CHARLESTON — Hedwig Haus of Hospitality, a Catholic Worker House, will soon open at 227 Jackson Ave. in Charleston. The two-story brick residence, which has five bedrooms and three bathrooms, will provide women and children in need with a place to live. Three young people will eventually also live there to provide guests hospitality. Steve Joebgen, an EIU graduate, is living at the house, during the renovation work, and taking an active part in getting it ready for guests.
"The realization there was a need for such a ministry in Charleston is born out of our experience in the St. Vincent de Paul Society of walking with the poor," said Roy Lanham, director of the Eastern Illinois University Newman Center, and a Haus board member.
Tough questions from students about the plight of poor people in the community and what was being done to help them, triggered Lanham and other St. Vincent Society members to ask the questions: "Accompany the poor? What more can we do?"
"We do get a lot of calls about single mothers with children who need a place to stay," Lanham said.
Then an Eastern Illinois University faculty member made a financial gift. "It became seed money," Lanham said. "A year ago on Labor Day a generous second gift arrived — $100,000. That made it real. We formed a board, and held our first meeting last November."
The Catholic Worker Movement was founded in the depths of the Great Depression by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. Catholic Workers live a simple lifestyle in community. Their service is grounded in a firm belief in the God-given dignity of every human person.
Today 217 Catholic Worker communities are scattered throughout the country. Illinois has seven: Clare House of Hospitality, Bloomington; Emmaus House of Hospitality, Lake Zurich; Peoria Catholic Worker House, Peoria; St. Jude Catholic Worker House, Champaign; St. Marcelus Catholic Worker Houses for Homeless and St. Isidore Catholic Worker Cottage, Kane; and Su Casa Catholic Worker Community and White Rose Catholic Worker, Chicago.
"After months of planning, fund raising and a fair share of hands-on work, Charleston will soon have a place available," says Lanham. "It is exciting and a bit scary as we make this step in faith. But through the intercession of Dorothy, Peter and our patron St. Hedwig, we know this house will be a light for those in need and a witness to justice."
Terry Coulton helped show a team of reporters from Catholic Times around the house.
"I've been involved in this from the beginning and am aware of the needs in the community. Often times we might give $100 toward paying a person's rent. But now that we have a house they will actually be able to reside with us, and learn how to budget their money," she said
St. Charles Borromeo parishioners and others in the Charleston community have donated items for the house, as have parishioners from Immaculate Conception Parish in Mattoon, Coulton said.
On Oct. 16, the feast day of St. Hedwig, the Hedwig Haus of Hospitality will be dedicated.