Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul West Central Province
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul West Central Province
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul West Central Province
A new exhibit titled "Who Knows Tomorrow?" tells the stories of extremely neglected and rejected people from seven countries and how the Daughters of Charity work to assist them...full story
The acronym DREAM signifies “Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition”...full story
The Daughters and Vincentians open website for their advocacy efforts via their NGO status at the UN...visit the website
New documentary examines Vincent de Paul and his life and times in 17th century France...learn more
Proyecto Juan Diego is a ministry of the Daughters of Charity of the West Central Province. Read the Christmas 2009 Newsletter
Sex trafficking in Macon, Georgia?...full story
For a fifth consecutive year, the missionaries of VMF's "Operation Overhaul"...full story
Learn more about an exhibit highlighting the rich history and contributions of Catholic sisters in the United States on the Women and Spirit website and the LCWR website.
March 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation - Mary's "Yes" to God, marks the date when Daughters of Charity around the world renew their vows. Hear more from Sr. Pauline Lawlor, an Irish Daughter of Charity.
The editor of the CM Province’s Facebook Page writes, “Let’s try to summarize what happened in Chile, as a result of an earthquake of 8.8 on the Richter scale and the subsequent tsunamis produced in several places...read full story
With God’s blessing, for five days we had the privilege to share the present reality of life with our Sisters of Haiti in the heart of a people profoundly marked by suffering...read the full story and watch the video of Sr. Evelyne's visit to Haiti
What do 27 air mattresses, 19 young adults, 11 Sisters/Daughters of Charity, 5-1/2 Bathrooms, 15 pounds of mashed potatoes, 1 parish food bank and clothing closet and, 3 families moving back home have in common? Find out more
“…we carry with us your concern for them…” (letter from Sister Evelyne)
On the morning of February 2, Sister Evelyne, Superioress General of the Daughters of Charity, and Sister Iliana, General Councillor for Latin America and the Caribbean, set out on a journey to our Sisters in Haiti. They will be there for a week, bringing them as much assistance as possible and assuring them of the support of the entire Company. They will also be able to come back with information that will be indispensable for organizing long term assistance.
The international website of the Daughters of Charity has a section entitled "Focus On" where currently you will find more infomation about Haiti, the earthquake and the Daughters response.
The Daughters of Charity houses situated in Port-au-Prince have been severely damaged and the Sisters have become homeless having to sleep outside in tents. They are trying to give basic services (nursing care, nutrition and accompaniment) in the middle of the general chaos. As soon as the disaster struck Sisters from Santo Domingo and from Porto Rico left for Port-au- Prince to be available for the wounded. They also sent provisions, medical supplies and other aid by trucks from Santo Domingo and by small planes from Miami.
One of our Sisters - Sister Brigitte Pierre - died as a result of the earthquake and two other Haitian Sisters lost close members of their families. Moreover all the Sisters of the Province feel the sadness at the disappearance of so many people, the poor, friends, and benefactors, members of the Vincentian Family, Clergy, and Religious... The situation is heart-breaking.
In response to a call from the Company, several Provincials have offered Sisters who are nurses to go to Haiti as part of a DC Assistance Team. Each team will remain about three months and be replaced by others. The generosity of the Provinces has been extraordinary. On the 20th of January four Sisters (from the Provinces of Albany and Great Britain) arrived in Port-au-Prince, via Santo Domingo, to help the people. At the beginning of February, ten other Sisters (from the Provinces of Argentine, Bogota, Cuba, Mexico, Paraguay, Madrid St Vincent, Pamplona and Seville) will join this team.
The first Sisters came to Port au Prince in January 1973 from Porto Rico. Currently, there are thirty one Sisters of ten nationalities – 14 of whom are Haitians – living in five local DC community houses. Four of these are situated in and around Port-au-Prince and the fifth is in Gonaives. The Sisters serve in schools, dispensaries, Social Centres and are engaged in Pastoral work.
Sister Germaine Price, representing the Company of the Daughters of Charity at the United Nations, shares the news below from the UN:
The Guinness World Record was broken by the more than 173 million people around the world who joined forces with the United Nation’s call to world leaders to take action to stamp out poverty. This is nearly 60 million more people than took part in this effort in 2008. At least 100 million people in Asia took part while Africa had nearly 40 million participants. The Arab region has 30 million, Europe, 2 million, Latin and North America, 200,000 each and Oceania had more than 170,000.
More than 3,000 events were held in more than 120 countries as part of the campaign “Stand Up, Take Action, and End Poverty Now”. Governments were urged to keep the promises they made in 2000 and take action to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon joined 1,500 schoolchildren at the UN International School who called for an end to hunger which afflicts 1 billion people throughout the world. The Secretary General said: “We know that if we take a stand, if we act, we can end poverty in our lifetime.
There were urgent pleas to end hunger, to improve maternal health, to provide primary education for all children and to reduce child mortality. There are no acceptable excuses for broken promises to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable who have already been doubly affected by the global economic and climate crises they had no role in creating.
Every year October 17th is commemorated as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This year, commemorative events took place on the 16, 17, 18 and 19 all around the world.
Be sure to see video "Stand Up Against Poverty" event held at “Proyeto Juan Diego” run by the Daughters of Charity in Brownsville, Texas.
On Saturday, August 15, Feast of the Assumption of Mary, the Daughters of Charity of the West Central Province accepted two postulants, Meg Kymes and Renée Trahant. They are pictured here with Sr. Joanne Vasa (center).
Renée (left) grew up in New Iberia, Louisiana and has worked as a paralegal. She resided with the Sisters in New Orleans as a pre-postulant and will live in St. Louis for this time of formation.
Meg (right) is from St. Louis and was a Vincentian Service Corps Volunteer in 2006-2007. She lived with the Sisters in St. Louis for the past year of pre-postulancy and worked in the Criminal Justice Ministry of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in St. Louis. Meg will live with the Sisters in New Orleans during this time of formation.
Please join us in praying for these women as they enter this time of discernment with us!