Dorothy Day Foundation Seeks to Help CW Communities Stay Open

What happens to Catholic Worker communities when resources run out? A handful of communities close or quietly fade away every year; this spring, the Detroit Catholic Worker announced that after nearly fifty years of operation, Day House would be closing, and operations scaled back. Mary House, of Austin, Texas, closed in 2023 when the founders stepped back, and the Waukesha (Wisconsin) Catholic Worker closed in 2020 after the death of its founder.

Michael Doyle hopes that with this week’s launch of the Dorothy Day Foundation (DDF), fewer communities will have to close in the future.

The organization’s goal is to provide for the needs of Catholic Worker communities across the globe so that these communities can in turn provide for the holistic needs of their people without fear of closure. As Doyle said, “Everyone has needs beyond food and clothing.” DDF’s goal is to assist in this.

Over the past decade, Doyle and his late wife, Ann, co-founded multiple organizations in Tampa, Florida, with this purpose, including Love, INC. and the Dorothy Day Tampa Catholic Worker. Last year, Doyle wrote an eight-part series documenting the Tampa Catholic Worker’s origin story, drawing on his business and nonprofit experience to provide a template for others seeking to start a Catholic Worker.

“The most joy I’ve had is helping others flourish using our skillset,” Doyle said. The DDF was inspired by this joy in aiding other Catholic Worker communities. With many Catholic Worker houses facing financial burdens and even impending closure, Doyle saw a problem; he believes sustainable funding is the solution. 

The Dorothy Day Foundation operates under the tax-exempt status of Dorothy Day Tampa Catholic Worker, with separate accounts and accounting controls.

Whether Catholic Worker communities should pursue tax-exempt charitable status has consistently been a touchy issue within the movement. In 1972, Dorothy Day wrote an editorial titled “We Go On Record: CW Refuses Tax Exemption,” forcefully rejecting the idea that the Catholic Worker would obtain tax-exempt status: “As personalists, as an unincorporated group, we will not apply for this ‘privilege’…. Our refusal to apply for exemption status in our practice of the Works of Mercy is part of our protest against war and the present social ‘order’ which brings on wars today.” 

That same year, Dorothy spoke to The New York Times about the issue: “An application for tax exempt status would mean an endorsement of the Federal Government’s military spending and continuation of the war.”

In a February article titled “Dorothy Day Inc.?”, Brian Terrell of Strangers and Guests Catholic Worker warned of “the potential pitfalls and contradictions” of acquiring tax-exempt status.

Today, most Catholic Worker communities based in the U.S. do not hold 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, including those in Los Angeles and New York City. Some communities, however, do: a search on ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer reveals 32 organizations with “Catholic Worker” in their name that hold nonprofit status. Searching the names of specific communities reveals even more with nonprofit status, but such public record searches don’t capture smaller nonprofit organizations with less than $50,000 in annual revenue, because such organizations are not required by the IRS to file public reports.

The Casa Alma Catholic Worker (Charlotte, Virginia) is one such community holding tax-exempt status. In a statement on its website, the community quotes from Dorothy’s 1972 column, then goes on to explain its reasons for seeking tax-exempt status:

“[Some] Catholic Worker communities create non-profit organizations and pursue tax-exempt status in order to own and steward property for the common good, to develop a broad base of services, and to divert funds from the works of war to serve the poor. Like Casa Alma, many Catholic Worker communities do not view tax-exemption as ‘seeking permission’ to house the homeless or feed the hungry, rather it is viewed as seeking a deeper accountability to the broader community for the work already being done.”

For his part, Doyle has no objection to tax exemption if it could be what keeps a community open: “Wouldn’t Dorothy be open to all options?” Doyle asked. “Times are different now. We can’t judge today based on the standards from 50 years ago.”

Though the DDF is a 501(c)(3), it is primarily self-funded by Doyle and various donors. The foundation is starting with $20,000 of founder-provided initial funding which will be used to match donations to Catholic Worker communities in need. To qualify for funding, communities must be “actively engaged in a DDF mentor coaching relationship,” Doyle said. For the first year, matching grants are limited to between $500 to $2,500. As funding grows, the DDF hopes to expand the amount of assistance available.

“Without money, there is no mission,” Doyle said. The DDF’s mission is “to provide resource-insecure Catholic Worker communities and farms around the globe with support services to stabilize and enhance their missions.”

Especially now, there is a community crisis or “loneliness epidemic” in our world, Doyle explained. Dorothy’s model of love and community draws people in, he said; it’s what they are missing in their lives. “Dorothy Day is a higher calling. She’s for those who want something more than themselves,” he said.

His hope is that the DDF can keep this legacy of love alive in the world today, and that, with additional funding, the Catholic Worker message can continue to propagate throughout the globe.

Communities wishing to apply for assistance can view the online application or call Doyle, whose number can be found on the application.