one of things we have so much movement and history here in Ashland is people have been doing work around — whether it’s forest-defense work, resisting pipelines, or resisting nuclear proliferation — we have this long history of people working on tough issues to protect the place that they love,” Wade said. “Not everyone who is new here knows those stories or that history. I’m hoping to help make sure some of that knowledge gets transferred so that people know what we have tried and what’s possible.”

Downstairs, Wade gave a tour of the Rogue Liberation Library at Peace House.

“This is the Rogue Liberation Library. These are books that are sent to prisoners. They’ve got an interest, or want a particular author, or they’re studying for something and need books on the topic, so they write us and ask for them,” Wade said. 

Prisoners get three books and have to wait another six months before writing in again because of a huge backlog of requests from people. It’s extremely difficult getting reading material in prison because of laws or other barriers preventing prisoners from accessing books, according to Wade. The library is always looking for more donations and the stack of letters from inmates is proof this program is in high demand.

The Peace House sponsors a lot of different projects around town.

“We helped start the Truth-to-Power social justice club at the high school and are doing a food and supply drive at the co-op,” Wade said. 

Wade officially starts as executive director of Peace House on Jan. 1. 

Those interested in Peace House’s programs, workshops, how to donate or get involved can visit the Peace House website at peacehouse.net.

Journalist Kayla Heffner lives in Ashland. Email her at [email protected].

Note: Meg Wade is also a freelance journalist for Ashland.news.

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‘Empty Bowls’ supper Friday benefits hungry people (Oct. 21, 2024)

‘It’s an important reminder’: Peace House to host annual Hiroshima & Nagasaki Vigil (Aug. 3, 2024)