Introductions at the San Antonio National Catholic Worker Gathering

San Antonio Catholic Worker House

Chris plauche:

The director of the Catholic Worker is a loose term, but I’ve been with them for 20 years. I think the one thing that stands out about us is that we were badgered by our neighbors so long for saying that we were a band-aid, that we decided to cure homelessness and build houses. So that’s what we did here.

Tia moen:

I’ve known Chris since 2017 and we worked together to found Towne Village, which grew from the Catholic Worker and has become something beautiful. I’m grateful to still be part of it, and happy to be here with everybody.

Hector Pena:

I have been with the Catholic Worker for about 5 years. I came back to the Church 8 years ago. I felt uncomfortable at first, but my spiritual director told me I would find joy through discomfort. When I came here, I saw so many angels, it was inspiring. Two women here, Mary who you may have seen in the kitchen, and Marilyn Allen, a sweet angel who recently passed, remind me of the tough, beautiful women in the Church I grew up with. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Kevin McManus:

I’ve been involved with the San Antonio Catholic Worker for 4–5 years. Dorothy Day and the movement brought me back to the Catholic Church 20 years ago. With my kids grown, I’m glad to be more involved now. This is what following Jesus looks like to me.

Matt Barrett:

Today might be my first day as a Catholic Worker! I came here for a confluence of different reasons- I was drawn by the economics, compassion, and idea of giving people dignity through work. I have been influenced by podcasts-Fr. John Dear, Richard Rohr- and reading Roundtable. When I found the San Antonio Catholic Worker, I felt called but always found myself sitting on the sidelines with the business of family life. When I saw that this was happening, I knew I had to be here. I am excited to learn more and am inspired by hearing everyone’s stories.

Karl Graf:

I had moved into the San Antonio CW in 1986 and then a month later met Erin Kelly- a year late we got married, a true CW romance, and now we have two sons. I still stay involved and serve as the board president. Chris inspires me—she is our Dorothy.

Minneapolis Catholic Worker

Mike Doyle:

My first exposure to Catholic Worker was in Minneapolis. Sister Jeremia wanted to build houses around a square block of property no one wanted, and we started acquiring houses. Sister Char, a Catholic Worker, introduced me to the movement and it stuck—now 40 years later. Most recently, I started a Dorothy Day group in Tampa and in 2024 formed the Dorothy Day Foundation, which exists to support Catholic Workers internationally through media, messaging, storytelling, and revenue generation.

Round Table Servants

George Benner:

I’m a Catholic Worker out of South Boston. A friend, Bob Kennedy, introduced me to the Catholic Worker after seeing me doing work in the community—coaching sports, feeding hungry kids. He came to me with the idea of urban agriculture: creating farms where the community could grow leafy greens and become self-resourceful. I’ve been doing community agriculture since 2008, feeding children and providing food production rather than just distribution. I grow food in Boston and give it away for free to anyone interested.

Mary’s House Birmingham

Ashley Mccormick:

Hello, I’m Ashley, working in Alabama. I’ve been with Mary’s House for about five years. We primarily house women and children, and we do monthly community gatherings.

sophia jaunet:

I do all the same stuff Ashley does, just not as much. I’ve only been doing it for three years. I’m really inspired by all of you—especially being one of the youngest people here. Your legacy is incredible and inspiring to the next generation of Catholic Workers.

Syracuse Catholic Worker

Kathleen Rumpf:

I’m Kathleen Rump. It’s so good to be with everybody. I live in Florida and I’m an artist now. Every time I got arrested, I claimed I was “committing art,” but it never worked in court. We were the first Catholic Worker after Maryhouse/St. Joseph House to do a Plowshares action. Weapons are still at the center of the struggle; everything connects to the bomb. But I testified that I did it because of the homeless dying in the streets.

Casa Latina Catholic Worker

Felix garza:

Hello, I’m Felix Garza from Louisville, though originally from the McAllen/Mission area in South Texas. I’ve been on and off involved with Catholic Worker for many years.

Maria Scharfenberger:

I’m Maria, from Louisville. I’ve been involved for about 25 years since the beginning. We primarily serve immigrant families. We have Thursday night potlucks and various activities. The La Casita Center started at our Catholic Worker house and now serves hundreds monthly. They’re a nonprofit now, but still next door.

JAzz Gabano Navarro:

My name is Jazz. I’ve been connected to the Casa Latina Catholic Worker for about six years.

Maryhouse NYC

Martha hennessy:

I’m Martha from New York’s Maryhouse Catholic Worker. Homelessness keeps increasing in New York—the discrepancy between rich and poor is becoming more obvious and difficult. Thank you for being here.

Andre House of Hospitality

Brianna Della Valle:

I have volunteered at Andre House in Phoenix for just over two years now. This gathering has already been so inspiring. My fiancé Vincenzo and I are getting married next May, and hope to one day open a house together and serve. We’re here to listen and learn.

Vincenzo Torsiello:

I started volunteering six and a half years ago in South Bend at age 18. It helped me through a hard time and helped me keep my faith. These last two and a half years we’ve been at Andre House in Phoenix. Thank you all for not only giving hope to people in the faith, but to those everywhere, regardless of who they are.

Amistad Catholic Worker

MArk Colville:

I’m from New Haven, Connecticut. We started in 1994. We declared our backyard public land to resist evictions of tent dwellers. It grew into a collective called Rosette Village. My board paid for me to attend, so I’m on a fact-finding mission to figure out how one runs something like Towne Twin Village.

Tomorrow’s Bread Today

Don Mccormick:

I became a Catholic Worker volunteer 33 years ago at Casa Diego in Houston. I had retired as an HMO director and wanted to do something for people with nothing. Doctors I knew supported me; for over 31 years they’ve given over $6 million that we have distributed for health and housing. We developed a cooperative healthcare system costing half of current systems and equal to European standards. You don’t need national health insurance—just cooperation.

Loaves and Fishes Community

Shelly Bruecker:

I stumbled into the worker while going to school for occupational therapy and I needed a place to live and stayed—now nine years later. Our community has two main hospitality houses, with drop-in days, laundry, foster care, etc.

Catherine mccomas-bussa:

My first CW experience was with the Lake City Catholic Worker in Minnesota on a farm during the first summer of COVID. I milked goats, learned about Dorothy Day, and it made a really big impact on me. I’ve been in Duluth a year. We live right by Lake Superior, offer grounded hospitality, and live in community together.

Dave McComas-Bussa:

I have been at the Duluth CW for three years now and was drawn into the community during COVID isolation. My sister Catherine recommended I check out the CW and I already had some good friends in Duluth, and it has been a really great fit. We have a free bike-repair shop, four houses within a few blocks, and a strong collaboration with St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

Isaiah House Orange County Catholic Worker

Zack Jacques:

I have been more intimately involved at the Orange County Catholic Worker for just over a year, but have been a part of the CW community in the area for a little while. We have been helping with street outreach and harm reduction, and focused a lot on community support during pandemic shutdowns. We have started to do more things in our direct community like grocery distributions and helping the immigrant community.

David Hewgill:

I am also part of the newly reforming Orange County CW. We are evolving and seeing how we can best walk alongside our community, and help where we can. I’m really inspired by everyone’s experiences and excited to learn!

Rebecca Mcclean:

I’m also part of Isaiah House, and I would say one thing that we are doing a little differently is holding vigils outside of the immigration courthouses in our area. It has been hard on our community with ICE, and the separation of families. It’s difficult work-but it has to be done.

Strangers and Guests Catholic Worker

Brian Terrell:

In October of 1975 I dropped out of college and joined the Catholic Worker in New York. I was there for four years then moved to the CW House in Davenport, Iowa stayed for about 7 years. By that time I had a family and we moved to a farm in southwest Iowa in 1986, and I have been there cine. We raise dairy goats, chickens, and garden real intensively. We do weaving and craftwork, and that is how we make a great deal of our money- people come to learn those things. If you really get involved, rural life is not an escape—you are face to face with the world as it is. In these last few years, I have only been at home half the time-engaging in various experiences across the country. Next weekend, we will be supporting the Shoshone people in Nevada with a protest and ending with an act of civil disobedience at a nuclear test site

St. Benedict House of Hospitality

Liza Apper:

I’m from the St. Benedict CW in Fresno, California. I began with the Catholic Worker in 1978, at the ripe age of eighteen. I first got involved after hearing Dan Delany on KPFK say, “I’m a priest married to an ex-nun, and I’m starting a Catholic Worker. If you want to know what it’s about, come to St. Joseph’s Church.” I had just graduated from twelve years of Catholic school and had never heard of the Catholic Worker movement, but I thought, “I’m not doing anything this summer.” So I went to St. Joseph’s Church—and, as the Jesuit Volunteers like to say, I showed up for lunch.

I really relate to what Brian said earlier about college not being a fit. I remember helping prepare and serve food on the street from St. Joseph’s, and at one point I looked down at the cot I was scribbling on and thought: “I could do this for the rest of my life and be very, very happy.”
That feeling was completely counter to how I had been raised—college, suburbs, all of that—but it was true.

This year marks 55 years of the Catholic Worker’s existence, and our house in Fresno is now in its 29th year. For many years we served right outside the Fresno County Jail, but COVID forced us to shift how we worked. During the pandemic we did food distribution for people who were sick or couldn’t leave their homes. From that, we expanded into delivering food to a community of about 200 families in a nearby apartment complex. We now share between 1,400 and 2,800 pounds of food every week.

I also went back to school and earned a master’s degree in pastoral care and counseling. Our Catholic Worker runs educational and support groups for people grieving the loss of a loved one. I specialize in grief work, and I also provide individual pastoral counseling for people who otherwise could not afford mental health care. Pastoral counseling—especially affordable pastoral counseling—is a real gap in people’s access to care. Being able to help relieve suffering and facilitate healing has been one of the greatest honors and gifts of our Catholic Worker community.

Casa Juan Diego

Lupita guzman:

I’ve been in the movement for about 35 year, I started in LA, we opened a house in San Diego, I’ve visited houses in Las Vegas, and Fresno, and now presently I’m with Casa Diego in Houston. We work with the sick and injured, and do food distribution and clinics. I was excited to be able to attend this celebration because it was like coming back to the CW movement.

St. Louis Catholic Worker

Theo Kayser:

I’m from the St. Louis Catholic Worker (named for the city, not the saint). We house folks, make and distribute burritos, support native land defenders, oppose farm manufacturers, and more. I’ve done CW work 15 years across the U.S., in LA and other cities. I also host the “Coffee with Catholic Workers” podcast.

Attendees unaffiliated with a CW House

Monica Welch:

I’m Monica Welch and I’m from Austin. I am here with Round Table and do art for them. I’m super new—just over a year. The Catholic Worker’s inclusiveness and social justice focus is everything I want to see from Catholics. The articles in Round Table inspire me. Please send my postcards! It makes me so happy that my art is going out there into the world.

Linda wells:

I’m a retired certified nursing assistant. I feel like I’ve been a Catholic Worker all my life but hadn’t found you all. I’m in search of a CW community so I have been visiting communities around the U.S. , went to the Sugar Creek gathering last month, and I am super excited to be here!

*Other Catholic Workers not present for introductions, and those who joined virtually, also greatly contributed to the various discussions and activities throughout the weekend, tuning in from Kenya, Uganda, the UK, and the Netherlands.

The summary above is drawn from the transcript automatically generated by YouTube.