On Tuesday, March 10 Karin Cunningham and Stephen Seymour delivered two truck loads of food to Catholic Worker Hospitality House that the San Bruno Lions Club had collected at area businesses. Thank you, San Bruno Lions! It is through such generosity that we are able to continue serving hot and hearty meals to all our dining room and shelter guests as well as providing bags of food to individuals and families in need of food.
February 2021
Dear Friends,
On February 28, 1996 Kate Chatfield and I moved into the house at 672 2nd Ave. in San Bruno with the hope of starting our own Catholic Worker House. We were newly married and full of grand plans fueled by faith and idealism. We quickly filled the empty bedrooms with people in need of hospitality and started a free dining room in St. Raphael’s Hall on the grounds of St. Bruno’s Catholic Church. Thus began the work of Catholic Worker Hospitality House. 25 years later there has been a lot of changes to the work as well as a lot of continuity; we have been successful in some of the things we started and not so successful with others. In some ways it feels like just yesterday that we started and in others it feels like a lifetime ago.
I’m a person who likes to mark anniversaries and over the years I’ve written several anniversary letters relating the adventures we have had during our time at Catholic Worker Hospitality House (CWHH). But I feel this anniversary is different, 25 years of doing anything is quite an achievement and should be appropriately commemorated. So this year I plan on devoting several of our newsletters to the story of Catholic Worker Hospitality House. In this letter I will reflect on why Kate and I started a Catholic Worker house, acknowledge those who were instrumental in helping us get established, and how the work has continued all these years. In future letters I will talk about our service projects and how they have evolved over the years, partnerships we have developed and maintained over the years, and other inspirations that come my way.
Over the years numerous people have asked Kate and me what inspired us to start our own Catholic Worker house. Quite simply, we both take our faith seriously and believe that a living faith is one based in service, particularly service to those most in need in our society. It is also rooted in a political commitment that critiques the prevalence of capitalism and militarism in our society—systems that leave people to live and die in our streets. Before we met we were both searching out ways to live a life of service, our search first led us to stints in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) and then the Los Angeles Catholic Worker (LACW). We met while I was working at the LACW after my JVC days and Kate was still in the JVC. After her time in JVC was over, Kate joined the LACW community where we both worked for the next two years. We found in the Catholic Worker Movement a model of how we could live an authentic Christian life, raise a family, and serve others. After getting married in May 1995 we knew we wanted to continue in this work, but we wanted to do it in our own house.
What does it take to start and sustain a Catholic Worker House (or to be honest, anything in life)? It takes commitment, particularly a commitment to service. Kate and I had that in the beginning and we still have it today. We are committed to each other and committed to the hard and often unglamorous work of serving those in need. I believe commitment not only gets one through the hard times, but that it attracts people who want to support and join the work. While Kate and I have played an important part in starting and sustaining the work of CWHH, I am also cognizant of the fact that a large part of the vitality and longevity of this work is due to the faith and commitment of numerous other individuals and organizations who have been a part of the work of Catholic Worker Hospitality House over the years.
We would never have been in a position to start our own Catholic Worker house without the mentoring, vision, and initial financial support of both the Los Angeles Catholic Worker and Redwood City Catholic Worker houses. Through their support and guidance we were able to devote ourselves full-time to this work while we developed our own support base. We owe an immeasurable debt to Jeff Dietrich, Catherine Morris, Larry Purcell, and countless others in the Catholic Worker Movement. Over the years we have tried to honor their support of us by being supportive of other young families trying to get established in life or trying to establish their own Catholic Worker house.
Throughout the years there have been dozens of faithful volunteers who have given their time, talents, and resources to make the work of Catholic Worker Hospitality House possible. I think of Mary Pleas, our first volunteer, who insisted we keep the dining room open when we wanted to give up on it three months after we started because not enough people were coming to eat with us. Think of all the people who have benefitted from the vision of this stubborn Irish woman. Without the dining room there wouldn’t have been a shelter, without the shelter there wouldn’t have been our affordable housing units. Small actions can cause large ripples. There have been numerous other “stubborn Marys” over the years whose vision and commitment to service have kept our work going and have benefitted our guests in unforeseen ways.
Would our dining room and shelter even have been possible without the support of pastors and parishioners at St. Bruno’s Catholic Church in San Bruno who gave us use of a parish building for our service projects? There are few churches that would allow a dining room in one of their buildings and even fewer that would ask for a homeless shelter, but that is what St. Bruno’s did. 25 years ago we were welcomed into the parish by Fr. Ron Burke – a man who lived his life in service to the poor to the point of having to flee Guatemala just ahead of US-backed death squads. We do our best to operate programs that are orderly and respectful of both the parish and neighborhood. Still, it can be trying to have us and the work we do on parish grounds and it takes a lot of faith and forbearance on the part of parishioners. It is through their committed witness in support of our work that many other parishes and congregations have come to be a part of our work.
I think about the people both past and present who have worked as overnight staff at our homeless shelter – James, Tracy, Judy, Pat, Frank, Eddison, Dean, Gary, and Jonathon. It is their faithful service that has enabled us to keep our shelter open year-round for 23 years. Some were shelter guests before they became staff, while others were dining room guests. Their experience as guests gave them first-hand knowledge of the importance of operating a shelter that is dependable, dignified, and respectful of the needs of those we serve. I would be remiss if I didn’t emphasize the importance of the 21 years Pat has worked at the shelter. His compassion and calm composure has been the ballast enabling the shelter to weather the storms of angry neighbors, parishioners, and guests. He epitomizes a commitment to service.
As stated at the beginning of this letter, Kate and I started CWHH together. However, after eight years she left the daily work of CWHH to continue her life of service as a lawyer working on behalf of the accused and imprisoned, while I continued on with the daily work of serving our guests. I want to end this letter by expressing my gratitude at being able to make Catholic Worker Hospitality House my life’s work. It has enabled me to live out my faith in the most authentic way I know how, it has made me a better person, and it has filled my life with good and loving people. For this I am and will be eternally grateful to you, the myriad individuals and organizations, who have joined and supported our work these 25 years. Without your loving kindness our work would not be possible. As I hope to continue in this work, I hope for your continued generosity of time and resources to keep CWHH a vital part of our community. Deo Gratis.
In Christ’s Peace,
Peter Stiehler
For all of us at
Catholic Worker Hospitality House
We have never written a “Year in Review” piece at Catholic Worker Hospitality House, but I thought it would be a nice tradition to start, especially considering what a year 2020 has been.
While every year is filled with milestones, momentous events, and people coming and going, this year seemed to be flush with them. And even though COVID was a major factor affecting our work this year, some of the major events at the shelter had nothing to do with the pandemic.
The first, and saddest, event was the loss of our long-time co-worker Christine Baker to cancer in early May. In February, she informed us of her illness and impending operation. When she went on sick leave we hoped that she would eventually return to work, but it soon became evident that she would not be returning to work and the only question was how much time she had left. While we miss Christine everyday, her absence was especially noticed at our biggest event of the year, the annual Thanksgiving Dinner. For over 15 years Christine was a major organizer of the event and my initial thought this year was, “How am I going to do this without Christine?” The answer is simple – we adjust and go on the best we can. It’s not the same without her, but other people have stepped up to fill the gap.
One of the people stepping up to fill the gap left by Christine’s passing is Mike DiCampli. We have a long relationship with Mike spanning over fifteen years. We first met him as a guest at the dining room and shelter and for the past four years he and his wife Jennifer have been residents at our Second Ave. house. When I started looking for someone to assist at the dining room and provide back up in case of my own absence, Mike was the first person to come to mind. He’s easy going and, considering his own past, is comfortable with and caring about those we serve. I knew we would work well together as over the years we have often collaborated on house repair projects. It has been such a help and comfort to me having Mike working with us.
Another loss we experienced this year was Judy Pena. While Judy didn’t die, failing health has caused her to now reside in a care facility in Gilroy. For twenty-four years Judy was a part of our life at Catholic Worker. She was a long-time volunteer, worked as an overnight staff person at the shelter for a brief period, and when failing health prevented her from volunteering she was still a regular guest at the dining room. For the past few years I would give her a ride home from the dining room every morning, whcih was always a pleasant time together (even if we had been arguing at the dining room). Those of you who were familiar with Judy know that she could be a handful, but she was part of our community and is missed by all.
In February our long-time volunteer Lioba Moulton moved to Tracy to live with her sister. For years Lioba would bring food to the dining room three to four mornings a week. She definitely upped the quality of the food at the dining room, providing lots of hearty soup, scrambled eggs with hash, hot dogs, desserts, and other items she would either cook or receive in donations from the local Grocery Outlet. While we greatly miss her food, we especially miss her loving presence which added so much to our dining room.
Dean, another long-time volunteer and former shelter staff person and resident at one of our houses, also had to stop working with us because of health issues that put him at great risk of contracting the virus. But before he stopped volunteering, he came up with our new serving method. In early March we knew we could no longer be a sit-down dining room and had to serve food To-Go only. But how to do it? My initial plan was to have guests come inside the dining room to the serving counter to get their food, but it was Dean who realized that was still unsafe. It was his idea to have tables by the main door where one person at a time would come in (with mask on) to get their hot coffee, oatmeal, soup, sandwich, fruit, and what ever other food we had that particular day. This has proved a safe and effective way to serve during the pandemic and is the model we used to host our annual Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Again, we miss Dean’s presence at the dining room, but at least I still get to see him when I go by the Chapman house.
And then there was the COVID pandemic… Luckily none of the staff, volunteers, or shelter guests at Catholic Worker Hospitality House have gotten sick (or worse) with the virus. And to the best of our knowledge none of our dining room guests have either. Still, the pandemic has affected our work in many ways.
With the onset of COVID in March we lost practically all of our longtime volunteers. It made total sense for them to stop coming to the dining room as they were in the high risk group for COVID due to advanced years, underlying health issues, or both. I found it touching when several volunteers told me they didn’t want to stop volunteering, but their adult children insisted on it. My response was, “Look on the bright side, your children care enough about you that they want you to stay safe. You should worry if they want you to continue getting in harms way!”
Still, we miss them dearly as most of our dining room volunteers had been part of our work for over ten years. Part of what makes work fun for me is the people I work with. I look forward to working with a different group of volunteers each day. “It’s Wednesday, oh good! Lorraine, Barbara, Marie, and Dean will be in today. It’s Thursday. Pitt, Terri, Lori, and Joanne will be in today.” I now sometimes have a hard time remembering what day it is because we have the same volunteers everyday. They all know that they are welcome back once the pandemic subsides and I look forward to their return. But I realize some won’t be returning as advanced years (such as Lorraine in her mid-nineties) may mean the end of their volunteering days. That is the sad part for all of us at the dining room.
But as is so typical of our work, when one group of volunteers fades out another steps forward. Shelter staff now stay a little longer in the morning to assist until volunteers arrive; Danny and Emad are there everyday to serve and do dishes; Debbie still comes in once a week (the one old-time volunteer who didn’t have to drop off); and new volunteers have emerged to fill in the gaps. Faces change, but the work continues.
Through it all your generosity has kept our work going. Your kindness has enabled us to continue our existing work while responding to new needs and challenges presented by the COVID pandemic. We thank you for all your support in 2020 and hope that you will continue helping us help others in 2021.
With much love and gratitude,
Peter Stiehler
For all of us at Catholic Worker Hospitality House
On Wednesday, December 23 we hosted our annual Christmas Dinner. It was a lovely event
with everybody enjoying a bountiful feast. There was so much ham and a couple of turkeys for those who don’t eat pork; a variety of potato dishes; an array of special dishes (ambrosia, baked beans, candied yams); and so much cake and cookies. The meal was extra special this year as the ability to host it was in question considering the pandemic. Luckily we found a good model at our Thanksgiving Dinner of how to serve a festive meal while being mindful of COVID concerns and restrictions. We give thanks to the generosity of so many donors who not only provided a bountiful feast, but made it possible for us to provide gifts to all our guests. We could not have done the event without your generosity. 
DECEMBER 2020
Dear Friends,
The world we live in can be a scary place. 2020 has been a year where it’s been easy to be afraid. The world is struggling with the coronavirus. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost; jobs and economic wellbeing have been lost; daily routines have been drastically altered; families have been separated; and isolation has become the norm. Our country has gone through an incredibly divisive election and sadly those divisions don’t seem to be healing. Global climate change continues at an alarming pace while many continue to deny its existence. Institutional racism continues to be a scourge upon our country. At the risk of stating the obvious, there is much to fear in our world today.
There is nothing new about a scary world; it is as old as time. It’s even a common theme in the nativity narratives, when the world was arguably an even scarier place: fear of an angel’s appearance, fear of what God wants a person to do, and fear of political leaders. All valid reactions, but in every instance the angel of the Lord comforts them with “do not be afraid.” To Zechariah, “Do not be afraid, your prayers have been answered.” (Luke 1:5-17) To Mary, “Be not afraid, you have found favor with God.” (Luke 1: 26-33) To the shepherds, “Do not be afraid, I proclaim good news of great joy.” (Luke 1:8-14)
We know, intellectually at least, that we are cared for by a loving God. Still it’s hard not to feel at least a little trepidation. This year especially, being told, “do not be afraid” feels like when the angel told St. Paul not to be afraid during the storm at sea because nothing bad will happen to him before he gets executed in Rome. What! That’s not exactly comforting.
But still, the message of the nativity and infancy narrative is clear and comforting: God has entered the world in a special way. If we make the effort, we can deepen our relationship with God and live in peace instead of fear. The choice is ours. The world and what we must do in it can be a scary place, but if we trust in God and try to live out mercy and justice, then all will be fine.
As always, we thank you for your generous support of our work with those in need during this very difficult year and hope that you will continue helping us help others in the year to come.
Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,
Peter Stiehler
Director
Catholic Worker Hospitality House
THANKSGIVING MEAL
Every year, two weeks before Thanksgiving I get into a tizzy, fearful that we won’t have enough food for
our guests. But every year there is plenty. Every year I fear that something will go dreadfully wrong and the meal will be a disaster and every year it’s a beautiful event. This year, due to the coronavirus, my fears were doubled. I hate not being able to serve a sit-down meal. How are we going to make the day festive when the best we can do is hot meals To-Go? Well, once again my fears proved unfounded, as our Thanksgiving Dinner was a lovely event. We had plenty of food, enough volunteers, and over 130 guests enjoying the day. Even without indoor dining the day was festive, joyful and full of thanks. I was reminded of why our Thanksgiving Dinner is my favorite event of the year. I definitely need to be more mindful of the angel’s admonition of “Do not be afraid, everything will be alright.”
We thank all of you who provided food and supplies to make Thanksgiving a special day for all our guests. We couldn’t have done it without you. Now it’s time to prepare for Christmas…
CHRISTMAS DINNER NEEDS
We will be hosting a Christmas Dinner for our guests, but with changes to account for the COVID pandemic. As with our Thanksgiving Dinner we will only be providing hearty hot meals To-Go. Again, we hate making this change, as it seems hardly festive, but the safety of our guests and volunteers necessitate it. That said, can you help us host our annual Christmas dinner for our guests by cooking part of the meal? We need:
Please bring food donations between 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 23. We will be serving the meal between 11:30 – 1:30 p.m. that day. Food can be brought to our dining room at St. Bruno’s Church, located at 555 W. San Bruno Ave. in San Bruno. Please call us at (650) 827-0706 if you can bring anything or if you have any questions. Thank You!
GIFT IDEAS
If you’re interested in providing a gift for one of our guests, may we suggest gift cards as the ideal gift for this COVID impacted Christmas? They would provide Christmas cheer for our guests and enable them to purchase the items they need and want. It would also limit your exposure to crowds this holiday season. We suggest gift cards to grocery stores, Target, and coffee houses. If you still want to purchase a tangible gift, may we suggest one of the following: sweatshirt, thermal underwear, hat and gloves, socks, or underwear.
We thank you for your generosity in helping to make this holiday season special for our guests.