The Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh trace their roots back over 1500 years to Benedict of Nursia. Having traveled to America from St. Walburg's Abbey in Eichstätt, Bavaria, the early pioneer women came to teach immigrant German children on the farms and in the villages of the United States in the 1850s.
The present community was established in Carrolltown, PA, from the original branch in St. Marys, Elk County, in 1870. Like their foremothers, these women spread throughout southwestern Pennsylvania and Ohio, educating children and bringing the gospel message to their families. Upon their arrival in the north side of Pittsburgh, this religious community founded a monastery on Canal Street. The school they established there was especially known for teaching fine arts, primarily music, painting and needlework. The sisters were also asked to operate St. Mary's Commercial High School on the north side.
When the Benedictines moved to their present location in Ross Township, they opened Mount St. Mary's High School for Girls to meet the educational needs of young women. This evolved into the secondary high school of St. Benedict Academy, which they owned and operated until 1985. As their ministries moved from educational institutions into human and social services, their commitment to their charism and mission continued to guide them.
Upon discerning the closing of their Academy, the sisters knew that they had to make some serious decisions for that large structure. It was very important to continue to minister according to their mission statement which reads:
The Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh give witness to religious life by living in monastic community, welcoming all with hospitality, and reaffirming ongoing commitment to living and working together. The Benedictine Sisters are committed to assisting individuals who are struggling for justice and integrity in their lives, especially women who are most oppressed. The Sisters strive to assist others in attaining dignity of life, personal growth, and hope for the future rooted in Gospel values through the various ministries in human and social services, education, peace and justice ministry, and pastoral care.
The community closed St. Benedict Academy in June 1985. On July 1, 1985, they gave birth to their human service building. The first services to go into the newly renamed building, St. Benedict Hall, was the Benedictine Center. As a senior center and adult daycare, Benedictine Center serves the citizens of the northwestern communities of Allegheny County. Any person, sixty years of age or older, can benefit from the Center program. The services provided are daily meals, legal services, sign-up site for ACCESS and senior citizen bus pass ID, VITA income tax assistance, PACE, LIHEAP, rebate and property tax, CCAC classes, health related services, socialization and recreation. They have been able to outfit a computer lab to enable seniors to become computer literate. On July 1, 1997, Benedictine Center opened an office that will serve as a medical and podiatry clinic for the seniors and other programs in St. Benedict Hall and the civic community.
Over the next year, the Lutheran Services Society asked for kitchen space to operate a Meals on Wheels program for the elderly of the Perry-Reserve service area. Under the direction of a member of the Benedictine community, this program would supply meals to 70-80 elderly shut-ins on a daily basis during the week.
The third program which found a home in St. Benedict Hall was the Ross-Mercy ATF (Adult Training Facility) program. It is a very structured program designed to meet the needs of mentally challenged adults. On any given weekday, one can find 40-45 adult participants working in a variety of settings in their remodeled rooms. One room is equipped with a kitchen, washer and dryer, and living room area to allow the participants to practice their skills for daily living. Another room is designed to teach training skills for employment in sheltered workshops. The third room is equipped as a senior center for special needs older adults. Several years later, a profoundly challenged program was added to the Ross ATF site. This program is managed by one of the sisters and provides respite for families caring for adults afflicted with profound retardation.
By 1989 the sisters felt that they were still not using the former academy to full capacity. The three permanent programs in operation used only two floors of the four-story building. A children's daycare, a ballet school, and community college utilized parts of the upper two floors, but a large amount of space was not being utilized. It was at this time that a group of service providers in northern Allegheny County identified affordable housing as the foremost unmet need in their service area. This group formally incorporated themselves as North Hills Affordable Housing (NHAH).
NHAH identified as its first project the development of transitional housing for women and children in crisis living in Allegheny County. Having heard that the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh were looking to further utilize their former high school, the NHAH board of directors approached this monastic community to see if they would be willing to partner with them in providing housing for homeless women and children.
When the monastic chapter was presented with this idea and they compared the mission statement of North Hills Affordable Housing with the mission statement of the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh, the similarities were striking. Both wanted to provide hospitality and to assist individual women who were struggling for justice and integrity in their lives. Both groups wanted to assist others in attaining dignity of life, personal growth and hope for the future. It appeared that this match was no coincidence -- it was a journey to be shared.
The sisters became partners of NHAH and members of the board of directors. For the next five years, both groups worked diligently to surmount the obstacles to zoning approval and to raise the one million dollars needed to renovate the upper two floors of the former academy building into fifteen self-contained, two- and three-bedroom transitional apartments and a community room.
Through fund raising efforts, private and foundation grants and many in-kind donations, the actual renovation neared completion before the attainment of HUD financing for the ongoing program operation. After five years of trying to make this dream become reality, a special HUD grant was finally obtained and the doors to this new transitional housing site was opened in June 1995 as the sisters celebrated the 125th anniversary of their founding.
Benedictine Place provides more than simply a roof over the heads of the families living there. It incorporates access to such services as personal, financial and career counseling, tutoring, GED training, higher education, job skills assessment, child care, parenting classes, support groups, programming for children and recreational opportunities.
Since its opening, Benedictine Place has served 58 individuals: 23 women and 42 children. Requirements for entrance include an income level of no more than 125% of poverty level and a commitment to using the program to become self-sufficient, contributing members of the community at large. Currently, 87% of the residents are dependent on public assistance and the rest are making a subsistence-level wage which keeps them below the income guidelines.
NHAH has been a unique coalition of citizens, religious congregations, local government, service groups and community organizations from the very beginning. Since its inception, NHAH has made a determined effort to involve a wide variety of constituencies in its work. This effort has resulted in a successful collaboration and program which are unduplicated in the country. According to a representative from Fannie Mae, there is no other program in the country which provides all the following:
1. 24-month transitional housing with suburban setting
2. Easy access to city and county services.
3. Space available for a mother and up to four children
4. Acceptance of children up to 18 years of age, especially males
5. Services for mother and children focusing on employment, education, personal growth, life skills and family growth.
6. Integration into the local community via volunteers, education, community organizations and church attendance.
7. A comprehensive program which results in economic self-sufficiency.
One of the many success stories that has happened at Benedictine Place centers around Dianne Kiefer. Dianne came to live at Benedictine Place with her two young sons. Her goal was to work toward her college degree in welding which she believes will be a positive step in finding a good job that will better provide for her and her two boys. This program has allowed her to attend school on a full-time basis and still be able to be home with her children. She said that the program has also allowed her the opportunity to achieve her goal of a college degree. In the recent American Welding Society Weld-Off, Dianne not only won first prize in the post- secondary division, but she is the first female student to win such a competition.
Providing a hospitable and nurturing environment for individuals like Dianne, the Ross ATF clients, and the senior citizens is one of the many strengths of the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh. These monastic women continue to be faithful to Benedict's Rule and the gospel values through their devotion to prayer, community and ministry. They reach out to the people in the community-at-large by their involvement in social services, care of the aged, education, counseling, pastoral ministry, daycare, visual arts, administration, hospital ministry, foster parenting, tutoring, peace and justice advocation and spiritual direction. They live the Benedictine charism and give life to their Benedictine legacy.
Judith Ann Criner, OSB
4530 Perrysville Ave,
Pittsburgh, PA
Benedictine Sisters of Ridgely, Maryland
The Benedictine Sisters of Ridgely moved their monastery from the city of Newark, New Jersey, to the eastern shore of Maryland in 1887. Until 1982, the sisters at "The Plains" were engaged in educating both the normal and the special child as well as farming several hundred acres of land.
The Benedictines had been aware of the large population of needy in this rural area for a number of years. Two sisters, wanting to help, turned to prayer. Since it was the feast of St. Martin de Porres, they asked him for guidance and intercession. Later that same night, a third sister exclaimed excitedly, "Someone in this house is praying to St. Martin." Stunned, the praying sisters asked, "How did you know?" "Because a mouse just ran into my room," she answered.
St. Martin de Porres, a Dominican brother born in Peru, was known for a life of humility, obedience, prayerfulness and penitence. He also possessed a great love of all animals and people. Legend has it that Martin attracted mice to the monastery because in his compassion he could not bear to see them starve so he left crumbs of food for them. Learning that his fellow brothers were becoming distressed, Martin struck a deal with the mice, "I'll feed you if you will stay in the barn and not crawl about the monastery." Legend holds that when a mouse appears it is a sign that St. Martin has heard your prayers.
Thus, with St. Martin at their side, the Benedictine sisters embarked on a new ministry of outreach to the rural poor. They opened St. Martin's Barn, and ten years later built and opened St. Martin's House.
St. Martin's Barn Program provides emergency outreach to help those in need of food, clothing, furniture, household items, bedding, personal care items, baby clothes and supplies. Limited funds are also given to help prevent evictions and utility cutoffs and to provide some medical assistance in the form of prescription medications. Last year we were able to assist more than 9,500 people with funds totaling $64,000. In addition, there is a large thrift shop from which some revenues are used to operate the outreach program.
A host of volunteers makes it possible for the success of our ever-growing outreach. The organization and execution of large yard sales this year has significantly increased our ability to help our clients. Families coming to us for assistance are also encouraged to join the SHARE program, a supplemental food program in which they must assume some of the financial responsibility and perform some community service. Grants, such as the Emergency Shelter Grant, FEMA, the United Way, county commissioners, private foundations, and our long list of faithful donors are major sources of monies.
St. Martin's House, dedicated on May 2, 1993, is a transitional facility designed to provide a multi-service program for women and children. Many of these women and children are either homeless or living in squalid, subhuman conditions. Often they are at risk of eviction from even these unfit hovels. Our program helps the residents not only to meet basic needs for shelter, food and clothing, but will also assist them with education and job training so that they can reach self- sufficiency.
The lived experience and training, hopefully, will move residents from St. Martin's House into the larger community where the women will provide other needed voices to address the deplorable housing conditions that still exist.
The usual family stay at St. Martin's House is six to twenty-four months. This time is spent learning parenting skills, household management and budgeting. Each woman has the opportunity to attend Chesapeake College or other vocational programs to prepare for independence while her children attend school or certified daycare programs. In the evening they come together in an atmosphere that supports their being a family.
Our residence has a capacity to comfortably house twelve women and their children. Presently we are ministering to eleven women and eight children.
Several women have left us and are now living meaningful, independent lives. One such woman is Kelly. She arrived with two little boys and stayed several months. She has since married a responsible young man, has a third child, and is home schooling the older two boys. Prior to that, Kelly maintained a successful daycare in her home.
Lea, one of the original residents, is now employed full-time in the monastery infirmary. Lea got her GED, became a certified nursing assistant, bought her own car, and now has her own home. It is so gratifying to see women such as Kelly and Lea break the cycle of poverty and lead wonderful, productive lives.
As is the case with St. Martin's Barn, St. Martin's House relies heavily on our volunteer help. Outside of Maryland, we have had volunteers from Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Delaware. Student nurses from local colleges and the University of Maryland as well as Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, join our staff and present workshops on nutrition, hygiene, parenting, counseling of teens and pre-natal care.
Caroline County, the county in which we are located, is the second poorest county in the state of Maryland. We, as Benedictine women, are trying to steward our goods and lands. If you wish to assist us in our efforts to break the cycle of poverty and to make a difference in someone's life, we invite you to do so by contacting:
St. Martin's Ministries
S. Patricia Gamgort, OSB
14259 Benedictine Lane
Ridgely, Maryland 21660