|

2022 House Journal


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 go it’s hard to even keep track.

Garrett Allen, after being part of the community for half a year, with his partner Hanna, became interested in becoming a Center for the Working Poor Fellow—living in voluntary simplicity, and working full-time with the Center. He has since become an important part of our work, doing everything from administration to writing for our project to create a 12-step program for everyone, which we’re calling False Selves Anonymous. He’s also been enthusiastic about embracing our grand integral project of mixing deep personal transformation work with activism and organizing, and has gone to many meditation retreats, Landmark Forum, and communities of personal transformation while working with us this year. Garrett has inspired us to take our program of spiritual and personal transformation seriously. 

Paul Engler, after Covid in 2021 put a damper on the traveling, consulting, and training that he would normally do, this year has returned to a busy travel schedule. His work over the last 12 months has included two separate strategy retreats in Boston with Ayni Institute and his work partner Carlos Saavedra, a writing retreat with his brother Mark, two trainings with a group of primarily people of color Christian evangelicals called Surge, in Phoenix, two trips to New York City to visit friends and family, where he stayed with his good friend Eric Stoner, a co-founder and editor of Waging Nonviolence, a trip to Spain for the Spanish book launch of This is An Uprising, and one week on the Camino de Santiago with his older brother Francis and his younger cousin Nathan Kiker, a long week reconnecting with friends and family in the Oakland area, and a week at a Trappist monastery in South Carolina with his New Monastic group. In short,  this year Paul has been able to reconnect to many of the communities throughout the U.S. that have been a great source of nourishment for him.

Sally Taylor, the most recent addition to our community, came to us from Chicago having been the hub leader for Sunrise Movement there. When she got here she instantly picked up a job being a leader with UNITE HERE Local 11’s political campaign, running a canvass team and later becoming a worker organizer at LAX airport. She has since left that position and is taking some time to recuperate and discern next steps. She brings a wonderful, loving energy to the house.

Danielle Raskin is still working at Yeastie Boys bagel truck and eagerly recruiting people in large groups to go to the Korean spa and soak in our backyard inflatable hot tub. Danielle still cultivates a large network of friends who live close to the house, from both her student activist days at Occidental College and IfNotNow. She’s still a leader among her friends, and plans many activities, including recruiting people to go to the picket line to support her friend Abhilasha who has been out on strike as a grad student at UCLA for the past month. 

Judy and Brandon have been coming by on occasion to participate in our house meal plan, and they make a mean homemade mac and cheese. Brandon’s been expanding his career as an artist and making art independent from his job as Shop Coordinator at an architecture university. Judy Esber has been working diligently to help women, especially women of color, to achieve financial freedom through one-on-one advisement and community-building around personal finance. Judy has been very invested in the lives of her family who she grew up with in Los Angeles. When not working or with their family they love camping with friends in the many beautiful mountains and deserts outside of Los Angeles. 

Finally, I am grateful to report that it seems that we actually like each other! And we share a deep desire to have some collective activities together, which recently included bowling at Shatto Lanes and a great ongoing debate as to which Netflix show we should watch together, which has recently shifted from Naked and Afraid to White Lotus. And all of this has been done with very busy and conflicting schedules, while providing hospitality to a stream of guests throughout the year.

From all of us here at the Center for the Working Poor, we wish you a Happy New Year. May your year be full of the gifts of community and connection, delicious meals, prophetic callings, and hopefully plenty of time in an inflatable hot tub.

This entry was posted in Featured Articles in Sidebar, Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.


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

2022 House Journal

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

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

“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