OC Catholic Worker

We are four Catholic Workers, hundreds of guests and countless volunteers. We are brought together in an attempt to say, "who Jesus is" without using words. Instead, we use good food, 3500 hot meals each week, and a warm place to stay for up to 160 people each night. We use old clothes, about a ton each week. We use 83 rolls of toilet paper and two boxes of 43-gallon trash bags. That's in just one week, and we do this every week of the year. We're open all day, every day, 365 days a year. We don't do this for money, because no one at the Catholic Worker is paid: we're all volunteers. We do it because Jesus has been so very good to us; we do it because we're grateful. We have been given the gift of life and we have no other choice but to share it with everyone as need and talent dictate. We think we're the luckiest people in the world, and we're the best-kept secret in the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Orange. We are open to those most at risk on the streets- families, seniors, disabled women. We open the door to our home to offer a safe haven. We do our work as a gift, and share the gifts we receive directly with the poor. We offer our home as a place where all can be transformed by serving those in need. Three nights each school week Catholic High School Students come to serve the homeless on the street and to read to the 60 or so little kids that stay at our house. Other nights, groups from parishes come to help. Every Sunday a different church group gathers to prepare a brunch for the poor in our backyard. We set the table and break bread together that all might encounter God in our brothers and sisters. We partner with Project Hope School to insure that no child staying with us is academically deprived. Every child goes to school every school day, without exception. We let parents stay here as long as their children are going to school, until the problem that caused their homelessness can be resolved. We see this as the only Christian alternative to the ordinary practice of giving families 5 or 7 days each month, and then watching them blow their TANF checks in cheap motels and at fast food joints. We try to reach out to those who are forgotten and alone. We believe that people can heal through friendship and commitment. We have no program except to care for our brothers and sisters as we would care for Christ. We try to help one another to be living signs of Christ's love by doing the corporal works of mercy at a personal sacrifice. We invite you to join us, through prayer, with donations and in person.Check out our website! http://www.occatholicworker.org/ AND PATRICKS! Check it peeps! http://kasupe.org