$100,000 in 2019 Wisdom Mission Grants Awarded

Daughters of Wisdom, US Province, is pleased to announce this year’s Wisdom Grant recipients, which total $100,000. These grants support programs such as training and opportunities for victims of abuse and human trafficking, outreach to the poor and neglected, alternatives to the death penalty, treatment for people suffering from addiction, art therapy, and childcare and education for disadvantaged youth.  

This year, nine organizations will benefit from the Wisdom Grant. Recipients include: Virginians For Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP) of Richmond, Virginia; the Opening Word Program of  Wyandanch, NY; The Mary & Elizabeth Center of Oceanside, NY; Sophia’s House at The Center for Wisdom’s Women in Lewiston, ME; Long Island Congregations Associations and Neighborhoods of Plainview, NY; Mother House New Haven’s MOSS program in Litchfield, CT; Rethreaded, Inc. of Jacksonville, FL; St. Charles Hospital, Port Jefferson, NY; and Hope House Ministries of Long Island, NY.

Endorsed by Sr. Margaret McCabe, DW, for the second year,  Virginians For Alternatives to the Death Penalty will receive $15,000 to help sustain statewide legislative initiatives. The organization does grassroots education and outreach In the districts of eight legislators for death penalty abolition. The group seeks support for legislative reform and abolition of capital punishment by the 2020 session of the Virginia General Assembly. To find out more visit www.vadp.org

Daughters of Wisdom from the Huntington Station Community and Associate of Wisdom, Audrey Schroeder, are involved in the Opening Word program which will be funded for a second year with a $5,000 grant. The money will be used to support the Career Development Program, which helps to prepare students for advanced education, vocational training, and computer competency for online job searches and applications. For more information about the Opening Word, visit openingword.org

The Mary and Elizabeth Center was granted $5,000 toward its Wildflower Program. Endorsed by Sr. Catherine Sheehan, DW, the program reaches out to abused women. The money will be used to offer the 10-step healing sessions and family night at more locations; and to train program facilitators, spiritual directors, and counselors to gain competence to work with those who have been sexually abused.  To find out more about the Mary & Elizabeth Center, email Maryandelizabethcenter@gmail.com

Sophia’s House at The Center for Wisdom’s Women in  Lewiston, Maine,  whose executive director is Associate of Wisdom, Klara Tammany, will receive a second-year grant of $15,000 to be used to complete building renovations for the formal opening of this residential program in 2020. Sophia’s house will minister to the needs of women who are healing from addiction, trafficking, incarceration, and dealing with adverse childhood experiences and poverty. Expansion of its business, Herban Works, and income-earning job training for program participants is planned, along with the funding of support services for new residents, including access to mental health, medical, and dental care. For more information visit www.wisdomswomen.org  or  https://wisdomswomen.org/sophias-house/

The Long Island Congregations Associations and Neighborhoods, endorsed by Sr. Evelyn Lamoureux, DW, was granted $5,000 toward a program to fight the opioid epidemic on Long Island. With over 3,600 people dying of opioid overdoses on Long Island in the last nine years, and Suffolk County leading the State in numbers, LI-Can aims to reduce those numbers by engaging congregations, other non-profits, and affected families by empowering them with a two-fold response: providing meaningful, practical support to individuals and families dealing with substance abuse-related challenges, and using their combined power to create change in systems of care in order to prevent overdoses and enable recovery. For more information visit https://www.li-can.org/

Endorsed by Sr. Rosemarie Greco, DW, Mother House New Haven’s MOSS program (Mom’s Open Studio Series) was granted $10, 000 for a new initiative that will provide a series of art therapy retreats at Wisdom House in Litchfield, CT for women and their children. Mother House New Haven is a wellness-promoting art-making studio with integrated childcare. The program is designed to create a space for mothers to learn to use art to safely explore their sense of self, identity, and aesthetics as a means of cultivating increased presence and wellbeing. Included will be the partnership of Yale University and volunteers from local early childhood education and psychology programs, field workers, and interns. For more information, email annatramirez@gmail.com

Rethreaded, Inc., a ministry endorsed by Sr. Lucy Clynes, DW, provides training and opportunities for women to break out of the cycle of human trafficking. The $15,000 grant will support the Survivor Development Program and Holistic Apprenticeship Program. Funding will cover the cost of sending one new survivor through the six-month Holistic Apprenticeship Program that provides the participant with part-time employment, weekly trauma counseling, care management, crisis support, and mental health classes. Rethreaded’s mission is to renew hope, reignite dreams, and increase the potential for survivors of human trafficking through its conscious gift company. Its business model is based on upcycling materials into beautiful products that normally would have gone to the landfill. To find out more, visit www.rethreaded.com

Established by the Daughters of Wisdom in 1907, St. Charles Hospital is a 243-bed, acute-care community hospital located in Port Jefferson, NY with nine outpatient rehabilitation sites on Long Island, NY, from Albertson in Nassau County to Port Jefferson in Suffolk County. Endorsed by Sr. Ann Gray, DW, the hospital will receive $15,000 to purchase the “Big Book,” an educational support material for participants in their Alcoholics Anonymous support groups. The Big Book is used daily by people suffering from addiction and is one of the most important requirements for incorporating the AA program into everyday life. The books will be given to all patients upon discharge from the detoxification and rehabilitation units. St. Charles currently treats more than 2,000 patients per year, with 1,500 seeking treatment for the very first time. To find out more, visit www.stcharles.org

Hope House Ministries received the endorsement of Sr. Catherine Sheehan, DW, with $15,000 in grant money to partially cover the salary of a program director in the Sr. Jean Beagan, OP Family and Children’s Center. The Center caters to low-income families and provides a variety of services for children, ages 5-16, many who suffer from trauma or abuse, through play therapy, individual counseling, family counseling, education; and includes components for parent and guardian training. To find out more about Hope House Ministries visit www.hhm.org