Social Concerns
"No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless.
There is too much work to do." - Dorothy Day A Message from Sister Betty Sundry, Director of Social Concerns
 My hero, Dorothy Day, said that what we have over and above our own needs belongs to someone who does need. I think she meant more than just material goods.
The work of building bridges is difficult. After activism, comes the ‘nitty-gritty.’ After the picket lines you have to advocate. You have to talk to legislators, work to change minds and hearts -- you have to be dogged. It’s a slow process and you never know in the moment if your work will pan out.
The first Sisters of Divine Providence to come to the United States from Germany founded a hospital for the “sick poor” and educated workers’ children, traditional ministries with a focus on the poor and working class. Today we work in both traditional (education and health care) and non-traditional (foster care, counseling, day care) ministries. We are challenged to follow in the footsteps of our founders, working for justice in our society, especially among those less fortunate.
Over the years, working with people who are poor or oppressed has taught me a lot about life and what is really important. It has been life-giving and energizing. I am humbled by the patience, forbearance, and just plain grit that they have in the face of overwhelming odds. I invite you to join with the Sisters of Divine Providence and our Associates as we work together to co-create a world of compassion and justice in the 21st century and beyond. - Sister Betty
Our Mission in ActionReflecting God’s compassionate involvement in the world, Sisters of Divine Providence are called to hold all life sacred; create communities of joy and love; promote justice; seek to advance the cause of all people, especially those in need; and practice responsible stewardship. In prayer and deed, the Sisters of Divine Providence commit themselves to the protection of life through the eradication of war, poverty, racism, abortion, capital punishment and euthanasia. Justice for ImmigrantsImmigration reform legislation may soon be considered by Congress. To read more about this important issue and to learn how you can help, click here.
march Peace & Justice CalendarFor calendar schedule, click here. AdvocacyWorking for Peace
"The peacemaker has a single vocation; to keep the vision of oneness, of wholeness, of unity, of God's unconditional love for all, alive in the marketplace." - Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB Every Monday from 4:30 to 5 p.m. a small but very dedicated group of Sisters and friends hold a Vigil for Peace along Babcock Boulevard in front of the Pittsburgh motherhouse. The vigil began as a protest of the growing involvement of the United States in the Iraq war. The Sisters hold signs that speak of their message: Act for Peace; Pray for Peace, War Is Not the Answer, and Peace for All Nations. One of the signs asks passers-by to “honk for peace,” and many do. This is a high traffic area as people travel to and from Pittsburgh via this North Hills road. You are invited to join in the Vigil for Peace any Monday you are able.
The Social Concerns office in Pittsburgh donates Christmas presents, clothes or toys, to needy families through the Providence Family Support Center and North Hills Community Outreach. Throughout the year, the Social Concerns Office in Pittsburgh collects gently used books to donate to the North Hills Youth Ministry Book Sale. NHYM provides services and counseling to families, youth, and seniors. About a dozen Sisters serve as volunteers at the book sale each year. Respect All Life“No one is called to do everything, but each of us can do something. And we can strive not to stand against each other when the protection and the promotion of life are at stake.” - Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Sisters in Kingston are members of Network, Pax Christi, USA and Amnesty International. Sisters read and respond to justice issues either by e-mail or phone to calls to their local, state, and federal government representatives. The Sisters offer ESL classes to individual immigrants - some seeking citizenship and others just learning English for the first time. Sisters correspond with death row inmates, offering spiritual and personal support. The bell tower at Providence Heights tolls on the day of an execution and a prayer for the executed and the victims is prayed over the intercom. Sisters sometimes write personal letters to the state governors asking for clemency. Feeding the Hungry Once a month, six to eight Sisters and several Associates gather on the third floor of Providence Heights to make 120 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Operation Safety Net, an initiative that provides basic medical care for the homeless who live near or under the many bridges of Pittsburgh’s downtown area. Volunteers and medical personnel distribute the sandwiches as they travel in their medical van.
Twice a year a food drive is conducted in conjunction with the Providence Heights Alpha School. The food that is collected is donated to the North Hills Community Outreach Food Pantry, which serves people in the North Hills area including the Etna, Sharpsburg and Millvale areas of Pittsburgh. Several convents and the employees of the Sisters in Pittsburgh donate food or make a monetary donation to help needy families enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving with turkey and all the trimmings. The Kingston Associates have worked to provide new mothers (often single) with clothing and other items of necessity for their babies, working to promote this important component of the consistent ethic of life. Ecology and Environment"The human community and the natural world will go into the future together as a single sacred community or we will both perish in the desert." - Thomas Berry The Sisters in Kingston support our mission in Santo Domingo through recycling efforts. Each local convent, in its own way, tries to be ecologically aware. Some convents, along with the Sacred Heart High School, are involved in a program for recycling paper and cardboard. All of the Sisters are becoming more ecologically-aware and are working to minimize their environmental impact. They not only recycle paper, glass and plastic, they forego bottled water, unplug unneeded appliances and replace incandescent with fluorescent. The Province produces a newsletter, Go Green, that is a forum for sharing ideas for reducing our carbon footprint and living lives that reflect the great love that our Providence God has for all of the natural world. All Sisters of Divine Providence lead a vibrant prayer life focused on helping those often forgotten by others. They pray for social justice every day. To request prayers for your intention, click here. Ketteler Award for Social Justice“To heal the social evils it is not enough to feed and clothe a few poor people ... that is the smallest part of our duty. We must bridge over the vast abyss that yawns between the rich and the poor.” - Bishop Ketteler  In 1998, the Sisters of Divine Providence instituted the Ketteler Award to honor individuals who demonstrate a strong commitment to social justice. The award, named for and co-founder of the Congregation, is presented periodically. Bishop Ketteler, honored in Germany as the “Worker Bishop,” was a tireless fighter for the rights of the working class. (He was bishop from 1850 until his death in 1877 at the age of 65.)
Recipients...1998- Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ was the first recipient. She was recognized for her work to abolish the death penalty.
1999 - Sister Betty Sundry, director of social concerns for the Sisters of Divine Providence and Fr. Don McIlvane, priest in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, in recognition of a lifetime of activism in social justice in the Pittsburgh area.
2000 - Monsignor William Kerr, president of La Roche College in Pittsburgh, who instituted the Pacem in Terris Program at the college, a program that educates students from war torn countries of the world.
2001 - Joan D. Chittister, OSB, a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA, was recognized for her dedication to equality and social justice, particularly equality for women in society and the Church.
2002 - Bishop Matthieson, retired bishop of the Diocese of Galveston, Texas
2003 - Sister Roberta Grzelak, director of the Office for Human Promotion and Development, Diocese of Arecibo, Puerto Rico was awarded the Ketteler for being the face of Providence to hundreds of disadvantaged Puerto Rican women and children, providing them the means to achieve a better life. She began the ministry in 1992 with a pencil, paper and $400 monthly salary. Today the agency has an annual budget of $600,000 and a staff of 50 and serves more than 2,500 people each year.
2003 -Jim and Kathy McGinnis of Missouri were Ketteler Award recipients, recognized as founders and co-directors of the Institute for Peace and Justice in St. Louis, an independent interfaith not-for-profit corporation promoting peace, justice and care of the earth through education, social action, and prayer. 2009 Ketteler Awardee  On August 6, 2009, the Sisters of Divine Providence presented the Bishop Ketteler Award for Social Justice to Liguori Rossner, SFCC. Sister Liguori is the co-founder and executive director of the Jubilee Association, Inc., a nonprofit organization supported and operated by concerned citizens of the greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area. For more than 30 years, Sister Liguori has ministered to the people of Pittsburgh as a strong advocate for those whose lives are challenged by poverty, illness, joblessness, or homelessness. Her lifetime of advocacy on behalf of those who are poor and without voice parallels Bishop Ketteler’s unwavering support to the disenfranchised in Germany in the 1800s.
Join Us...
We invite you to learn more about the following organizations and their work to improve the lives of single mothers and their children and which address issues of social justice: For information about these organizations, or to learn more about the Sisters of Divine Providence Social Concerns Office, contact Sister Betty Sundry, Director of Social Concerns for the Sisters of Divine Providence at bsundry@yahoo.com. Health Care Reform Recently, a group of 10 Sisters (PATH to Justice Committee, made up of 12 different communities here in the Pittsburgh area) and I visited Jason Almire, our representative in Congress. To read more, click here.
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