Sisters and staff attend poverty immersions in Louisville and Memphis

LOUISVILLE
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single mother who becomes homeless, loses her job and tries to
survive with her young daughter. It’s quite a movie, and it gave
us plenty to talk about during our trip home.
Sister Carol, superintendent of schools for the diocese of
Shreveport, and a Memphis resident while attending Christian
Brothers College there, says when she was invited to participate
in the immersion experience, she was very interested in
experiencing Memphis in “another way than as a student.”
Sister Carol says, “Sister Ann, Sister Jeannette, and I decided
to participate in the experience and make it a part of our year of
being aware of the poor among us. We found the experience to
be very worthwhile.”
Sister Alicia, vocation director for the Ursuline Sisters of
Mount Saint Joseph, says, “When I think of ‘immersion’, I think
of becoming a part of whatever the experience is to be. Indeed
my immersion experience was just that, a way of becoming a
little part of the poverty of Memphis. What was most amazing
to me was the fact that there are a number of places and
organizations that try to help with homelessness and poverty in
that city, but mostly for folks at night when they would be out
on the street. I’m sure there are still numerous people out on the
street, but at least there is an effort being made to get them to a
place of safety.”
Sister Rebecca called her immersion into poverty in
Memphis “a real education.” She says, “I’m sure we barely
scratched the surface of what is being done in that city to put an
end to poverty, but I was reminded again and again that many
people fall through the cracks and receive almost no help.”
Personally, my immersion experience in Memphis is
something I’ll treasure forever. I’ve always been aware of the
poverty we have in this rich country of ours, but I’d never seen
it so close up and so personal. I’ll always wonder what becomes
of the beautiful, innocent HIV-babies as they not only battle the
health issues ahead of them, but also attempt to climb out of
that deep hole of poverty.
I’ll be hoping and praying for that Hope House mother as
Ursuline Sisters Michele
Intravia, Maureen O’Neill,
Grace Simpson, Margaret
Marie Greenwell and Clara
Johnson serve people in
poverty at Sister Visitor
Center in Louisville.
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other staff see hundreds of clients
each month and provide advocacy
and case management. “I have had
the privilege of working at Sister
Visitor Center for many years and
have looked at the faces of the poor
there, ‘live and in person.’ As a result,
I have been changed by and learned from them,” Sister Grace said.
“Their courage, willingness to share, and acceptance of the challenge
to change inspire me.”
Sister Maureen O’Neill wants to help “balance this ratio of the
‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in my hometown. Seeing other agencies
helped me see how much good is happening every day. We met many
dedicated workers who are making a difference in people’s lives,
ending homelessness one person at a time, mending shattered lives.” n
MEMPHIS From page 6 she, too, tries to keep her HIV-virus in check as she attempts to
better her life against some big odds. And I’ll also be praying for
that young woman and her five lively children at the Dorothy
Day House. It’s a beautiful family. Poor? Yes, but she is making
every effort she can to move all six of them above that poverty
line. I have a feeling they’ll make it.
There are many agencies in Memphis – hundreds, actually
– working on the poverty problem in that city. Groups meet
regularly to address the issue. Millions of dollars are being spent
to help the situation.
But in the two and a half days we spent in the Bluff City,
it was evident the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality and the
Hope House are both playing major roles in the fight against
poverty. In the truest sense of the words, Sister Maureen Griner,
Sister Margaret Ann Zinselmeyer and the Memphis associates are
“freeing and nurturing women and children.” n
Ursuline Associate Judy Gray reads to Jakirrah, in lap, and
Tyrone, while Tyrone’s mother Aarial looks on, on a typical
day at the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality.
More poverty immersions are planned.
For information, contact Sister Maureen Griner
901-355-8997 • mgriner@aol.com
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