Jan 6, 2017

Photos and text by Barbara Haddock Taylor

: John Harrison of Baltimore eats lunch at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: This is Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by Catholic Worker husband and wife team Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Volunteer Carol Rosen of Bowie, center, talks in the kitchen with a guest at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by Catholic Worker husband and wife team Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham. Ms. Rosen, who has been volunteering for around 10 years, bakes hundreds of cookies a week for the guests. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Jerry-Daniel Lewis, left, talks with Willa Bickham, right, on the front steps of Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by Catholic Worker husband and wife team Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Carol Rosen of Bowie places packages of cookies on a table in one of the dining rooms at Viva House. She has volunteered at Viva House for around 10 years, baking several hundred cookies a week and serving the guests. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Left to right: Volunteers Carol Rosen of Bowie, Nancy Connell of Severna Park, Willa Bickham of Baltimore, Pete Naughton of Baltimore, Steve Strausbaugh of Baltimore, Mike Chovonec of Baltimore. Volunteers work in the kitchen to get ready to serve guests at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen. Today’s meal of lasagna was prepared by chefs from Gertrude’s Restaurant at the Baltimore Museum of Art. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Brendan Walsh hands a ticket to a guest at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by he and his wife Willa Bickham, who are Catholic Workers. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: A guest holds his ticket for lunch at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by Catholic Worker husband and wife team Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham. This afternoon, around 130 people were served a meal. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Left to right: Reginald Simms, Carolyn Epps and John Harrison of Baltimore have an afternoon meal at Viva House. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Volunteers Carol Rosen of Bowie, left, and Nancy Connell of Severna Park, right, sing a sea shanty as they work in the kitchen at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by Catholic Worker husband and wife team Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham. Ms. Rosen bakes several hundred cookies per week to give to guests at Viva House. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Chris Brittain of Baltimore eats lunch at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by Catholic Worker husband and wife team Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Brendan Walsh, right, greets a guest at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that he founded 49 years ago along with his wife Willa Bickham. They are part of the Catholic Worker movement. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Brendan Walsh, left, talks with volunteer Lia Purpura, right, at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by he and his wife Willa Bickham. Ms. Purpura is a poet and writer in residence at UMBC. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Brother Tom Trager, left, a volunteer, talks with Willa Bickham, right, in the kitchen at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by Ms. Bickham and her husband Brendan Walsh. They are part of hte Catholic Worker movement. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Brendan Walsh looks into the yard from a door at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by he and his wife Willa Bickham, who are part of the Catholic Worker movement. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Doug Retzler of Ellicott City, right, a volunteer at Viva House, puts a plate together during lunch. Viva House is a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by Catholic Worker husband and wife team Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Brendan Walsh locks the gate after serving around 130 meals in an afternoon at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen that was founded 49 years ago by he and his wife Willa Bickham, who are part of the Catholic Worker movement. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Brendan Walsh, left, and his wife Willa Bickham, right, stand in one of the dining rooms at Viva House, a West Baltimore soup kitchen they founded 49 years ago. They are part of the Catholic Worker movement. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

“I love it. It’s a blessing,” says Tyrone Black, a resident of southwest Baltimore, as he enjoys a hearty casserole while chatting with a friend in one of the dining rooms at Viva House, a soup kitchen at 26 S. Mount Street.

Viva House was founded in 1968 by Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham, a husband and wife team who are part of the Catholic Worker movement. For nearly 50 years, with the help of dozens of dedicated volunteers, they serve hundreds of nourishing meals every Wednesday and Thursday in an atmosphere of friendship and dignity.

The world outside the soup kitchen can be harsh and unforgiving, but inside Viva House, visitors find hospitality, love and acceptance.

“It is amazing that even after almost half a century we are still standing. Often people ask ‘has your work been successful?’ The simple answer is that we have not achieved success the way most people define it. However, we have not given up our hope. That is our success,” said Brendan Walsh.

(For more information on Viva House and their neighborhood, Brendan and Willa have chronicled their experience in a book called “The Long Loneliness In Baltimore: Stories Along the Way”)

Viva House, a Baltimore blessing for almost half a century

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