Posted April 12, 2019 in Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tanya Reynolds, treynolds@socfcleveland.org | 216-357-4461
Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland invests in young adults to carry
forward Catholic sisters’ commitment to serve
CLEVELAND, April 11, 2019 – The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland (SOCF) today holds its latest working session for the Ministry Leadership Program, a new initiative to pair young employees in Catholic school settings with Catholic sister mentors, in order to generate wider understanding of sisters’ core values and approach to service. Participants include 10 young adult staff members from sister-founded schools throughout greater Cleveland, and 10 sister companions representing the congregations that sponsor those schools. Over the course of the next year, the pairs will collaborate through workshops sessions and one-on-one meetings. At the end of the program, young adults will have a complete mission integration program, designed to bring to life the values and mission of the school’s sponsoring congregation for the school community.
Young adult participants and their sister companions include:
Brendan Corrigan | Accountant
Saint Martin de Porres High School
Sister companion: Mary Pat Cook, HM
Laura Antel | Fifth/Sixth Grade Teacher
Metro Catholic School
Sister companion: Mary Jane Vovk, SND
Michele Bennett | Career Coordinator
Ursuline College Sister companion: Ritamary Welsh, OSU
Charles Bohnak | English Teacher
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin School
Sister companion: Rose Falorio, SND
Aaron Calton | Theology Teacher
Trinity High School
Sister companion: Jane Blabolil, SSJ-TOSF
Alexis Flinn | Third Grade Teacher
Incarnate Word Academy
Sister companion: Rosemarie Burke, SIW
Michalena Mezzopera | Theology Teacher
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin School
Sister companion: Lisette Petelin, SND
Molly Schneider | Social Studies Teacher
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin School
Sister companion: Jacquelyn Gusdane, SND
Brianna Wilson | English/Religion Teacher
Villa Angela – St. Joseph High School
Sister companion: Virginia DeVinne, OSU
Anita Yoder | Assistant Director of Campus Ministry
Notre Dame College
Sister companion: Carol Brandt, SND
“For more than 160 years, Catholic sisters have served the most vulnerable in our Cleveland – whether through schools, hospitals or other ministries of health care, education and social service,” said Susanna Krey, SOCF
president. “They are called to serve those at the margins of society, and they work with diligence, humility and no expectation of recognition, despite their generous contributions to so many. Sisters form a critical part of our
community’s history of service, and they demonstrate an effective model to help those most in need.”
The Ministry Leadership Program is a pilot initiative of Generative Spirit, SOCF’s collaboration with Conference of Religious Leadership (CORL) and Coalition with Young Adults (CYA) to develop the next generation of lay leadership and support sister-led, sister-founded ministries into the future. SOCF developed the
program in collaboration with Sister Kate Hine, SND, of CORL, and Michele Gilbert, PhD, founder of MAGco consulting.
Of the many Catholic sister-led ministries in Northeast Ohio, schools and universities have some of the most connected sister networks, and many are sponsored by congregations of sisters. Campus ministers and faith
formation staff at these schools are most often lay educators tasked with developing programming and engagement activities that bolster the mission of the school and its leading congregation. “By pairing a young adult working in a Catholic school with a religious sister, we aim to provide an opportunity
for a positive intergenerational formation experience around faith, spirituality and the call to serve,” said Margaret Eigsti, senior program officer at SOCF. “As more than half of Northeast Ohio’s 600 active Catholic sisters are
expected to retire in the next five years, partnerships between sisters and lay leaders can help sustain ministries.”
The pairs had their first working session in March, with a professional development workshop focused on maintaining work-life balance. This week, they meet again to better understand mission and ministry resources
available to them through their schools and representative congregations. Participants will receive a stipend of $2,500 from the foundation for their commitment to the Ministry Leadership Program. Each participant’s school
is eligible to receive a one-time grant for $1,000 from the Sisters of Charity Foundation for implementation of the mission integration project.
Workshops continue monthly through December 2019, and pairs will meet monthly at the young adult participant’s place of employment to plan the mission integration project. The Generative Spirit initiative is made possible through a funding partnership with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation with matching support from SOCF. To learn more, visit GenerativeSpirit.org.
