Our Origin Story

We started off in an apartment building on Dorchester Ave near the University of Chicago in 1993. By the second year, membership had grown to six and we rented the basement as well.

During these early years, we established our routines:

• twice-weekly community nights when we eat together, discuss business, have fun, and share spirituality

• twice-yearly weekend retreats out of town to bond and develop our goals and structures

• parties and celebrations

• new member move-in over the summer or early Fall

• shared chores

Diversity crept in organically. For the first 5-6 years, new members came through the same volunteer program, but a few men married in or joined, then non-Catholics, and then strangers. Eventually, children were born in the house and residents aged, increasing the age range and life experiences.

Move to Quaker House

We moved to nearby Quaker House in 2000 when the 57th Street Meeting of Friends sought a new use for their meeting house on Woodlawn Ave.

We found that we had similar values of social justice, spirituality, simple living, and hospitality, and both parties have benefited from the arrangement.

With the move to Quaker House, we took on responsibility for managing a small guest business and maintaining a large and lovely house in a prime Hyde Park Location.

Read more of our history.