Archdiocese wins SF tax case, Page 3 Catholic san Francisco
(PHOTO BY JOSE LUIS AGUIRRE/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
Lida Brown, left, used the services of the Catholic Worker Hospitality House and for the last year has been a volunteer. She is pictured with Eddison James, who is in charge of the night shift at the San Bruno center.
Catholic Worker House: 15 years of service to the poor By Dana Perrigan On a recent weekday Frank “Big Frank” Medrano was, as usual, up before dawn. His home: a Chevy van parked at a rest stop on Interstate 280. Beginning his weekday routine he climbed over the back seat into the front and drove off. His destination was a nearby place that is the closest thing he has to a real home: the Catholic Worker Hospitality House in San Bruno, on the grounds of St. Bruno Church. As Medrano clambered out of the van, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and frying bacon beckoned from an open doorway. “If it weren’t for this place, I don’t know what I would do,” Medrano said. Since he became homeless a couple of years ago, the 48-year-old former truck driver has been one of the regulars at the Catholic center, which started out as a mom and pop establishment founded in 1996 by Peter Stiehler and his wife, Kate Chatfield. The couple was recently honored when the city of San Bruno issued
a proclamation celebrating the organization’s 15 years of service to the poor. The San Bruno house is modeled after Catholic Worker sites created during the Great Depression. Independently operated, they form a national network of about 100 houses. Their mission, in accordance with Catholic social teaching, is to serve, feed, clothe and shelter the poor. There are two others in the Bay Area: one in Half Moon Bay and another in Redwood City. For Medrano the San Bruno house is the only place in town where he can shower, eat a hearty breakfast, and enjoy a sense of community among those, who, like himself, have fallen on hard times. A large, bearded man wearing a T-shirt with reggae icon Bob Marley’s portrait on it bearing the message “Struggle for Survival,” Medrano suffers from congestive heart failure and a host of other physical ailments. He gets around with the aid of a walker, and seems philosophical about the events that led to his homelessness -- loss of job due to an injury, disability, divorce and the loss of the house in which he and his family lived. Unemployed for the past five years, Medrano lives
‘There has been a new crowd – working-class folks who have lost jobs, lost resources, and they’re coming here for a meal occasionally to stretch their food budget.’ – Peter Stiehler off his monthly Social Security check. A good portion of that goes toward fueling and maintaining the van, which also serves as his home. Without the Catholic Worker Hospitality House, he said, things would be much worse. “I’m so grateful for that,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of people here. We’ve become friends.” When he’s not saddled with medical appointments, which is all too often these days, he likes to fish off the piers at Oyster Point or Pier 32. It’s peaceful, he said, and he doesn’t mind being alone. On the day he was interviewed he planned to take his son and daughter, ages 18 and 20 respectively, to the San Francisco Zoo. Eddison James, a volunteer in the house dining room, CATHOLIC WORKER, page 8
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION On the Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Prop. 8 appeal advances . . . . 7 Stem cell project closed . . . . 9 Juan Diego, model for laity. 15 Advent reflections. . . . . . . . 17
Catholics take new missal in stride ~ Page 11 ~ December 2, 2011
Pope calls for all-Africa ‘Year of Reconciliation’ ~ Page 12-13 ~
Archbishop’s Journal: Thanksgiving homily ~ Page 14 ~
ONE DOLLAR
Father Rolheiser . . . . . . . . . 18 Book review . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 13
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No. 38