News

The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, U.S.-Ontario Province join with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other organizations outraged at today’s announcement, in expressing our deep sadness and disappointment that President Trump chose to discontinue protection of our 800,000 Dreamers through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

While we understand that Congress has several other tasks to attend to this session, because the window of opportunity is limited to six months, we urge Congress to take steps immediately to pass the bipartisan Dream Act of 2017. The Dreamers are integral to our society as members of our families, our neighbors, our students and friends. How can we stand by and watch them be expelled, banished to countries foreign to them? They are talented teachers in our schools, competent and compassionate caregivers in our retirement communities, our colleagues and employees. It is impossible to imagine our schools, local hotels, restaurants and businesses, our healthcare systems, armed services and first responders in emergencies without their leadership and skilled commitment.

Will we simply turn our heads in the face of another blatant decision supporting racism?

We strongly encourage all people committed to justice and respect for and love of neighbor to contact your congresspersons to urge them to ensure that the Dream Act of 2017 becomes law, write letters to editors and also join with others in prayer services and in local demonstrations in support of the 800,000 Dreamers and the Dream Act of 2017.

As Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary of the US Ontario Province, a community of over 430 Catholic women religious, we are committed to respect for every person and justice for all.  As Christian citizens we are outraged by what occurred in Charlottesville, VA last weekend and dismayed by the menacing comments, violence, physical attacks and senseless loss of life perpetrated by the racist rally.

We appreciate the leadership shown by the statements of the mayor and governor in response to the event.

We call on our president, and all leaders, to exert moral leadership by refraining from hateful and discriminatory speech and actions.

We join our prayers with those of other concerned citizens and members of many faiths in opposition to this violent action, so contrary to the values of our nation.  We urge all to work for the healing and reconciliation taught and lived by Jesus and so necessary for peace and justice in our country.

Nearly 60 students received diplomas or GED certificates as Next Step Learning Center celebrated its graduation and National Adult Honor Society induction on July 27 in Oakland, CA. It was an especially satisfying day for the two Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary who co-directed the center for more than two decades.

Sisters Cynthia Canning and Rosemary Delaney were among those who applauded the graduates, who included eight community college graduates, and the nine students who were inducted into the honor society. “It was wonderful to witness this milestone for people who have most likely never been recognized before for any accomplishment. They have demonstrated true grit and stayed the course,” they said.

L-R: Sister Rosemary Delaney, NSLC graduate Cha’Shonn and Sister Cynthia Canning.

One student named Cha’Shonn said, “I left Next Step but came back; I left again, but came back; I left again and came back and stayed, got my GED, just earned my AA at Merritt Community College, and am enrolled at San Francisco State where I will start in August.”

“The spirit of Next Step got inside of me and carried me through to earn my GED and finish what I started to do at many other programs,” said another student. A third student commented, “Being at Next Step is about more than reading and studies; it’s about continuing on with your life path after getting off track.” And a fourth student added, “There are angels at Next Step who work with you as tutors.”

Melinda, who is a long-time Next Step volunteer, shared these thoughts: “Couldn’t you tell from the crowded parking lot and balloons that we were about to experience a wonderful afternoon? As soon as I parked my car, I began to see graduates posing for photos in their caps and gowns, grinning despite themselves. Inside the gym was another story: live music from the guitar and drums duo, little kids, seniors, even infants all there to witness a grad, tutors galore and Next Step staff. I found one of the few remaining empty chairs and sat between a woman whose fiancé was graduating and another woman who was cheering for two nephews. The formal program began with Elgar’s familiar ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ as the graduates marched in. From then on, we were treated to wise words from Next Step staff, words of support and encouragement and pride in all that had been accomplished. Interspersed, as noted on the program, were prepared speeches by selected students. Their sentiments were echoed, one after another, by the graduates. I couldn’t count how many versions of ‘thankful,’ ‘patience,’ ‘persistence’ and ‘supported’ were expressed. Not surprisingly, those very same descriptors seemed to fit many in the crowd, tutors included. Next Step rocked!”

The Sisters of the Holy Names founded Next Step as an adult literacy program in 1994 to address the high dropout rate in Oakland. It brings together participants pursuing educational and life goals with more than 70 volunteer tutors. Sisters Cynthia and Rosemary led the center until last year, when Lisa Stringer became its executive director.

Dr. Anne Brooks, a Holy Names Sister and osteopathic physician whose ministry among poor patients in rural Tutwiler, MS spans more than 30 years.

We, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, are members of an international community of Catholic women religious, 425 of whom are United States citizens living and ministering in California, Oregon, Washington, Mississippi, Florida, Maryland, Michigan and New York. We are committed to “the full development of the human person” through education, social justice and collaboration with others in programs that promote systemic change to protect the human rights of individuals and communities. We were appalled by the facts from the Congressional Budget Office regarding the effects of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed by the House of Representatives last month. We want the Senate to be aware of our distress that the Act goes against the principles and values of our country, our Christian beliefs and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal “to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, under the AHCA:

• 23 million Americans would become uninsured.
• Medicaid would be cut by $834 billion and 14 million low-income and disabled Americans would lose Medicaid coverage.
• Low-income senior citizens could see premium increases as high as 800% while the richest Americans would see their premiums drop, plus enjoy a multi-billion-dollar tax cut over 10 years.
• Current funding levels will cover only 110,000 individuals of the 2.2 million ACA enrollees with a pre-existing chronic condition at present.
• Cost of maternity care could also increase by thousands of dollars since the abolished ACA provided prenatal and pediatric care to 9.5 million previously uninsured women.
• States could drop coverage for those needing mental health and substance abuse care.

We want the Senate to take a firm hand in correcting the House’s law and to create a new Act that respects the dignity of every American, provides for those who are the poorest and most vulnerable and does not favor the wealthy with special privileges at the expense of mentally or chronically ill persons.

We urge all Senators as strong and principled leaders to recall and be guided by the January 18, 2017 statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops: “…all people and every family must be able to see clearly how they fit within and access the health care system in a way that truly meets their needs,” emphasizing that “health care should be truly universal and genuinely affordable.”

While working on the Senate Health Care Bill, we urge the Senate also to develop a law that embodies Pope Francis’ statement of May 7, 2016: “Health, indeed, is not a consumer good, but a universal right which means that access to healthcare services cannot be a privilege.”

Students in an adult education class at Adelante Mujeres, an SNJM-supported organization in rural Oregon that empowers Latina women and their families with education, skills workshops and microenterprise programs. Photo courtesy of www.adelantemujeres.org.

The five leaders of the U.S.-Ontario Province of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary have mailed a letter to all Catholic members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives asking them to help rescind recent executive orders affecting immigrants to the United States. Below is the text of the letter.

As the Provincial Leadership Team of the U.S.-Ontario Province of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, an international congregation of more than 1,000 Catholic Sisters and Associates, we reject the executive orders of President Donald Trump on immigration.

The January 25, 2017 executive order 13768 entitled “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” is antithetical to the U.S. tradition of welcoming immigrants, the Christian Scriptures, and Catholic Social teaching. Our faith calls us to welcome the stranger and to love our neighbor. Two sections of the order are particularly egregious to us:

Section 5: Enforcement priorities expands broadly those who are considered a deportation priority with no regard to their length of time in the United States, family situation, or contribution to the U.S. economy. For many immigrants from south of our border their only disobeying of U.S. law is entering our country without documentation.

Sections 7 and 8: Additional Enforcement and Removal Officers and Federal-State Agreements call for the hiring of 10,000 additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The power of these agents is expanded to allow them to determine the level of threat of the persons they detain. Individual agents have little accountability to higher levels of authority for their judgments. Also, contrary to long-standing practice, state and local law enforcement personnel are now ordered to perform the functions of ICE agents.

We agree with Bishop Joseph S. Vasquez, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, about the harms of this executive order:

“… (It) eliminates important protections for vulnerable populations, including unaccompanied children and asylum seekers…. (It) constitutes the establishment of a large-scale enforcement system that targets virtually all undocumented migrants as ‘priorities’ for deportation…

The engagement of local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law can undermine public safety by making many who live in immigrant communities fearful of cooperating with local law enforcement in both reporting and investigating criminal matters.”

We call on the U.S. Congress to do all you can to protect the vulnerable in our world, including refugees, immigrants and children. We denounce the actions called for in Presidential Executive Order 13768 and we respectfully ask you to work to rescind this executive order. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Mary Breiling, SNJM
Maureen Delaney, SNJM
Guadalupe Guajardo, SNJM
Margaret Kennedy, SNJM
Mary Rita Rohde, SNJM
U.S.-Ontario Province Leadership Team, Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary

L-R: Mary Ellen Holohan, SNJM and Province CFO Vicki Cummings in Haiti.

The 34th General Chapter Acts call on the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary to both “open wide our doors” in welcome and to respond to those who beckon for others to come through their doors. A recent insight trip to Haiti with the microfinance institution Fonkoze provided an opportunity for two people from the SNJM family to encounter a powerful example of what happens when this call is put into action.

Mary Ellen Holohan, SNJM, who is part of the Sisters’ Congregational Leadership Team, and U.S.-Ontario Province Chief Financial Officer Vicki Cummings participated in the February trip organized by Fonkoze along with church groups from Florida, New York, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. In the region around Mirabelais, Haiti, they had an opportunity to meet several participants in a Fonkoze program designed to help ultra-poor women in rural areas become financially self-sufficient. Fonkoze  – its full name is Fondasyon Kole Zepòl, or the Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation –  is among the programs the Province supports through loans.

Using a process adapted from Bangladesh, Fonkoze leaders select a rural area and hold community meetings open to all. They identify women at the meetings who lack subsistence food and viable shelter. Each woman who agrees to join the 18-month program is visited weekly by a case manager, and for the first six months she receives a subsistence stipend. As soon as she can construct an enclosure, she is given goats or pigs as assets. Gradually, through the weekly meetings to assess the past week and plan the next week, these women are able to achieve minimal food security, to put concrete over their mud floors and tin roofs on their tiny homes, and have their livestock multiply. They also get together monthly with other women participating in the program in the same community.

“We had opportunities to meet women at varied stages in the program and their progress was tangible,” said Sister Mary Ellen. By the final months, the women had increased confidence, were able to send their children to school and had dreams of how they could become more self-sufficient through small commerce projects. Almost all of the managers and leaders of this program are Haitians who are deeply committed to rebuilding their nation one person at a time.

Fonkoze supports the program through donations. It costs $1,500 to support one woman through the entire process. Through its financial support, the SNJM U.S.-Ontario Province is a vital participant in the mission of Fonkoze and its multiple microfinancing projects in Haiti.  To learn more about Fonkoze, please visit their website at www.fonkoze.org.