Taken from the Franciscan Federation Annual Conference Press Release 

 

   At the conclusion of the AFC, Kathleen Uhler, a Franciscan Sister of Allegany, New York, assumed the office of Franciscan Federation president for 2015-2016. Kathie has served as a member of the Federation National Board and the Spirit and Life Committee. She has held executive positions and served in organizations including Franciscans International, the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty, and for six years in Hebron, Palestine with Christian Peacemaker Teams.

   The National Board also elected Eleanor Granger, OSF of Rochester, Minnesota as it vice-president. Eleanor had served as Executive Director of the Franciscan Federation in the 1990s.  She has also served on the Franciscan Federation National Board, the National Board of the Leadership Conference of Woman Religious and as a member of the LCWR National Office.

   The National Board thanked outgoing president, Eileen Golby, OSF of Clinton, Iowa for her leadership in these challenging times of change for the Federation. She will continue serving as Board member and secretary. Franciscan Sister of the Poor, Mary Maloney, of Cincinnati, Ohio was recognized for her 6-year  term of service as she leaves the National Board. Nancy Surma, a Franciscan Sister of Sylvania, Ohio, who served as member and secretary of the Board, was also thanked as she departs for a new position in her Congregation's healthcare ministry.

Tampa news station Bay News 9  and host Bill Murphy feature a segment each Monday recognizing a local individual who makes a difference in the community through their good works. Sr. Anne was recognized on June 29, 2015. The following is an excerpt from that article. View the full piece here. 

   TAMPA --  Whether its trauma for men and women in police uniforms or dealing with residents who have a medical crisis, Sister Anne has been there for them.

   From her base at the Franciscan Center in Tampa, Sister Anne Dougherty has repeatedly made a difference for friends and strangers.
   Sister Anne served as Tampa Police chaplain for 10 years. When she finished that service, another agency came calling.

   It was the FBI.

Taken from the June 21, 2015 edition of Musings

   Today, The New York Times is featuring a story that highlights Lourdes Cardiology and the hard work of our team in saving the lives of heart attack patients. 

   The story focuses on a specific type of heart attack, called a ST segment elevation myocardial infarction, or STEMI. This type accounts for one-third of all heart attacks and mostly strikes those aged 40-55. It is caused by a prolonged blockage of blood supply in the heart. STEMIs carry a substantial risk of death and disability and require a quick response from all members of the medical team, from first responders in the community to cardiologists at the hospital. 

   Time is muscle. For years, the healthcare community has realized that reducing the amount of time it takes to get blood flowing to the heart can mean the difference between life and death. The Times' story zeroes-in on how hospitals are working to reduce treatment times, and in particular, "door-to-balloon time." This measures how quickly a patient moves from the emergency room to the catheterization lab. 

   Studies have established door-to-balloon time as a national benchmark. The current goal for hospital performance is 90 minutes or less, according to the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology's national guidelines. Reducing and sustaining a low door-to-balloon time can be challenging. A patient's chance of survival depends on the hospital having a well-coordinated, efficient process.     

   That's why I am proud to say, at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, our door-to-balloon time is 49 minutes. In 2010, it was 71 minutes. Our numbers caught the attention of New York Times medical reporter Gina Kolata. The Times' has an international readership, and this article demonstrates how Lourdes' care of STEMI patients exceeds national standards and serves as a model for others.  Read the full story from Musings

   

   On Saturday, June 27, 2015, Allegany Franciscan Ministries of Palm Harbor, Fla., hosted their first Common Good Community Dialogue for residents  in nearby Lincoln Park. The meeting was the culmination of more than a year of listening and working with community members and stakeholders to improve neighborhoods through  resident input.

   The primary goal of the Common Good Initiative  is to have the community identify priorities they feel are most important to address, gather ideas for what might be done, and to get community members energized to work with Allegany Franciscan Ministries to develop action plans for solutions. They also wanted the dialogue to serve as a demonstration to the community of the Ministries' commitment and presence.

   The dialogue achieved all that and more. Over  170  people attended-primarily Lincoln Park residents-and almost all stayed for the full three hours. Participants included people of all ages and diverse interests- adults, seniors, families, and even youth from the Boys and Girls Club, and members of a local gang. There were several politicians (the Mayor, a county commissioner, a state representative), county department leaders, and several police officers. But mostly, there were regular people, people who care about their community.

   "I have been in the community listening to individuals to get a better understanding of what is going on in this community," said Upendo Shabazz-Phillips, regional vice president of the Allegany Franciscan Ministries. "We want to know what the hopes and dreams of this community are so we can get a sense of what we can do to work together."

   The participants were deeply engaged in the conversation ? with each other and with Allegany Franciscan Ministries. The priority statements that Shabazz-Phillips had developed based on a year she spent in Lincoln Park and the associated concerns, clearly  resonated. The two priority areas that rose to the top,? well above the others, were Quality Jobs with a Livable Wage and Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods.  The next two highest priorities were Healthier Residents with Lower Rates of Disease such as Diabetes and Mutual Respect Between Local Residents and Local Law Enforcement.  The next step is formulating an action plan that addresses the neighborhood's major concerns.

   "I would like to thank the entire Allegany Franciscan Ministries staff, board members, and commissioners who attended," said Eileen Coogan Boyle, president and CEO, Allegany Franciscan Ministries.  "We understand that change takes time and much remains to be done, but this is a great start. When we listen to each other and work together-we can, and will, accomplish great things."

 

By: Linda Dees, Associate

   

   On June 21, the Tampa Bay Associates renewed their commitments to the Associate program. The original plan was to renew with the Sisters at the April Assembly. However, for various reasons, that was not possible. The eagerness to do so remained, and 7 out of the 8 who recommitted, did so enthusiastically during their monthly gathering.  Linda Dees, Local Associate Contact (LAC), ended the ceremony by thanking the Sisters for "welcoming us into the Allegany community and including us in your vision and mission for over 25 years.  We are honored to be part of this journey and are committed to embracing the challenges the future brings. We will not only show up, but we will bring our best selves, remaining open to what the future holds, and looking forward to being stretched beyond where we are currently. Partnering with you, our Sisters, we will continue 'to gaze, consider, contemplate and imitate,' as Clare once did."

 

By: Margaret Mary Foley, OSF

Originally published in Giving Voice

 

   I am a forty one year old Franciscan Sister in temporary vows.  I live in community with four sisters. All four sisters are older in age than my parents.  When we are in the chapel praying I think of all the mornings they have awakened early in their lives to pray communal Morning Prayer.  When we sit in the community room together watching the evening news, I think of all the history they have witnessed in their lives.  While eating dinner at the dinner table I think of all the meals they have shared in community.  I am in awe of their fidelity to their religious vows for so many years. 

   There are some challenges I experience living in an intergenerational community.  Among them are that our television program choices are different.  Our choices of volume of the television are different.  Our choices in the air temperature at home are different. Even though we have differences, I find we still get along and compromise along the way.

   I am preparing for my perpetual profession of religious vows in October.  I have lived in community for all of my religious life.  I have also experienced living in an apartment by myself before I entered religious life.  I believe living in community assists me to be the best person I can be.  I am grateful to my religious sisters for their witness of faithfulness to their vows.  As I am blessed with these wisdom figures in my life, I pray that I will continue to learn about life from these lives that have been richly blessed by God.

   Last week, the Archives held its monthly talk in morning activities at the Motherhouse. The topic was St. John the Baptist High School in West Islip, NY, which was a school jointly operated by the Allegany Franciscans and the Amityville Dominican Sisters. The last sister to work at St. John's was Sister Therese Joyce, who retired around 2006 after serving for 35 years.

   For this activity, we decided to do some "hands-on history." Yearbooks from the past 30 years at St. John the Baptist were brought in, and the sisters had a great time seeing how many Alleganies they could find in their pages. Our sister teachers also reminisced about their years teaching at schools all over the world. Pictured here are Sisters Anne Clare and Joan Clare, reviewing a yearbook together.

   Next month, we will turn our attention to Winsted, CT, for a discussion of the history of the sisters' ministries there. If you find yourself in the Motherhouse on August 6 at 10:15AM, be sure to stop by!