We were founded 30+ years ago in the spirit of Dorothy Day, a Brooklyn born journalist and social activist who played a major role in the human services, civil rights, antiwar, women’s rights, and labor movements of the 1920s through the Vietnam Era. Dorothy Day spent her entire life focused on the poor and homeless — providing aid and taking direct action on behalf of those living in poverty.

Dorothy Day co-founded the Catholic Workers Movement and created “Hospitality House,” the first shelter model providing both food and clothing to those in need in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Her model quickly spread to other cities throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

In keeping with “the Dorothy Day Way," we act with compassion always and carry Dorothy Day’s unconventional, heart-centered approach into everything we do in California’s East Bay. In 1992 we started serving breakfast daily in People’s Park with the cooperation of UC Berkeley. Today, we provide many forms of shelter and services, and are still invested in serving daily meals to our unhoused neighbors.