An interactive exhibition
Making the Invisible, Seen
The project documents the labor and personal stories of Dorothy Day House volunteers who, from 1992, have been showing up Monday through Saturday from 7 am to 9 am to cook and serve breakfast to the people of Berkeley.
We invite you to take your time to read, listen and move images around
A history in motion
Dorothy Day was Born in Brooklyn, New York
Her early experiences with poverty and inequality would later shape her lifelong commitment to justice and service.
Founds the Catholic Worker Movement
Together with Peter Maurin, they launched the Catholic Worker Movement. It combined Catholic social teaching with practical action, advocating for workers' rights, peace, and care for the poor. .
Opens the First House of Hospitality in NYC
Later that same year, they established the first shelter model to offer food, shelter, and community to anyone in need on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Dorothy Day's Legacy Continues
Dorothy Day died in New York City in a shelter she’d founded. By then, the Catholic Worker Movement had grown into an international network of communities dedicated to hospitality, nonviolence, and social justice.
Dorothy Day House Opens in Berkeley, California
We started serving breakfast daily in People’s Park with the cooperation of UC Berkeley, and formalized the organization using the name of Dorothy Day House.
Current chapter
Today, almost 35 years later, we provide many forms of shelter and services, and are still invested in serving daily meals, including breakfast, to our unhoused neighbors.
“What we would like to do is change the world — make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves.”
- Dorothy Day
Meet the volunteers