About The Orange County Catholic Worker

We are the Catholic Worker Community of Orange County. Following in the footsteps of the founders of the Catholic Worker Movement, we seek to discover Christ by performing the Corporal Works of Mercy. Isaiah House is dedicated to the poor and marginalized of Orange County.

Our intentional religious community is experimenting with a new model of commitment. Though rooted in Santa Ana, our members include both a live-in community and those who participate in the work and fellowship of the house from across Southern California.

We do not have a program or system here at the Catholic Worker. The guests at our home and the people we serve on the streets are our friends, and we care for them as such. It is our belief that the pain of poverty can only be alleviated by addressing a person’s spiritual needs, as well as their material needs - we provide both food and friendship. Each person that we engage with is treated as an individual, with unique needs, challenges, gifts, experiences, and hopes. This model of building personal relationships in the community allows us to be more effective as advocates and servants of the poor.

It is our belief that poverty and homelessness are part of a broader societal illness: we do not, as a society, love our neighbors and care for them as Christ commanded us. Our faith demands that we bear witness and speak truth to those in power who would heap further injustice on our poor neighbors, in addition to our service work. To that end, we regularly engage in legal and political advocacy work on behalf of our friends.