2020 House Journal
The life of the house has changed dramatically this year due to Coronavirus. We normally have a steady stream of people coming in and out of the house who we provide hospitality for–activists, friends and family, and occasionally someone that just needs a warm bed. Now the only people we see are on our own backyard patio, ten feet apart. And on what seems like the endless Zoom calls that Paul and Danielle have every day, working from home. It has been a challenge to find new community members who are a good fit. During the early days of Coronavirus, and after months of searching, we found Kelley Vosburgh. Kelley is an artist and a site representative for Hollywood film and TV productions. She was an instant fit into our community. We were sad when, after five months with us, she let us know that, due to financial constraints, she needed to move in with a friend. She says she’ll be back to our patio soon for a visit. She’s already missed.
Danielle Raskin is still a field organizer for IfNotNow, which did incredible work raising awareness of American funding for Israel’s occupation of Palestine during the presidential primary. She’s also taken up a variety of new cooking hobbies in addition to her bread baking, kombucha brewing, and now, ice cream making and kimchi fermenting. Everyone in the house receives the benefits of these new quarantine pursuits.
Paul Engler has been working on a lot of writing with both his brother Mark Engler in Philadelphia, and his writing assistant, Aaron Jorgensen-Briggs. After hours and hours every week, they’ve been able to produce a rough draft of a small book introducing Community Counseling, in addition to helping facilitate a small group every week. Paul has also been a leadership coach and consultant to a large Christian evangelical network in Phoenix, Arizona, working with his new friend, Dennae Pierre.
Sara Kurtz has been working long hours as an essential worker at Social Model Recovery, overseeing treatment services for individuals with substance use and mental health problems. During the pandemic, the residential program that Sara had started had to merge with another program, and Sara was promoted to a new role of directing and managing a much larger outpatient treatment center. She has done a lot to create a better work culture there and has made great progress in expanding their services.
Judy Esber and Brandon Youndt merged pods with us for a few months. For a few consecutive weeks, we were delighted by the community barbecues they hosted on our patio. For the last few months, Judy and Brandon have decided to enter into a pod with Judy’s extended family, so we have not seen as much of them lately. Judy has seen incredible success building her own small business providing financial coaching for women and couples who need support in learning how to become debt free and financially secure. Brandon has been working from home providing support for 3-D printing and woodworking facilities at an architecture school in Los Angeles.
We are grateful for the centering prayer group that we continue to host in our community over Zoom. And we’ve been surprised at how much we’ve kept in touch as a community with occasional board game nights, and group chats over zoom. However, we all feel the absence of touch and the warmth of everyone sitting in our living room. I pray that in the coming year a new cycle of community life, face to face, will again appear and flourish.
–Paul Engler
← Vice Magazine Interview with Paul Engler
2020 Center Update: Surrender and Become Attentive →
We will All Become Pilgrims: 2022 Newsletter Summary
December 19th, 2022
By Paul Engler Whenever I write my newsletter, I am afraid a subtle or not-so-subtle repetition will be noticed—I fear I write the same thing over and over again! Generally the theme has something to do with change, uncertainty, and … Continue reading
Liminality is a Recipe for Navigating Winter: Becoming a Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago
December 19th, 2022
Whether you’re in a midlife, quarter life, or general life crisis, the proverbial crap hits the wall. You break up with your girlfriend, your community starts falling apart, your movement dies, your organization goes bankrupt, you lose the political campaign. … Continue reading
December 19th, 2022
I’m happy to report that our community has stabilized at the Center for the Working Poor house. We haven’t had one person leave in the past year! A welcome contrast to 2021, when we had so many people come and … Continue reading
December 15th, 2021
There is a big debate among economists about a curious phenomenon unfolding right now called “The Great Resignation”. We have an immense labor shortage because people are not returning to work as the experts expected (common after a recession). There … Continue reading
2021 Center Update: Ring the Bell of Hope… Again, and Again
December 15th, 2021
This fall, in one of my first trips to visit my coworkers from the Ayni Institute in Boston, I stopped by New York City to visit one of my closest friends, Eric Stoner. And I was sitting on his couch, … Continue reading
December 15th, 2021
The Center for the Working Poor was founded in 2006, but we didn’t move into our large Victorian house until 2007. Therefore, we have been in the house for 14 years now; and throughout this time, only Paul Engler has … Continue reading
The Story of Community Counseling
December 15th, 2021
Over the last year, we have started beta groups for a new model of mutual aid counseling, called Community Counseling that has engaged dozens in weekly small group counseling practice and training. In November, I went to Boston to lead … Continue reading
2020 Center Update: Surrender and Become Attentive
December 17th, 2020
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die …” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 “Surrender to what is dying, and become attentive to what is emerging.” — … Continue reading