Preaching with a New Fire - Dominican Sisters of Peace
Preaching with a New Fire - Dominican Sisters of Peace
Preaching with a New Fire - Dominican Sisters of Peace
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women <strong>of</strong> peace who promote justice<br />
Standing in Solidarity <strong>with</strong> Those who are Marginalized<br />
Empowering<br />
Families<br />
Sr. Celeste Albers<br />
Great Bend, Kansas<br />
On Easter Sunday<br />
in Prince <strong>of</strong> <strong>Peace</strong><br />
parish, Great Bend,<br />
pastoral minister<br />
Sr. Celeste Albers<br />
(pictured, left) celebrated <strong>with</strong> the parents <strong>of</strong> five<br />
children whom she and another catechist helped<br />
prepare for Baptism, Confirmation, and first Eucharist.<br />
Ministering <strong>with</strong> 56 Latino children and<br />
three bilingual teachers, Sr. Celeste also teaches<br />
English and works to empower the families to seek<br />
services they need.<br />
In addition, she is an active advocate for victims<br />
<strong>of</strong> domestic violence and is helping raise funds to<br />
secure a bilingual counselor for the family crisis<br />
center. “We have women who are being abused and<br />
have no one who can work <strong>with</strong> them at the center,”<br />
Sr. Celeste explains. “Great Bend has a group<br />
known as Ministers to Victims <strong>of</strong> Domestic Violence,<br />
and we will be holding a Charity Laugh-in<br />
fundraiser on August 28 to support this effort. We<br />
try to provide extra love and support for women in<br />
the community who have children and who are experiencing<br />
difficulties and struggling.”<br />
Sheltering the Homeless<br />
Sr. Blaise Flynn<br />
Boston, Massachusetts<br />
Sr. Blaise Flynn (pictured, right) has been working<br />
<strong>with</strong> the homeless community in Boston for<br />
more than 30 years. She is currently a case manager<br />
for Pine Street Inn, which provides emergency shelter<br />
for 1,500 people and has more than 600 units <strong>of</strong><br />
permanent housing.<br />
Three years ago, she helped to open Doe House,<br />
where she assists in providing service-enriched housing<br />
to people who live on the street. “We have 18<br />
units <strong>of</strong> permanent housing, and it is my belief that<br />
it takes five years to establish a house,” Sr. Blaise<br />
says. She explains,“The people I work <strong>with</strong> have addiction<br />
issues and are in poor health; sometimes it<br />
takes six months for them just to sleep in a bed.”<br />
So far, the program has shown great promise. At<br />
Easter, residents pulled together and cooked the entire<br />
meal, enabling Sr. Blaise to enjoy dinner <strong>with</strong><br />
her <strong>Dominican</strong> community in Watertown. “This<br />
was major progress!” she exclaims.<br />
Providing Supplies for Patients Here and Abroad<br />
Mohun Health Care Center<br />
Columbus, Ohio<br />
Thanks to staff members Musu “Sue” Boikai (pictured, left) and<br />
Sr. Carolyn Thurn (pictured, right), Mohun Health Care Center<br />
has become an important link in a chain providing greatly needed<br />
assistance to patients in Liberia. Sue brought to Sr. Carolyn’s attention<br />
the dire need for medical supplies at Phebe Hospital in her home country. Working <strong>with</strong> vendor<br />
connections through Mohun, Sr. Carolyn and Sue have obtained boxes upon boxes <strong>of</strong> expired<br />
but still worthwhile medical supplies, which Carolyn arranges, Sue stores at her home, and the<br />
community organization Liberians in Columbus, Inc., ships to the hospital.<br />
4 <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>Sisters</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Peace</strong>
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