Our Mission Projects

• Layton Boulevard West Neighbors
• Casa Alexia: A Border Ministry
• Guadalupe Homes
• Paiwas in Nicaragua
• North India, St. Francis Province, Bhopal, M.P.
• South India, Assisi Province, Kerala
• Scholarships

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Layton Boulevard West Neighbors (LBWN)
In the early 1990s, it was apparent that the neighborhood surrounding our motherhouse on the south side of Milwaukee was facing many urban challenges. Crime, poverty, and problems associated with absentee landlords were all on the rise. Seeking to make a meaningful impact on the neighborhood, in 1992 we made a commitment to be a vital part of its stabilization. We founded "Layton Boulevard West Neighbors," a community development corporation with the mission of improving quality of life through the empowerment of neighborhood leaders. Improving housing, increasing home ownership, and promoting economic development are all essential to the revitalization efforts of LBWN. Over 16,000 people live in the multi-cultural neighborhood in which LBWN is located. Our investment in the neighborhood has leveraged additional support from community development block grants, private foundations, and individuals.

In the past several years LBWN has expanded its programs and staff to respond to the needs of the neighborhood. The organization has established a reputation for cultivating partnerships to accomplish its mission and for developing leaders from within the neighborhood. To learn more, visit the LBWN website at www.lbwn.org.

 

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Casa Alexia: A Border Ministry
Seven School Sisters of St. Francis live and work along the border of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico serving the poor and disenfranchised in that region. This joint project of the United States and Latin America Provinces is committed to providing educational, social and pastoral services in the colonias of Texas and Mexico. Also in accordance with the mission of the School Sisters of St. Francis, our sisters promote solidarity, work for economic justice and human rights for the immigrants and poor along the border. Support of this project ensures our sisters have the resources needed to continue to respond to the needs of the people, especially the women and children living on both sides of the border. To learn more about this important mission, visit www.casaalexia.org.

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Guadalupe Homes
Guadalupe Homes, located in the rural Indian community of Santa Apolonia in Guatemala, was founded in 1985 at the invitation of Bishop Eduardo Fuentes Duarte. Its initial purpose was to care for children who became homeless during the civil war in Guatemala. Many of the orphaned and abandoned children who come to the orphanage have had little or no formal education and often suffer from severe malnutrition. Today, 100 children are cared for at Guadalupe Homes, which is comprised of eight simple houses (hogares). The children live in family groups with tias (aunts) who care for them. Funding for the project comes from foundations, churches, individuals, and from the sale of items produced in the workshops at Guadalupe Homes.

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Paiwas in Nicaragua
In the parish of Cristo Rey, located in the municipality of Paiwas, Nicaragua, the School Sisters of St. Francis are working with 21 rural communities who lack the services of government-sponsored health care. Our Paiwas Health Project seeks to improve the quality of life for over 15,000 people by strengthening the work of health promoters and midwives, and by promoting community organizing. We strive to maximize resources and address needs such as providing herbal medicines; increasing space for a laboratory, clinic, and office; improving our medicinal orchard; widening the availability of health care and training additional health promoters and midwives. The local community has trust in our faithful and dedicated promoters and midwives, and they also trust Catholic organizations. We have many strengths to draw upon such as a solid foundation to implement the program, an established training team, and support from the local government.

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North India, St. Francis Province, Bhopal, M.P.
There are 76 School Sisters of St. Francis in North India including five novices. Sisters work in schools and clinics to provide education and healthcare in remote villages. Asha Bhavan in Bangalore opened its doors in 1997 as a home for elderly women and handicapped women and girls. In order to make it possible for girls from Goreghat and other places to continue their studies beyond grade school, a hostel for girls has been started by the sisters in Bichhia. In addition to furthering their education, the girls will be trained in skills relating to tailoring, household work, and gardening. Funds are being raised to support the hostel for girls and the skill development program at Bichhia, and to support the education of our sisters.

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South India, Assisi Province, Kerala
In South India, nearly 100 School Sisters and novices conduct schools, offer health care, supervise a farm, and oversee a vocational service center offering typing and computer classes and a tailoring school for adults. The sisters also conduct pastoral work in villages. In Pullissery, the sisters teach about 800 children in grades one through eight; the majority of whom are Muslim and Hindu. There are no books, and the children learn mostly by rote. The sisters purchased a school building that was about to be closed and have now begun renovations. These include creating classrooms, and adding windows, doors, desks and benches, toilets, washing facilities, and a simple kitchen.

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Scholarships
We receive annual requests for scholarship funds for promising students in the United States, Latin America, and India. Funds are needed to support children in primary grades as well as students in high school, technical education, and college. Funds are also needed to provide for the professional education of our sisters.

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