Last fall we included an insert in the newsletter about our plan to pursue an intensive effort to find more live-in volunteers for our two houses of hospitality. As you may recall from that article, we have continued to provide community meals and overnight hospitality to single men at Bethany House, while Dan Corcoran House has remained closed due to a lack of live-in volunteers. We gave ourselves a target date of March 2011 to revisit our situation.
Well, March 2011 is upon us! In the past 6 months, we have advertized in national publications and on various websites. We have experienced an increase in the number of inquiries about joining the Winona Catholic Worker community. We’ve had correspondence and phone calls with several interested persons. As of the time of this writing, Mike (from Detroit) has joined our community and several others are in conversation with us.
What does this mean for the future of our 2 houses?
Ideally, three live-in volunteers are needed at each house to provide the kind of community and hospitality we wish to offer to our guests. Presently, our live-in community includes Becky (who is leaving this spring), Dan (who will be spending the summer in Arizona volunteering with No More Deaths), Laurie, and Mike. With our present number of inquirers, it looks hopeful that we may be able to resume overnight hospitality in both houses. However, we engage inquirers in a discernment process that typically requires a minimum of 3 months. It is premature at this point to anticipate how many of these inquirers will actually join our community.
What are the next steps? Our core community is planning a retreat day in April. This day of prayer, reflection, and discernment will allow us time to meet with a facilitator and re-envision the future of the Winona Catholic Worker. It is our strong desire to be able to reopen the Dan Corcoran House to women, children, and families, while continuing our work with single men at the Bethany House. While it remains presumptive to share concrete decisions about the future of our community at this time, we anticipate that our live-in community will grow. We will share more about the future of our two houses of hospitality by the end of this summer.
We ask your continued prayers and support as we seek the Spirit’s guidance to lead us as we ponder the future of our community.