After graduating from St. Thomas, Karen Zimny moved into a four-bedroom house with 20 other people. Her housemates are another St. Thomas alumnae and 19 Latin American immigrants.

The house is called Casa Guadalupana, a project that provides temporary housing for Latin Americans. Zimny and alumnae Mary Saunders help them find jobs and housing, and provide a gathering place for the neighborhood for intellectual discussion, prayer and learning.

“I just knew about the house through word of mouth, and I wanted to fill my need to be a volunteer,” Zimny said of her decision to volunteer at the house.

Casa Guadalupana is a Catholic Worker House at 655 State St. in St. Paul. Theology professor Terrence Nichols, who owns the house, turned it into a Catholic Worker House in 1998. The Catholic Worker Tradition was started in the 1950s by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, and has helped people as it has grown. There are houses like Casa Guadalupana all over the United States.

Zimny and Saunders said they “keep the peace” and make sure that enough food is in the house for all of its families.

Current St. Thomas students also are involved with Casa Guadalupana. It became a Volunteers In Action site in 2000, and Deborah Ruddy’s Theology of the Catholic Worker Movement class will volunteer there in the spring.

The VIA program at St. Thomas has sent groups of volunteer students every week to help rake leaves in the yard and clean the gutters. Students have volunteered to help tutor the residents in English and help their children with homework.

An assistant director of VIA, Andrea Pearson, decided to volunteer at the house because one of her friends lived there.

“The house really depends on volunteers and donations,” Pearson said.

Saunders took the Catholic Worker Movement class when she was a student and learned about Dorothy Day’s philosophy.

“I appreciate the philosophy that the Catholic Worker Movement embodies,” Saunders said.

She enjoys working with the residents. One of the hardest parts of volunteering there for her is seeing the families move out after their three-month stay is over.

“Its hard to see them go but also exciting to see them get on their feet and see their kids do well in school,” Saunders said. “It’s a stepping stone.”

Although the volunteers at Casa Guadalupana are primarily St. Thomas students and employees, St. Thomas does not sponsor the house.

St. Thomas students volunteer at the house because they have heard about it from friends, Pearson said.

“The house has a radical Catholic message to it, and there are also a lot of people here who do, too,” she said. “It makes sense that they should gravitate in that direction. Casa Guadalupana is not, however, a branch of St. Thomas.”

Pearson would not like to see the house sponsored by St. Thomas.

“Any ties to an institution would throw off the founding philosophy of [the Catholic Worker Tradition],” Pearson said.

Zimny agreed, saying: “We are striving not to be sponsored by the university. We truly appreciate all the help that St. Thomas gives, and it is a very beneficial relationship, but the Catholic Worker Tradition is a singular identity in itself and doesn’t seek to have anyone support it.”

The house has monthly events that include music and discussion. All are open to the public. Some November events include Music Night on Nov. 4, Roundtable with Andrea Bartoli on Nov. 11 and a Guatemalan speaker on Nov. 18. For more information, call (651) 298-9988.

“The house is always looking for volunteers,” Pearson said, “and anybody who has a commitment to justice is going to find this place interesting.”