A house of hospitality or hospitality house, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, is an organization to provide

shelter Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger. Shelter may also refer to: Places * Port Shelter, Hong Kong * Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations * Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...

, and often food and clothing, to those who need it. Originally part of the

Catholic Worker Movement The Catholic Worker Movement is a collection of autonomous communities of Catholics and their associates founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in the United States in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus ...

, houses of hospitality have been run by other organizations, including organizations that are not Catholic or Christian. Founded on principals of

Christian anarchism Christian anarchism is a Christian movement in political theology that claims anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels. It is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answ ...

, the houses provide hospitality without charge and without requiring religious practice or attendance at services. A variety known as a hospital hospitality house is for families displaced due to medical issues of a family member, and is often located near a medical center.

History

During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Dorothy Day Dorothy Day (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and anarchist who, after a bohemian youth, became a Catholic without abandoning her social and anarchist activism. She was perhaps the best-known ...

's Catholic Worker Movement (CWM) was concerned with the plight of the homeless. In 1933, the CWM opened the first House of Hospitality for women in New York. It could accommodate fifteen women, and it had heating and hot water. “The rent was paid by contributions from working girls in the parish of the Immaculate Conception Church, girls who themselves lived in cold water flats.”

Houses of hospitality

Hospitality House Hospitality House (aka Central City Hospitality House) is a house of hospitality-type center that serves the homeless and poor of San Francisco, specifically those of the Tenderloin district of the city, where it is located. At a drop-in day cente ...

in San Francisco *

Blanchet House Blanchet House is a non-profit social services organization located in Portland, Oregon providinmeals transitional shelter, drug and alcohol recovery programs, and support services to those struggling with homelessness and addiction. As a House o ...

of Hospitality (Portland, Oregon) *

Joe Hill House The Joe Hill House was a Catholic Worker Movement house of hospitality in Salt Lake City, Utah co-founded in 1961 by Ammon Hennacy and Mary Lathrop. Providing social services and housing to the homeless, the Joe Hill House operated until 1968. ...

* St. Joseph's House of Hospitality (Pittsburgh) *

Ruth Meiers Hospitality House The Ruth Meiers Hospitality House, Inc. is a shelter for the homeless located in Bismarck, North Dakota. It was founded in 1987 and is named after Ruth Meiers, the first woman Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota. The first home was leased from H ...

* Little Mary's Hospitality House

References

Anarchist theory Catholic social teaching Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph History of Catholicism in the United States {{RC-stub