A new documentary film, Dorothy’s Way, shines light on the services and successes Berkeley’s Dorothy Day House offers. Founded in 1992, with UC Berkeley as a partner, DDH began serving breakfast to unsheltered people in People’s Park. It was named in honor of journalist and activist Dorothy Day, who dedicated her working life, from the labor movement of the 1920s through the Vietnam War era, to helping people in need. Human services, civil rights, women’s rights, antiwar activism and the labor movement comprised a few of her causes. Day co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement, and created “Hospitality House,” the first shelter model providing both food and clothing to those in need in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Christy Mack consults for DDH, and co-produced the approximately 40-minute documentary. “What I learned [while making the film] is that Dorothy Day House is having success because they focus on treating each person as a person, building relationships and trust,” she said. DDH staff and counselors “talk to people about what their goals are, what they want their outcomes to be,” Mack said. The organization offers a period of respite, during which time people seeking help can rest before focusing on what they need to do. It has an incredible success rate, she said. A documentary, she said, is the perfect way to highlight DDH’s work. “[DDH] is serving 550 people who are experiencing homelessness … more than half of Berkeley’s total homeless population,” she said. The film was produced in partnership with Berkeley Community Media, and funded by the UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Grant Fund. With all the publicity surrounding the vast sums California spends to address homelessness, many wonder why people are still sleeping on benches. Mack interviewed more than 10 people “who are working day in and day out to reverse homelessness,” she said, as well as university administrators and professors. Mack also interviewed city officials, including Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín, as well as three formerly unsheltered people, who, through working with DDH, are now established in their own apartments. The film also features a new DDH initiative, “Dorothy’s Closet,” a retail thrift shop created by Rebuilding Together East Bay North and DDH for the benefit of Berkeley’s homeless community. “We would like as many people as possible to see the film, as a possible grants tool for cities to see how elements of the community can come together and have an impact,” Mack said. While the number of unsheltered people continues to rise in many California cities, “in Berkeley, it is decreasing,” she said. David Flores, executive director of Berkeley Community Media, co-produced, directed and edited Dorothy’s Way. His organization is housed in the Maudelle Shirek Building in downtown Berkeley, and he passes homeless encampments there every day. He became aware of the work DDH was doing by seeing its winter shelter operating out of the same building. That drew him to DDH as early as 2019, he said. The idea crystallized in 2021, when the UC grant came through. Creating the documentary took more than two years. During the course of filming Flores became aware of the diversity in the unsheltered population, including the startling number of students in community and state colleges and universities who couch surf but are effectively homeless. He also became aware that the “landscape of the issue is constantly changing. There is no ‘one-stop-shop’ to solve it.” But like Mack and those interviewed in Dorothy’s Way, he pointed to the ongoing partnerships in Berkeley among city, university and nonprofit organizations as vital to the success in helping people transition from homelessness. He would like to see the film used as a guide by other cities and communities struggling to address homelessness, as well as a tool for supporting the Dorothy Day House. The video can be accessed at berkeleycommunitymedia.vhx.tv/products. BCM asks for a small donation, if possible, which will go to DDH, which depends largely on donor support. For more information on Dorothy Day House, visit dorothydayhouse.org.