Catholic Worker House
One couple's thirst to serve Jesus by helping the poor has changed lives for more than 12 years. Peter Stiehler, 44, and his wife, Kate Chatfield, 38, feed and shelter 80 to 100 homeless men and women through the Catholic Worker House they started in San Bruno in 1996.
The couple met at a Jesuit Volunteer Corps barbecue when Chatfield was a volunteer and Stiehler a former volunteer. They married and decided to move to Northern California because they wanted to start their own Catholic Worker House. They mark the 13th anniversary of their mission on Apr. 1.
"Larry Purcell at the Redwood City Catholic Worker thought that San Mateo (County) could use another Catholic Worker House so he said if anybody is interested in starting another house, come on up. So we met him, we liked him, we liked the area, and we did, we bought a house with Larry's help," Chatfield said.
They moved into their five-bedroom home on 2nd Avenue in San Bruno and opened it to the homeless. Soon, St. Bruno Parish was asking them for help with the homeless sleeping inside the church because the doors were open for Perpetual Adoration.
"The parish had a tradition of reaching out to those in need," Stiehler said. He explained that the pastor at the time, Father Ronald Burke, let people in need sleep in the different church halls. The parishioners leading Perpetual Adoration did not want to refuse the homeless a place to sleep.
They asked, Stiehler said, ‘"How can we be worshiping the Body of Christ and then turn around and kick out the Body of Christ?'"
The parish council invited Stiehler to a meeting, and the Catholic Worker Dining Room was born. The parish gave up St. Raphael's hall to feed the hungry. Two years later, the hall also became an overnight shelter.
The parishioners had arrived at a happy conclusion. They could refuse people to sleep in the church but still meet their needs, Stiehler said.
The dining room operates from 6:30 to 9 four mornings a week and reopens at 5 p.m. to operate as a shelter. Those who sleep in the hall have to leave after breakfast the next morning.
The San Bruno house is one of more than 100 Catholic Worker houses in the United States. Each is a mission modeled on the work of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, who started the Catholic Worker newspaper in 1933 to support the poor, immigrants and Catholic social teaching. With the success of the newspaper, came the Houses of Hospitality, whose mission it is to serve, feed, clothe and shelter the poor.
Other Catholic Worker houses in the Archdiocese of San Francisco are located in Redwood City on Cassia Street and the recently reopened one on Kelly Avenue in Half Moon Bay. Stiehler works full-time in the Catholic Worker movement, overseeing not only the dining room but also two Catholic Worker homes in San Bruno.
The Catholic Worker Dining Room has 25 to 30 regular volunteers who serve meals and do laundry. Two people who used to be guests of the shelter are now paid workers. Students from middle schools and high schools volunteer community service hours.
The volunteers come mostly from the parish itself but also from surrounding cities, like San Mateo, Millbrae and South San Francisco.
"I'm here for the love of God, because I love God and I'm here to celebrate that, that entire aspect of loving God and just coming out," said Rosa Regino, 39, a new volunteer from South San Francisco. "Love thy neighbor and serve."
John Bralley, 54, is a volunteer and has lived at one of the Catholic Worker homes in San Bruno for a year.
"I was homeless, on and off for eight or nine years, I guess," Bralley said, adding that he heard about Catholic Worker House through word of mouth. He used to live in South San Francisco and Burlingame while struggling between jobs.
Bralley is unemployed but notes that volunteering makes him happy because he feels useful. "Peter's a good guy, a good friend," he said.
Ninety-five percent of Stiehler and Chatfield's donations come from individual donors and one foundation. St. Veronica Parish in South San Francisco holds a collection once a year and Mercy, Notre Dame and Serra high schools hold a fundraiser, Stiehler said. Local Lutherans and Presbyterians also give financial support.
Stiehler and Chatfield reflect on all the people they have touched in their nearly 13 years of service-the homeless, volunteers and students.
"Faith without works is no faith at all," Chatfield says, quoting her favorite teaching from St. James, "and for me the faith is inextricably linked with the practice."
By Audrey Cabrera Amort
From February 27, 2009 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
