Trust me when I tell you we have thought, prayed, and discussed plenty when it comes to whether to incorporate or not as a government recognized Non-Profit. We’ve heard it all, that we’ll never receive big donations, that it’ll be harder than it needs to be, that we’ll never be able to become a big organization. But we have to come to the decision, in this moment and for the needs of those we are trying to serve, to refuse to incorporate as a 501(c)3 Non-Profit.
Dorothy Day was an adamant opponent to the Catholic Worker incorporating. She believed that the Federal Government did not have the authority to say who could and couldn’t perform the Works of Mercy. Not filing with the IRS also allowed the Worker to avoid paying Federal war taxes.
We at the Romero Catholic Worker stand by Dorothy’s resistance. We also know that incorporating as a Non-Profit does not guarantee that the money will be spent on the poor. Occasionally, donations are funneled into CEOs pockets and stuffed into retirement accounts long before reaching the needy.
At the Catholic Worker there are no salaries. We have chosen to live amongst the poor, eating the same food, wearing the same clothes, living in the same house. We believe that we are called to live out a life of charity without asking anything in return, and we ask our potential supporters to do the same.
We understand that not offering tax exemption will dissuade some donors from giving the Catholic Worker their money and that is alright. We believe that all money is in God’s hands and that He will provide for the lowly either way. We also assure that every penny we receive will be distributed fairly to the poor.
Rest assured that even though we aren’t classified as a Non-Profit Organization by the Federal Government, we are very much still non-profit. As Catholic Workers we do not receive salaries or benefits. We do what we do because we believe it is our personal responsibility to love our poor brothers and sisters. We are not an organization, we are an organism, as Peter Maurin liked to say. We are grateful for any and all support we receive and we promise to have complete transparency when it comes to how our funds are used.
To be our brother’s keeper
Peter Maurin, Easy Essays
is what God wants us to do.
To feed the hungry
at a personal sacrifice
is what God wants us to do.
To clothe the naked
at a personal sacrifice
is what God wants us to do.
To shelter the homeless
at a personal sacrifice
is what God wants us to do.