Holy Names Sisters: Women on a Mission

“An encounter with beautiful music… is an encounter with the divine.” In this episode of Holy Names Sisters: Women on a Mission, lifelong musicians and music educators Sister Karen Conlin and Sister Claire Durocher discuss what music study can teach us about life and how music helps us persevere.

Newly arrived refugees in Canada face many challenges, from overcoming language barriers to enrolling their children in school. Over the years, more than 300 refugees have found help, friendship and welcome at Angela Rose House, a ministry of the Sisters of the Holy Names in Windsor, Ontario. In this episode, Director Ilda Demir and two former refugees who have lived at the house share amazing stories of hope and transformed lives.

Mercy Housing Northwest operates on the principles of respect, mercy and justice, the core values established by the five religious communities that collaborated to establish the affordable housing organization. As Mercy begins its first project in Oregon, Director of Resident Services Katie Parker and Mercy board member Sister Georgia Yianakulis share Mercy's successful approach to affordable housing with resident services that has already affected the lives of thousands of families in Washington and Idaho.

Schools sponsored by the Holy Names Sisters honor our core value of supporting “the full development of the human person.” Campus ministry staff at our schools work with students to educate and empower them though service projects, leadership training and social justice work. In this episode, Sister Daleen Larkin and Francois Laborie from Ramona Convent Secondary School and Julie Tilghman from Holy Names Academy in Seattle discuss how they nurture the full development of their students.

“Who is journeying with me on this path?” Sister Michelle Garlinski, SNJM and Sister Sarah Rudolph, IBVM are bringing younger and new religious together to answer that question. In this episode, they share their experience connecting across congregations to create a "community of communities" and reflect on the evolution of religious life.

“The needs of the community are presenting themselves,” observed Sister Jennie Lechtenberg as she began a small tutoring program in East Los Angeles. Every time a new need presented itself, PUENTE Learning Center grew. In this episode, Sister Jennie details the development work that transformed PUENTE into an expansive education center serving over 2,000 children and adults each year.

“How about the next time we meet, each of us bring one more person?” That’s what Sister Carroll Ann Kemp suggested to Sister Carol Ries and the other women meeting to learn more about the issue of human trafficking. That group continued to grow, evolving into the Mid-Atlantic Coalition Against Modern Slavery (MACAMS).

And that’s how grassroots organizing happens: passionate people share with each other and band together around a cause. In this episode, Sisters Carroll Ann and Carol share their experience combatting human trafficking through public education, advocacy and supporting organizations that aid victims.

Sister Catherine Ferguson, SNJM discusses the work of UNANIMA International to advocate for human rights. The collective of women religious groups has lobbied at the United Nations to provide a unified voice on access to water, homelessness and social justice issues that affect women and children around the world.

Could growing older be a richer experience? Sisters Rosemary Thielman and Roberta Lamanna were convinced it could, and they started Wisdom Works to elevate "eldering" into a more meaningful and spirit-filled process. In this episode, you'll learn about the healing and support experienced by mothers, abuse survivors and others who continue to be blessed by Wisdom Works.

The Sisters of the Holy Names are dedicated to reaching out and responding to people who are impoverished, abandoned or living at the fringes of society. Sister Cathy Beckley shares how she was called to start the Women’s Drop-In Center in Spokane, WA, creating a safe environment for women to heal in community.