Service and Social Change: Catholic Worker Perspectives on Bridging the Gap

Abstract

Introduction:  As an undergraduate, I worked in a small, student-sponsored homeless shelter. On our campus, about thirty volunteer groups worked under a common organizational umbrella, and occasionally we had retreats together. Inevitably, the retreat organizers would classify us into «service» groups, like my own, and «social change» groups, like the folks who were helping to organize the clerical workers on campus. I always chafed under this classification. In the context of the housing crisis of the 1980s, it seemed obvious to me that homeless shelters were changing society. We were building relationships between privileged college students and folks experiencing mental illness, alcoholism, and post-traumatic stress-groups that wouldn’t otherwise have encountered one another. More fundamentally, homeless shelters were rapidly replacing federal projects and single room occupancy hotels as the standard housing option for the very poor. I didn’t think this sort of «social change» was a good thing, but I couldn’t deny its reality.