Finding My Footing

Anthony Lanzillo, of Loaves and Fishes Community in Duluth, MN, shares the first part of his journey of coming to the Catholic Worker community where he has lived for the past 7 years and his path to becoming a climate speaker and activist in his community.

On the evening of November 7th, 2017, I had just gotten off the Jefferson Lines bus in Duluth, Minnesota, where I was planning to spend two weeks with the Loaves and Fishes community. 

About eleven months before arriving in Duluth, I had been laid off from my job as a case manager with an adult partial care program. After twenty-nine years living in Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia, working in the mental field, and newly 62, I figured–at first–I would look for one last job before retiring. But, four weeks after the layoff, something told me it was time for a real change. 

One of my sisters was living in Jacksonville, Florida, and invited me to spend some time with her. She was trying to balance a full-time job, maintain a house by herself, and had been living with multiple sclerosis for the past twenty years. So, in January 2017, I left Collingswood, New Jersey and headed south. 

While staying with my sister and doing odd jobs around the house, I went on long walks and bike rides, enjoying the fresh air and discerning what my sixties could look like.

I first thought about my two adult sons. The oldest was newly married and working in Portland, Oregon for Nike as a graphic artist. The youngest was finishing up college in Greenville, South Carolina as a student and lacrosse player, and would begin searching for his first coaching job. I was divorced from both their mothers and had no plans to even consider marriage for the third time.

My family was encouraging me to settle down in Florida, to find a nice job, move into a comfortable apartment, and enjoy life as a senior citizen in a warm climate.

But that image didn’t sit well with me. Looking back, the most meaningful experiences over the past sixty-two years were weekend visits to a Benedictine monastery in Montclair, New Jersey, organizing men’s groups at a Unitarian church in Philadelphia, and working as a crisis counselor. 

I kept feeling I wanted to find community and an opportunity to work with men. I embarked on some research as well as soul-searching.

I began reaching out to different Catholic Worker communities–all east of the Mississippi. I selected fifteen communities, and to be honest, Duluth (just squeaking in as it was just a hair east of the Mississippi’s headwaters!) was the fifteenth option.

My first thought upon arriving in Duluth was that this town in northern Minnesota was too small for me. I had always lived in larger cities: Louisville, Nashville, Raleigh, Chicago and Philadelphia. And it was far from my family.

But, within ten days, this city by Lake Superior grabbed my attention and my heart. The Catholic Workers at the Loaves and Fishes community welcomed me warmly and the natural beauty of northern Minnesota and Lake Superior awed me. It didn’t take long to make up my mind. 

By early December, I informed the community I was ready to settle on Jefferson Street in one of the community’s four houses. During their weekly community meeting, I was sent to the bathroom so the members could talk about me and decide whether or not to accept me as a full member of Loaves and Fishes. Fortunately, I didn’t have to sit on the toilet for more than probably ten minutes before I was called back into the meeting and welcomed into the community.

During my first year in Duluth, I dedicated most of my time to volunteering at the Dorothy Day House which served as a men’s house of hospitality. We provided nine beds on the second floor for men who were homeless and needed a safe space while they looked for a new place to live. And we had open hours for men to visit for a cup of coffee, a meal, shower, to do laundry or simply have someone to talk to. 

During that year, I began watching the speeches of climate activist Greta Thunberg and reading the environmentalist Bill McKibben, including Earth: Making A Life On A Tough New Planet. 

I also became aware of what these folks called my “carbon footprint.” I decided to immediately make some changes in my personal life. I would no longer own or drive a car. I decided to stop flying. To move around, I chose to walk or use public transportation.

To Be Continued.