Catholic adults, young and old, single and married -- sometimes even with children -- are living in small Christian communities in cities and towns across the country.  This may be something that you are interested in too.  Community living is a challenge -- both to establish and to maintain -- but the results might be just what you are looking for.  Often you can find other interested parties among former volunteers in your community (either through the Pallotti Centers Network, through your volunteer program, or through advertisements in the local Catholic paper).  Once you have found a group, you need to make some crucial decisions together.  It is very important that you set ground rules and make certain decisions before you move in together.  Although misunderstandings will still arise, discussing some issues beforehand could make things much easier in the long run. Issues worth discussing include:

• Division of household tasks
• Communication
• Common meals? 
• Guests, new members
• Common prayer? 
• Other house rules & ways to discuss them if problems arise.
• Affiliation with some religious community? 
• Community time
• Bills, finances

Needless to say you can think of other issues to be raised -- issues which came up for you as a volunteer.  You need to also take into account some of the things which were already handled for you by those in charge of your program.

Alternatives also are available.  You may find such a community already exists.  In this case, it is still important to discuss the same issues with members of the community -- interview your community at least as carefully as you would a new job.

One such community that may already exist in your town is a Catholic Worker House.  Founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, the Catholic Worker Movement has loosely-affiliated communities across the country.  They are usually listed under "Catholic Worker" in the white pages.  For more information see The Catholic Worker website, which has a directory of the Catholic Worker locations throughout the U.S. and overseas.