Modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances and open shelving near Los Angeles beach.

Su Casa Catholic Worker Community

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Social
  • Urban

Founding year

  • 1990

What we do

Su Casa provides a healing and safe environment for families who need food, shelter, and a link to services to prepare them for independent living. Through our community soup kitchen, urban farm and wildlife habitat, playground, and activities, we grow to know our immediate neighbors.
We engage the public in social justice issues related to our work through our quarterly newsletter, presentations, and Plunge Group live-in experiences. Following the Catholic Worker tradition, we are committed to living a simple, nonviolent lifestyle, living with the poor, and fostering justice in our neighborhood and community. As community members, volunteers are expected to live the Catholic Worker lifestyle, assist with what is needed, and be active members of the live-in community life.

Our Mission

SU CASA is a house of hospitality and intentional community rooted in the Catholic Worker tradition and located in the heart of Back of the Yards, Chicago. We seek to establish a community and society rooted in simplicity, free of violence, and abounding in love.

  • Purpose
  • Social
  • Community type
  • Coliving
  • Commune
  • Activities
  • Experiences
  • Networking

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 1990
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 1990
  • Started living together
  • 5 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
6

Basic expectations or agreements for members

We are a house of hospitality and will welcome visitors if they call or email in advance.

Primary decision-making authority

  • Small Leadership Group

A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.

Decision-making process

  • Full Consensus

Everyone must agree before moving forward.

Governance structure

  • Collaborative/Horizontal

Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.

Economic model

  • Partial Income-Sharing

Members contribute a percentage of income to community funds.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • There is a labor obligation

Additional economic information

Labor: Yes
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Large Scale Kitchen, Fire pit, Swingsets & play areas, Gym or sports area, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • 2-5 times per week

Dietary type

  • Vegetarian Only

Dietary restriction

  • People can cook and eat what they want in their own residence

Community activities and engagement

  • Volunteer, Internship, or Apprenticeship, or WWOOF’ing
  • Organization, Resource, or Network
  • Festivals, Conferences, Events

Substance use culture

  • Substance use is frequent and public in the community
  • Substance use occurs primarily at celebrations or ceremonies
  • Religions
  • Christian
  • Buddhist
  • Wiccan, Paganism, or Earth Religions

Gender composition

  • Roughly balanced (no group over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Multi-generational (all ages well represented)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By a Community Land Trust or some other kind of nonprofit

Setting

  • Urban

Within city limits with access to urban amenities and infrastructure.

Community type

  • Coliving

    Shared living spaces with private bedrooms/bathrooms and communal
    kitchens, dining, and social areas.

  • Commune

    Communal living with shared resources, property, and often income or work responsibilities

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • Up to 33%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Greenhouse / aquaponics
  • Land area size
    2 acres

Guest Book

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Location

  • Illinois, United States

Su Casa Catholic Worker Community

Needs and Offers

Offer
  • Communities with Openings
2 months ago

Community House in SE Portland Seeks Membership!

Ellis Street Community House is seeking kind, present, and engaged new housemates with experience in community living. We are currently 3 adults, one baby, and two cats living in a 6 bedroom, 3 bath house on ÂĽ acre of land near Powell Butte nature park and the Springwater Corridor bike trail. We expect to be joined by a shy and sweet 2 year old in the next few months. For us, living in community is a collaborative process, one that helps improve our quality of life. We’re able to eat great food, keep the place clean, maintain a garden, and hold a space large enough to host guests and events by working together. We have an extensive community library and art/craft material collection, as well as a great tea selection, stocked pantry, and functional kitchens ready for feast-making, canning, and fermentation dreams. We make kombucha, ginger beer, sauerkraut, bone broth, natto, and apple/pear butter on a rotating basis. With two fridges and two deep freezers we can save blueberries and blackberries we harvested from close by and get meat directly from farmers. We hold potlucks and other events like bonfires and game nights about once a month, and make a house dinner together weekly. We maintain a home free from artificial fragrances and voice-activated technology. The larger downstairs room is available for $740 per month. The smaller downstairs room will be available for $600 per month starting on September 1rst. The main kitchen is on the second floor. We also have private outdoor space for someone sleeping in their home on wheels available for $200-500 per month depending on the size of the vehicle. This would include membership in the community and use of the common spaces. Guest space is available for friends and relatives of residents – upstairs there is an office/guest room for longer visits, and the couches/pads in the common areas are available for shorter stays. The home has heating and cooling through an efficient heat pump, and we ju

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An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).

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