Congratulations to Our Partners in Ministry, the Sisters of Charity

St. Mary's Hospital, Passaic, NJ

Sr. Elaine and Sister Ann Marie had the opportunity to visit St. Mary's Hospital, Passaic on Monday to celebrate Foundation Day with the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth who minister there.  On September 29, 1859, the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth formally opened at St. Mary's in Newark, eventually settling in Convent Station, NJ.  The Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women has benefited so greatly from its collaboration with the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth and with the staff of St. Mary's Hospital, one of their sponsored works. Congratulations, Sisters!  Ad multos annos!
(Go to http://www.scnj.org/ to learn more about the Sisters of Charity.  Click on http://www.smh-passaic.org/ to learn more about St. Mary's Hospital.)

Sister Marion Scranton, SC, Vice President of Mission at St. Mary's Hospital, speaks with co-workers.  In the background, Sister Elaine Maguire, FSP, speaks with Sister Mary Canavan, SC.

Update

We opened our doors to welcome the women of Passaic on Tuesday and Thursday this week.  About 30 friends have passed through the doors during these two days (closer to 40 if you count the children).  Several have expressed an interest in learning or strengthening their English skills.  Others have already registered for a quilting class to be offered by Sister Pat Reynolds, SC, starting October 22.  Click here to view photos from Thursday.  Because none of the photos from Tuesday or Thursday are captioned, you might want to know that the staff currently (and thankfully) consists of:

Sister Ursula Carr, SC, Volunteer
Sister Mary Culhane, SC, Volunteer
Nancy DiRocco, Volunteer
Sister Catherine Drury, SC, Volunteer
Sister Elaine Maguire, FSP, Associate Director
Sister Ann Marie Paul, SCC, Director

You will also see a photo of Lydia, the crossing guard at State Street and Washington Place (that is, right outside the door), who has been very instrumental in getting the word out to the women in the neighborhood.  We are grateful for her commitment to the women of Passaic and grateful to God for her charism of hospitality.

Opening Day

Thank you to everyone who played any part in getting us to opening day.  Click here to view a few photos from our first step.

September 24 Opening

We will open the doors of the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women on Tuesday, September 24 at 9:30 am and will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 am - noon and 1:00 - 3:30.  Being open only two days per week with limited hours at the beginning allows us to evaluate and update as we go.  We hope to be fully opened by the week of October 21.  If you'd like to view the flyers we are using to advertise the opening click here (for English) or here (for Spanish).  Above all, please keep this new ministry in your prayers.  Thank you and God bless you!

What a difference YOU have made!

Main Room in June

Main Room in August

Thank you to our donors who have brought us this far.  As we anticipate an opening date toward the end of September (stay tuned to this space for the announcement of the date), we are grateful to you for having made our progress possible.  As you can see from these photos, our main room is looking much more like a living room than it was a little over two months ago.  The addition of area rugs, tables, a love seat, plants and prints have really added to the décor. 

This photo of the front porch will assist you in understanding our next donation request. We have a newly-renovated, beautiful front porch in need of some furniture.  Since this photo was taken, we added a small, brown table, with two dark brown chairs (and the posts have been painted).  However, the porch is quite large, and could use a few more chairs and tables.  If you would like to donate these items, please contact Sister Ann Marie at (973) 470-0844 or sam@patersondiocese.org. 
(E-mail subscribers:  If you do not see the photos in your e-mail message, please click here to go to the blog.)

Children's Room

Thank you to our benefactors who have been so very responsive and generous in our previous requests.  We are now looking for items for our children's  room.  It is only about 12' by 15', so keep that in mind as you read the following requests.  We would be most grateful for the following:

• Safety gates: 6' wide for doorway; 3.5' wide for staircase
• "Play area" gate (that is, one that surrounds and encloses an area) for younger children
• Foam tiles (similar to "Edushape" tiles)
• For pre-school children:  new or gently used toys, books, educational computer games, educational DVD's, board games and puzzles
• New coloring books and crayons
• Drawing paper
• Children's table and chair set
• Small changing table that is very portable (or another type of portable changing area)
• Flat screen television

If you are able to donate any of these items, or would like to donate the money for their purchase, please contact Sister Ann Marie at (973) 470-0844 or sam@patersondiocese.org.

Thank you and God bless you!

Computer Room

As we continue the work of preparing to open the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women, we also continue to ask for donations for the ministry.  Today's requests involve the computer room.

 

 As the photos illustrate, right now this room is empty.  We invite you to vision with us:  Picture this 13' x 12' room with at least three Internet-ready computers (laptops or desktops), at least one printer and the appropriate furniture for everything.  Therefore, we are looking for the following:

• Three personal computers (laptops or desktops)
• Monitors for the desktop computers
• Computer desks/stations for each
• Computer chairs for each desk/station
• Printer stand
• Printer

Would you like do donate any usable (perhaps even "like new") computers, desks, chairs or printer to our ministry?  If so, please contact Sister Ann Marie at (973) 470-0844 or sam@patersondiocese.org.

Thank you -- and do not forget to visit the blog to view our previous requests for material and volunteers!

(E-mail subscribers:  If you do not see photos above, please click here to view this blog post.)