Center for the Working Poor | Center for the Working Poor

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

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 →

2022 House Journal

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 →

2020 CWP Newsletter Summary

“Fine Personally, but Armageddon Pressing In” Dear Friends, I remember in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, reading a facebook post from the writer Rebecca Solnit, where she said she’d been searching for a simple phrase that could sum … Continue reading →

2020 Center Update: Surrender and Become Attentive

“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 →

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 … Continue reading →

Vice Magazine Interview with Paul Engler

In March, Paul was interviewed by Vice Magazine, who reached out to him to discuss how the Coronavirus might affect the political and economic situation in the United States. Below is an excerpt from the article, titled “Coronavirus Could be … Continue reading →

2019 Newsletter Summary

Hello everybody! It has been an eventful year at the Center for the Working Poor. In our newsletter we have both our regular house update, in which you can get a small update on everyone living in the community over … Continue reading →

These Activists Are Training Every Movement That Matters What does it take to make progressive change in 2019? A nonprofit with no office and only seven employees knows.

By Tyler Kingkade This article appears in VICE Magazine’s 2019 Profiles Issue. This edition looks to the future by zeroing in on the underrecognized writers, scientists, musicians, critics, and more that will shape our world next year. They are “the Other 2020” … Continue reading →

2019 House Update

Hello from the Center for the Working Poor! This year there have been many memorable events, including an epic Thanksgiving dinner with many friends and family from our community. We have gone through a lot this year in relation to … Continue reading →

Monasticism, Indigenous Cultures, Burning Man, and/or Kingdom of God?: My trip to Taize.

After being invited to Barcelona, Spain this fall for a chaotic tour of book talks, TV appearances, and radio interviews, I needed a place to recover from all the activity. And one of the greatest realizations of my life has … Continue reading →

CENTER UPDATE 2016: STILL OTHER SEEDS FELL ON GOOD SOIL

Many have asked how I am feeling after Trump was elected to President of the US. The largest natural disaster in my lifetime just hit my community. It reminds me of both the day after my father died in my … Continue reading →

The Center has had some Organizational Babies: Welcome the Momentum Community

The Center for the Working Poor has been a leader in developing “non violent action”, or some people say “big ass protest” and a weird specialty in helping groups over the years that want to go on hunger strike for … Continue reading →

House Journal 2016

The House has been more active than usual—its seems like a renaissance of activity at the Center for the Working Poor that includes more centering prayer activities, collective social outings, and board games. Over the last year, we have had … Continue reading →

HOUSE JOURNAL 2015: CENTER FOR THE WORKING POOR

The Center for the Working Poor in the last year has had a lot of coming and going. After forming 99Rise in our living room just after the Occupy movement in 2012, we have held weekly meetings at the Center. … Continue reading →

Paul and Mark Engler’s New Book: This is an Uprising

This is an Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt Is Shaping the 21st Century By Paul Engler Praise for the Book: “Absorbing… Ambitious… Indispensable. A genuine gift to social movements everywhere.” –Naomi Klein “This is a landmark book. [It] puts a name … Continue reading →

99Rise Update for 2014

99Rise was a program that was incubated and birthed from the Center for the Working Poor. At first, as a baby, it was very dependent on the Center for the Working Poor, Paul Engler, as it primary organizer. In the … Continue reading →

The Care Bear Revolution: Get Empathy– the student anti-bullying and leadership program

A few years ago, I was asked one day by the director of a prominent non-profit in the area, ”With a little grant money and a powerful position, what would you do to stop bullying?” Having been a middle school … Continue reading →

Centering Prayer at Center For The Working Poor in 2014

Monday evenings you will find a group of 5-12 people sitting silently, with eyes closed, in the living room of the Center For The Working Poor. Centering Prayer, a meditation practice rooted in the Christian contemplative tradition, was developed by … Continue reading →

Center for the Working Poor House Journal Old and New Faces at the Center

Paul Engler, in addition to administering the house and services of the Center For The Working Poor, has been writing a bit with his brother, Mark Engler. They are proud to announce they have a book deal from The Nation … Continue reading →

Plan For the Revolution, But Keep Everyone Washing the Dishes: A New Year’s Update

Dear Friends, I started the Center for the Working Poor in 2006. I donated all my money and my car, and slept on the floor of my shared, cramped apartment with our first full time volunteer, Clayton Perry. We ate … Continue reading →

When the pillars fall — How social movements can win more victories like same-sex marriage

When the pillars fall — How social movements can win more victories like same-sex marriage Mark Engler and Paul Engler July 9, 2014 Originally appeared on Waging Nonviolence. Not long ago, same-sex marriage in America was not merely an unpopular … Continue reading →

Should we fight the system or be the change?

Should we fight the system or be the change? Mark Engler and Paul Engler June 3, 2014 Originally appeared on Waging Nonviolence. It is an old question in social movements: Should we fight the system or “be the change we … Continue reading →

Can Frances Fox Piven’s theory of disruptive power create the next Occupy?

Can Frances Fox Piven’s theory of disruptive power create the next Occupy? Mark Engler and Paul Engler May 7, 2014 Originally appeared in Waging Nonviolence. Social movements can be fast, and they can be slow. Mostly, the work of social … Continue reading →

Would Saul Alinsky break his own rules?

Would Saul Alinsky break his own rules? Mark Engler and Paul Engler April 2, 2014 Originally appeared in Waging Nonviolence. Although Saul Alinsky, the founding father of modern community organizing in the United States, passed away in 1972, he is … Continue reading →

Did nonviolence fail in Egypt?

Did nonviolence fail in Egypt? Mark Engler and Paul Engler February 21, 2014 Originally appeared in Waging Nonviolence. Three years ago this month, the 82-year-old president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, stepped down amid historic protests against his dictatorial rule. News … Continue reading →

When Martin Luther King gave up his guns

When Martin Luther King gave up his guns Mark Engler and Paul Engler January 15, 2014 Originally appeared on Waging Nonviolence. Few are aware that Martin Luther King, Jr. once applied for a permit to carry a concealed handgun. In … Continue reading →

Hunger Strike for Philadelphia Public Schools

At the end of June, a threat arose in the Philadelphia school district of budget cuts that would eliminate many workers. I would like again to congratulate the parents, and staff, with UNITE HERE local 274, for their amazing 14 … Continue reading →

Click Here to Kick Glenn Beck Off the Air: Web Activism’s Big Wins—and What to Do Next

You may find the original article in Yes! Magazine or read the full text below. It was also published on Truthout.org. Click Here to Kick Glenn Beck Off the Air: Web Activism’s Big Wins—and What to Do Next Monday, 24 … Continue reading →

Climate of Change: What Does an Inside-Outside Strategy Mean?

I wrote this article with my brother Mark Engler about strategy in the movement to combat climate change. It was published in Dissent magazine and Truthout.org. You can read the complete article below or read it on Truthout.org: Climate of … Continue reading →

Keeping the flame alive: an appeal for our movement and community

Dear Friends, In our journey to build a more just, a more democratic, and a more sustainable world, there are many challenges: cynicism, fear, despairs. But this holiday season, we are lifted up by the words Dr. Martin Luther King … Continue reading →

Christmas Update From Paul Engler & The Center

The Center for the Working Poor, (aka the Burning Bush Community), continues to share in the wonderful mix of serving the poor, communal living, prayer and meditation, and nonviolent movement organizing that distinguishes our beautiful home. In addition to delivering … Continue reading →

In Record Spending Year, Millions in Election Cash Not Disclosed | CBS News

On a crisp October morning, a group of high school students taped one dollar bills over their mouths as they approached the Lower Manhattan offices of JP Morgan Chase. Danielle Raskin, a 17-year-old senior at Eleanor Roosevelt High, was among … Continue reading →

The Rise of 99Rise | The Nation

By Isabelle Nastasia The impact of the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission allowing unlimited and anonymous campaign spending has been profound and could yet be decisive in this election. With an estimated $9.8 billion … Continue reading →

Five people protesting ‘Big Money’ arrested outside downtown bank | Los Angeles Times

By Andrew Blankstein and Mark Boster Five people affiliated with a group that is demanding banks to be transparent about their campaign contributions to the 2012 presidential candidates were arrested Thursday morning during a protest outside a downtown bank branch, … Continue reading →

NYPD block off whole JPMorgan building to arrest three teens | Salon

High school students staged a small sit-in to demand the bank reveal political expenditures BY NATASHA LENNARD The entire 60 floors of JPMorgan Chase’s downtown New York office building were temporarily blocked off Wednesday so that three high-schoolers could be … Continue reading →

A Moment of Hope for a New Movement: Update from the Center for the Working Poor

By Paul Engler Every once in a while, a rare and special moment comes when you realize that you are doing more than turning out for just another protest. Instead, you realize that you are in the middle of true … Continue reading →

Center for the Working Poor House Journal

By Paul Engler The Center for the Working Poor (aka the Burning Bush Community) is continuing to live in our balance of communal life, serving the poor, prayer and meditation, and organizing a non-violent movement. Paul Engler has been much … Continue reading →

The Future of the #Occupy Movement: Solidarity and Escalation

The Future of the #Occupy Movement: Solidarity and Escalation The movement can propel significant changes. But #OccupyWallStreet and its allied occupations still have a ways to go before realizing their potential. By Mark Engler Published on October 21, 2011. A … Continue reading →

How #OccupyWallStreet Is Evolving and Gaining Power

How the anti-corporate protests have evolved into the populist force now sweeping the nation. By Mark Engler Published on October 5, 2011. #OccupyWallStreet is evolving. Now in its third week, the protest movement not only continues to grow—it is maturing … Continue reading →

Five Things That #OccupyWallStreet Has Done Right

#OccupyWallStreet protests are now well into their second week, and they are increasingly capturing the public spotlight. This is because, whatever limitations their occupation has, the protesters have done many things right. I will admit that I was skeptical about … Continue reading →

Christmas Appeal: Hope: If We Follow the Spirit, Great Things Will Come to Pass.

We are again in need of your support, to feed the poor, and maintain our community. The Christian Faith as well as the great mystical traditions put so much emphasis on hope. It is one thing to have faith in … Continue reading →

Helping Teachers in Their Hunger Strike

We were called to help train this group of teachers on their hunger strike last spring. They said our experience from our previous fast and our medical contacts were very helpful to them. This is a short summary of their … Continue reading →

Bus Riders Hunger Strike and The Center For The Working Poor

We consulted with these Bus Riders in their hunger strike against fare increases. These fare hikes are a tax on the poorest of the poor in Los Angeles. In addition to helping them find doctors to supervise their fasters and … Continue reading →

Helping Dream Act Students In Their Fast

I was so moved by these students. They called me out of the blue to ask for help. They had heard of our fast for immigrant rights in 2008. A few days later I found myself in an auditorium presenting … Continue reading →

The First Letter from a Spiritual Director: Ears to Hear. By Paul Engler

I have been providing some spiritual direction in the Christian Contemplative Tradition to a few people from my church. One of my directees really wanted me to write some of my lessons to him in a letter. He thought it … Continue reading →

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Paul Engler Update: The Story Which Needs To Be Told

I apologize for the long wait for an update about myself and the Center for the Working Poor, the Burning Bush community. We have been very busy. This year we are serving more families than ever due to the economy, … Continue reading →

Everything Old is New Again

Ancient Christian practices are finding a home in post-modern Christianity by Brian McLaren I was raised Plymouth Brethren in the 1950s and 1960s, a group that has taken some pride in skipping over the centuries of church history between about … Continue reading →

Our Christmas appeal: Pray for God’s Plan

What is your plan? How are you going to survive? I would ask while serving soup to the poor, or washing dishes at every Catholic Worker house, I visited across the country a few years ago. Many of the workers, … Continue reading →

In His Mother’s Footsteps: California Man Jailed for Five Days After Sit-In at Blue Cross Office in Los Angeles

On Thursday, Sam Pullen was arrested at the Los Angeles offices of the insurance giant Blue Cross. He refused to give his information to police and vowed to remain in prison until Blue Cross agreed to hear demands that it … Continue reading →

Contemplation and Compassion: The Second Gaze

by Richard Rohr, OFM – December 2005 As published in Radical Grace, the publication of the Center for Action and Contemplation Vol. 18, No 6 – November-December 2005 Contemplation happens to everyone. It happens in moments when we are open, … Continue reading →

In These Times

Sitting in for Healthcare A new group takes the fight for a single-payer system directly to insurers—and politicians. By Diana Novak November 16, 2009 Since September 29, when Mobilization for Health Care for All organized its first sit-in at health … Continue reading →

The Final Word Is Love

by Dorothy Day The Catholic Worker, May 1980, p. 4. We were just sitting there talking when Peter Maurin came in. We were just sitting there talking when lines of people began to form, saying, “We need bread.” We could … Continue reading →

46 Million Reasons for Health-Care Reform

The moral imperatives for change. by Jim Wallis, John DiIulio Jr., Carol Keehan, E.J. Dionne Jr., Janelle Goetcheus, Rose Marie Berger, Tom Sine, and Arthur Waskow printer-friendly version For the Healing of the Nation: 46 million reasons for health-care reform … Continue reading →

What the Catholic Worker Believes

What the Catholic Worker Believes The Catholic Worker believes in the gentle personalism of traditional Catholicism. The Catholic Worker believes in the personal obligation of looking after the needs of our brother. The Catholic Worker believes in the daily practice … Continue reading →

Power and Struggle

This is a review of The Politics of Nonviolent Action by Gene Sharp from the online Fragments zine: www.fragmentsweb.org/. In part one, Power and Struggle, Sharp discusses the nature of political power, why people obey rulers, the limitations of using … Continue reading →

Fast For Our Future

Letter from the Hunger strikers. For 22 days and nights the stories of our hunger strike have reinforced life and faith. Life and faith are two sides of the same coin. Every night for the last 22 days we gather … Continue reading →

Fasting for Immigrant Justice this Election Season

(Article from Sojourners magazine) by Glen Peterson 11-04-2008 Activists, evangelical Christians, and Catholic Workers have joined in a hunger strike in downtown Los Angeles to expose the plight of immigrants in the United States and to motivate 1 million people … Continue reading →

Change Immigrants and Labor Can Believe In

By David Bacon The Nation, web edition, November 26, 2008 http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081215/bacon?rel=hp_picks Since 2001 the Bush administration has deported more than a million people–including 349,041 individuals in the fiscal year ending just prior to the election. It has resurrected the discredited … Continue reading →

A Vision of Nonviolent Resistance

One morning this past summer I was seated on the back porch of our house, meeting with the nonviolent discussion group for the Center for the Working Poor, when I was seized by a vision of nonviolent resistance that resonated … Continue reading →

The Fast for Our Future and the Future of Our Center

I know it has been a full year since you last received a copy of The Burning Bush, and many of our readers may have been wondering just what we at the Center for the Working Poor have been doing. … Continue reading →

Climate Change and the Crisis for the Poor: Why I am Going to Jail

In a few days, Sam Pullen and I will be going to jail in Washington DC. We are participating in a civil disobedience designed to pressure the government to change from coal to renewable energy. But when I mention to supporters … Continue reading →

Dumpster Diving Interview with Paul Engler

This is a updated video short with a commentary by Paul Engler, founder of Center for the Working Poor. We dubbed his radio interview with 89.3 KPCC FM into the footage that Faith/Activism Collective took at our recent dumpster dive. … Continue reading →

Living Large at the Center for the Working Poor (aka the Burning Bush Community)

Summary: I am still living in an intentional community called the Center for the Working Poor, or the Burning Bush community. Over a year ago, when I said that I was starting a community and a “non-profit organization”–and then started … Continue reading →

The Easy Essays of Peter Maurin Define the Catholic Worker Movement

By Peter Maurin, Co-Founder of the Movement The Law of Holiness “No man can serve two masters, God and Mammon.” “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” “If you want to be perfect sell all you have, give it … Continue reading →

The Works of Mercy

The Works of Mercy are an abiding norm for the Catholic Worker Movement. Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin lived lives of “active love” built on these precepts. In Christian tradition they are. . . The corporal works of mercy: feeding … Continue reading →

Trent’s Burning Bush Article

11/19/07 I was walking down the street the other day here in Los Angeles, and I saw a billboard that stopped me in my tracks. On the bottom was the familiar image of a half-naked couple in an embrace. Above … Continue reading →

How Costly Is Too Costly? Finding the tipping point for Vietnam — and for Iraq

By Mark Engler Published on February 23, 2006 In the center of the CostOfWar.com home page, an upward-racing ticker, presented in a large, red font, keeps a steady tally of the money spent for the U.S. war in Iraq. Every … Continue reading →

It's too hard, too hard' LMU Students Join Hurting Hotel Workers in 'Day of the Dead Tired' Protest March

November 7, 2007 By R. W. Dellinger Rosa Balam, a robust-looking woman, stills wears her name tag from the Westin Hotel. But she hasn’t worked as a housekeeper there for 2 1/2 years, and doesn’t expect to ever work anywhere … Continue reading →

Centering Prayer as Divine Therapy

Father Thomas Keating has devoted a lifetime to understanding and teaching the practice of Centering Prayer. In this conversation, he explores the techniques and the benefits of this modern application of an ancient spiritual discipline. Thomas Keating: Centering Prayer as … Continue reading →

Clayton Update

Hi everyone, On the advice of a great friend I’ve decided to start sending out email updates about my life. If you’ve received this email it means that I like you and that I want to get these updates. Congratulations! … Continue reading →

The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual And Spiritual Origins (Paperback)

by Mark Zwick (Author), Louise Zwick In the 1990s, a prominent American Catholic journal pronounced, “the Catholic Worker movement is dead,” a decade and a half after the death of the movement’s renowned co-founder, Dorothy Day. Such a sweeping declaration … Continue reading →

The Irresistible Revolution (Forward)

Shane Claiborne is a good example of the old adage, “Be careful what you pray for.” Evangelicals like to pray that Christian young people will learn to love Jesus and follow in his steps. Well, that’s exactly what this young … Continue reading →

Bush's Immigration Clampdown

By DAVID BACON [posted online on August 22, 2007] A year ago, in the middle of the nation’s most bitterly fought union organizing drive of the past decade, management at the Smithfield Foods pork slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, North Carolina, … Continue reading →

Preaching the Anti-shopping Gospel

2007-07-15 Los Angeles Times by Erika Hayasaki NEW YORK — Familiar in his clerical collar, cream-colored suit and dyed-blond pompadour, the Rev. Billy has spent much of the last decade parading through the streets of Manhattan, shouting through a megaphone … Continue reading →

Sacred Refuge

With comprehensive immigration reform off the congressional agenda, the New Sanctuary Movement steps into the breach. by Alexia Salvatierra When the immigration agent came to deport Liliana, her 7-year-old son William was confused and furious. “My mama is not a … Continue reading →

Health Care vs. the Profit Principle

By Barbara Ehrenreich, Barbaraehrenreich.com Posted on July 17, 2007, Printed on July 31, 2007 http://www.alternet.org/story/56965/ It’s always nice to see the President take a principled stand on something. The man formerly known as “43,” and now perhaps better named “29” for … Continue reading →

Anti-Poverty Advocates Cheer Minimum Wage Increase

Caitlin G. Johnson – OneWorld US NEW YORK, May 31 (OneWorld) – U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law Congress’ plan for continued war funding last Friday — and with it, an attached proposal to raise the federal minimum wage … Continue reading →

Pay CEOs Less, Minimum Wage Workers More

Published on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 by CommonDreams.org by Holly Sklar Minimum wage workers made $5.15 an hour when Harry Potter became a sensation a decade ago, and nothing more until July 24, three days after the final Harry Potter book … Continue reading →

An Unlivable Minimum

Published on Saturday, July 28, 2007 by The Boston Globe http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/28/2824/ by Derrick Z. Jackson The Democratic presidential candidates were asked in the CNN/YouTube debate if they were willing to work in the White House for the national minimum wage. … Continue reading →

A Brief Introduction to the Catholic Worker Movement

By Tom Cornell The Catholic Worker movement is made up of people motivated by the teachings of Jesus, especially as they are summarized in the Sermon on the Mount, and the teachings of the Catholic Church, in the writings of … Continue reading →

Starting The Center for the Working Poor: Don’t Mess With God’s Crazy Plan

By Paul Engler The Summary I still run the Center for the Working Poor, delivering food to impoverished workers, writing, speaking at churches, and supporting living wage boycotts. While doing this, the House of Representatives passed a law designed to … Continue reading →

The Birth of The Burning Bush: The Center for the Working Poor

BY PAUL ENGLER Our project is called The Burning Bush: Center for the Working Poor, and has a fancy new website which can be reached at: centerfortheworkingpoor.org. We take our biblical name from the unexpected signal God gave Moses to … Continue reading →

Living Wage for All: A Plan for a New Living Wage Movement

A public address by Maria Elena Durazo Ancient prophets like Jesus and those prophets of our time, like Martin Luther King, have each told us, “We will be judged by how we treat the poor.” This is a proclamation so … Continue reading →

Union Maid

-John Lorinc The people who make up your fancy hotel room are invisible, but powerful – now that they’ve realized they can put downtown economies through the wringer Every morning shortly after 6 a.m., Althea Porter leaves her Mississauga home … Continue reading →

The Catholic Worker Movement

This essay was written by Jim Forest on the Catholic Worker Movement for The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History to be published by the Liturgical Press. Jim Forest, once a managing editor of The Catholic Worker, is the author of … Continue reading →

Wal-Mart, Largest Employer of the Working poor, is losing Public Support

Wal-Mart has been closely watched by many corporate leaders that see it as a model for the new Economy: rapid growth, poverty wages, few health benefits, no unions, race and gender discrimination, and the destruction of small family businesses. In … Continue reading →

Living Wage Comes of Age

When the nation’s first living-wage ordinance passed in Baltimore in 1994–a modest measure that improved the earnings of just 1,500 workers–few could have predicted that a powerful national movement would emerge in its wake. In the ensuing seven years, more than sixty municipalities, pushed by coalitions of local activists, have passed living-wage laws… Continue reading →

What's So Bad About A Living Wage?

Paying Above the Minimum Seems To Do More Good Than Harm -Steven V. Brull, Business Week Juana Zatarin lives in a one-bedroom apartment that rumbles whenever a jumbo jet lands at Los Angeles International Airport. But life is looking up … Continue reading →

Wage Warrior

When it comes to getting under the well-tanned skin of the Los Angeles business establishment, no one does the job as efficiently as Madeline Janis-Aparicio. In recent years the 39-year-old mother of three, who heads the city’s Living Wage Coalition, has pressured developers into guaranteeing decent pay and benefits for workers in return for zoning approval and tax breaks. And as a bare-knuckle advocate for tenants’ rights… Continue reading →

We will All Become Pilgrims: 2022 Newsletter Summary

December 19th, 2022

Liminality is a Recipe for Navigating Winter: Becoming a Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago

December 19th, 2022

2022 House Journal

December 19th, 2022

2021 CWP Newsletter Summary

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 →

2021 House Journal

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

Author Archives: Center for the Working Poor