Laura and Steve Brown founded Casa Alma in 2009 and have served as resident volunteers since that time. Developing a community and houses of hospitality on an urban homestead is our way of answering the call to love others as we love ourselves. We are inspired by our formation in the Catholic faith and by the words of Dorothy Day, a co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement who said, “I wanted life and I wanted the abundant life. I wanted it for others too” (from The Long Loneliness).
Prior to founding Casa Alma, Steve and Laura served as Maryknoll Lay Missioners (class of ’05), and lived in Talca, Chile along with their three children: Emily, Anna and Ella. Steve is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (’95), and Laura is a graduate of Swarthmore College (’95), and the University of Connecticut School of Social Work (’97). Steve and Laura have the common hope of living in right relationships with God, among people and with the natural world.
Craig Green and Cleo Keller joined Casa Alma as resident volunteers in July, 2019. They hail from the intentional communities movement and have been embracing simple living in harmony and connection with others for most of their adult lives. For many years, they have been practicing their ministry of community song sharing, seeing music as medicine, as a path to the divine.
Previous resident volunteers include: Hunter Link, Claire and Christine Hitchins, and Sarah Frazer. We are deeply grateful for their contributions to the Casa Alma community!