Uploaded on: 06/24/2007
St. Joseph sisters committed to helping ‘our dear neighbors’
Special to The Catholic Spirit
To the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, immigrants are not suspect, different and unfamiliar, as some people deem them. Instead, “they are people — our dear neighbors.”
And the sisters’ St. Paul Province has developed a number of programs to help those neighbors.
“Since Sept. 11 [2001], the climate here in Minnesota has become much more suspicious,” said St. Joseph Sister Agnes Foley, director of Learning In Style, a Minneapolis ministry focused on providing basic education, community and support to immigrants. “It’s good for all of us to remember [the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty]: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free’ because it’s probably part of our story, too.”
Learning In Style, which is celebrating its 10th year of helping adult learners, has seen nearly 2,200 students from more than 60 countries.
“For many years, our students were primarily African with a high concentration of Somalis, but now we’re seeing more Latin Americans and South Americans with an increasing number of Asians, many from Tibet,” Sister Agnes said.
“The women we serve are frequently without home, family or country,” said Sister Margaret Kvasnicka, director of Sarah’s. . . An Oasis for Women, a supportive housing program for women who have experienced violence, abuse, war, torture, addiction, homelessness and other difficult circumstances.
The women who stay there use the power of community to empower themselves and each other. “Even though I’m still going through the torture experience, I am in a better way,” said one woman. “That I escaped is a miracle. I have overcome some of my fears. I think it is wonderful to come to people who love like the sisters and women of Sarah’s.”
One of the CSJs’ better-known ministries is St. Mary’s Health Clinics. “While we don’t ask about citizenship status, I would estimate that more than half — about 3,000 — of the patients we see annually are immigrants,” said Barbara Dickie, the clinics’ executive director.
“When people who haven’t had health care come to our country, it affects all of us,” Dickie said. “While we believe health care is a basic human right, current government budgetary constraints leave many without it. That’s why we’re here — to help care for our dear neighbors.”
The Sisters of St. Joseph’s commitment to working with immigrants in Minnesota goes back to their arrival in St. Paul. Initially, four sisters traveled from St. Louis in 1851 at the invitation of Bishop Joseph Cretin.
For the sisters, working with immigrants is not limited to Minnesota-based outreach programs.
“The province convened a justice commission which hosts a number of working groups, including one focused specifically on immigrants,” said justice coordinator Joänne Tromiczak-Neid.
“The group educates the community on immigration issues and provides an opportunity for sisters and consociates to advocate for immigrants,” she said.
During the 2004 legislative session, the group worked on several federal and local issues involving immigrants.
One of the working group’s members, Sister Isabella Ferrell, is involved with a coalition planning for the imminent arrival of thousands of Hmong refugees.
“I just felt this was something specific we as CSJs could do,” she said. “We can help respond to their needs and also help right the injustice that has been done by the U.S. government by leaving these people languishing in that refugee camp in Thailand when the reason they are exiled from their own country is because they were our allies during the war there.”