The time that passed between the original idea and the eventual founding of the Erie Catholic Worker was relatively short--about three years. It all began when a few members of the Gannon University student group Voice for Peace, moved by their converging convictions of faith and social justice and inspired by the profound life witness of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, first discussed the idea of an Erie Catholic Worker community in the summer of 2003. Gannon students Matt Ochalek, Jess Morgan (now Ochalek), Sarah Sunseri, and Robert Saper initially met to discuss the possibilities and the obstacles, not least of which were finding and financing a suitable house and identifying areas of greatest need in the Erie community. Lack of a clear path forward, along with the uncertainties of post-graduate life, left the brainstorming session and discussion in the air.

However, the idea of founding a Catholic Worker community continued strongly in the minds of Matt and Jess (who later married in July 2005). Shortly after the initial brainstorm and discussion, they shared their dream with Anne McCarthy, OSB, of the Erie Benedictine Sisters, who at the time worked as the Director of the Center for Social Concerns at Gannon University. Anne became an enthusiastic supporter of the vision and began to float her own suggestions, which in terms of service and location pointed to Erie's east side. The Erie Benedictine Sisters, most notably Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB, had been initiating community projects in the diverse and delapidated neighborhood around the intersection of E. 22nd and Ash Streets for a number of years. W