About Us
Our vision is a world where all families are equipped
Compelled by our faith, love and conviction that every person is sacred, we envision a new social order, a world transformed with mercy, justice, solidarity, and compassion and rooted in respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person. We vision a world in which everyone is welcome as one with us in the common humanity we share.
Our Mission
The Oakland Catholic Worker creates hope and opportunity with homeless immigrants and their children, empowering them with transitional housing and life-building resources to become self-sufficient and thrive.
- 40% of funds go to food
- 35% for Educational Funds
- 29% for medical care
More About Us
Our History And Philosophy
Founded in 1986, the Oakland Catholic Worker (OCW) was
begun in response to the urgent need for short term emergency
housing for immigrants who were fleeing the war in El Salvador.
As part of the national Catholic Worker Movement cofounded by
Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, the Oakland Catholic Worker’s
mission of hospitality, charity, and justice is rooted in the Gospel
call to do the works of mercy and to walk in solidarity with the
most marginalized.
OCW’s mission has been deeply shaped by both the witness of its co-founders and the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador, who saw the crucified Christ in the suffering poor. Believing that these most marginalized of persons had God-given worth and dignity, our co- co-founders committed their lives to direct service, advocacy, and creating the new social order needed to take these crucified people down from the cross of poverty and oppression to which systemic injustices had consigned them.
This rich spiritual legacy continues today to guide not only what OCW does, but how we do it. While we offer to our homeless families a combination of shelter and comprehensive supports to co-create with them their bridge to self-sufficiency, OCW is much more than a social service agency. We accompany our families, walking side by side with them as we live together in community, daily sharing our humanity and the riches of our different cultures and spiritualities.
As we do, we bring to life Dorothy Day’s belief that every act of care with another creates a bridge of love to them. This is why, walking with our families on their very challenging journeys to independence in a new country we know, in Pope Francis’s words, “There is a part of your journey that is mine, too.”
OCW’s mission has been deeply shaped by both the witness of its co-founders and the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador, who saw the crucified Christ in the suffering poor. Believing that these most marginalized of persons had God-given worth and dignity, our co- co-founders committed their lives to direct service, advocacy, and creating the new social order needed to take these crucified people down from the cross of poverty and oppression to which systemic injustices had consigned them.
This rich spiritual legacy continues today to guide not only what OCW does, but how we do it. While we offer to our homeless families a combination of shelter and comprehensive supports to co-create with them their bridge to self-sufficiency, OCW is much more than a social service agency. We accompany our families, walking side by side with them as we live together in community, daily sharing our humanity and the riches of our different cultures and spiritualities.
As we do, we bring to life Dorothy Day’s belief that every act of care with another creates a bridge of love to them. This is why, walking with our families on their very challenging journeys to independence in a new country we know, in Pope Francis’s words, “There is a part of your journey that is mine, too.”