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Edition No. 25   November 22, 2016  
ESL Classes
Saint Timothy Convent, Philadelphia
By Kathleen McShane SSJ    
In August 2016, Sister Rose Christine Wagner SSJ and her friend Sister Camille Kwiatek CSFN came to the Welcome Center in Philadelphia offering to volunteer and teach at the Center. Their generous offer to help us couldn’t have come at a better time!  Our ‘new house’ wasn’t finished yet and we had a long waiting list for the ESL classes!  So, Rose went home and talked to her community at Saint Timothy Convent in Northeast Philadelphia. She also spoke with the Pastor to see if he would be open to having classes at Saint Timothy Convent. We checked zip codes to see who lived close to the Convent and the rest is history!!

Within a few weeks, we had over 10 students registered and classes began on Wednesday, October 12, 2016 in the dining room of Saint Timothy Convent. Rose and Camille each take a group of students.  The students are from Viet Nam, Ecuador and Columbia. They are a wonderful group of people and we are so grateful for the generosity of Rose and Camille as they further the mission of the SSJ Welcome Center: 

“In the just and compassionate spirit of Saint Joseph, the Welcome Center offers opportunities that enable immigrants and others to improve the quality of their lives through access to education, support services and programs leading to self-sufficiency…”  

Camille Kwiatek CSFN and students    
Rose Christine Wagner SSJ and students
Photos courtesy Kathleen McShane SSJ   
Picture of the Blessed Mother cross stitched by student
Team Saint Joseph Villa
Philly Alzheimer Walk
November 12, 2016 
By Linda Cusano

Huge congratulations to Team Saint Joseph Villa for raising $3,423.00 for the National Alzheimer’s Association! Having already raised over $1,000 this latest effort puts us into the Grand Champion Status!  

Team Saint Joseph Villa joined the ‘walk’ at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, November 12, 2016. The Team was comprised of 45 walkers, which included: family members, sisters on the 4th Floor, staff from the 4th Floor, the St. Joseph Worker Volunteers, and sisters living at the Villa and in other local communities!


We are proud and grateful to contribute to this worthy cause!

Photos courtesy Louise Kane SSJ
Seniors Make a Difference
SSJ Senior Services Advisory Board

By Eileen Dorothy Maguire SSJ
The Senior Services Advisory Board, comprised of Sisters and laymen and women, offers assistance to Sister Eileen Dorothy Maguire SSJ , as she serves as Director of Senior Services. The Board meets several times a year and endeavors to provide suggestions and opportunities to enrich the lives of our senior sisters – all in keeping with our mission and charism.

Mindful of our sisters desire to live our Generous Promise , the Advisory Board decided that it would be wonderful to invite our sisters to continue their efforts to stay informed about social justice issues by meeting periodically to address current issues and to facilitate a variety of ways to take action. 

The group, adopting the title , Seniors Make A Difference , suggested contacting Sister Colleen Dauerbach SSJ , Social Justice Coordinator, to help determine a particular issue in need of advocacy and action.
 
Sister Colleen agreed to assist the group and to provide the necessary background and information on The Human Thread , a Catholic Advocacy Group for garment workers. They launched a national postcard campaign in September that asks retailers Macy’s and Kohl’s to add a fair trade clothing item to their department store racks and shelves.

On Thursday, November 17, 2016, 23 Sisters, Associates, and Partners in Mission gathered in the Scholasticate at Mount Saint Joseph Convent. Sister Eileen welcomed the group and Sister Colleen gave some background on the purpose of The Human Thread Campaign. This was followed by prayer, some gathering of facts, and a video entitled, Planet Money Makes a T-shirt . The meeting concluded as each person signed postcards and letters to Macy’s and Kohl’s.

The Advisory Board will continue to meet periodically to encourage each other to continue to spread the word so that others could have the opportunity to become more aware of some of the current social justice issues.

Sister Judy Oliver SSJ
St. Hubert High School Hall of Fame
November 18, 2016
Sister Judy Oliver SSJ , was inducted into the Saint Hubert High School Hall of Fame during the 75th Anniversary celebration Saturday, November 18, 2016, at the Vie Hotel in Philadelphia. It was a beautiful event!
 
Judy was part of the 1965 Saint Hubert High School Championship Basketball Team , who was all inducted Saturday evening.

Congratulations, Judy!

 
"Each of us has been called to the vowed life in this Congregation, and we have responded. Our covenant becomes a pledge of our union with Jesus, chaste, poor, and obedient, to whom we have given our hearts and whom we try to follow each day."
                                                                                — SSJ Constitutions #92

Editor, Sister Carole Pollock SSJ | 215.248.7269 | [email protected] | http://ssjphila.org/new/