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Let there be light!
Happy New Year!
Dear Friends,
As we look at the road ahead of us, winding into the future of 2018, I found myself
turning just for a moment to look back on what 2017 might teach us as we ready ourselves
to set out on our new journey. What I found as I looked back from where we have come
included moments of light -- the outstanding work of some of our sisters, the Interfaith
March in September, and the celebration of the 90th Anniversary of the Sisters of Social
Service. Yes, we did have light in 2017.
As we look to 2018, and inspired by John 5:1 -
the Light came into the world and the darkness cannot overcome it --
I felt my heart lift at the sense that our God is faithful and our God is still there shining the Light of the Christ on days ahead. Those who are most in need, the refugees, the abandoned, the hungry -- there is still hope, there is still faith, in a word, there is still Love shining its light on all of humanity.
Let there be light!
Happy New Year!
Sr. Michele Walsh, SSS
General Director
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90 Years and Counting!
By Jamey Fitzpatrick
In 2017, the SSS Community had a chance to look back on the strong connections and services that we have built with the local communities we serve over the past 90 years.
You have been such integral partners in our work each step of the way, and accompanied us on the path to expand and deepen services and systems for those living in poverty. We are so grateful for your ongoing support, both financial resources and the gifts of your talents
and vision. We are excited to embark on the next chapter of our work together.
Read more...
Thank you for your generosity of spirit
and compassionate actions!
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90th Jubilee Celebration Video highlighting current ministries created by Mary Grace
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Click on the right for a video that Mary Grace
, social media manager at HSRC, made the weekend we celebrated our
90th Anniversary of Sisters of Social Service in Los Angeles.
Current Ministries Celebrated:
Click below or on the link above to see what social justice and social service ministries our Sisters and Associates are involved in:
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Sawtelle Center
and Regis House Community Center
Many people walking inside the doors of Regis House today,
may not know
that its roots date back to 1948. In celebrating our 90 Years in
Los Angeles, we wanted to walk you inside the doors of Sawtelle Center
in the 1950s. Come visit
with the incredible children, youth and families who filled the rooms in
Sawtelle
neighborhood - and catch a glimpse of the Sisters who wanted
wanted
to make a difference in their lives and to be sure they had a place to call their own.
The first link below sets the stage - including the hopes and dreams of
Sawtelle Center
and those who were a part of the programs the Sisters offered. Esther Medina Garcia,
one of the youth who was an active part of Sawtelle Center, wrote
a historical piece on the time and her and her friends' experiences there, which is
the second article below. The third part visits Regis House today - nearing its 70th birthday - alive and thriving in LA's Historic Filipinotown. For those who would like to see a chronology of the locations and buildings of
Sawtelle Center to Regis House - please see the timeline link below.
The Sights and Sounds of Sawtelle Center
by Jamey Fitzpatrick and Sr. Mary Ellen Petrich, SSS
Since there are so many ways to stay in touch today, we sometimes forget the days when it took a visit or a letter in the mail to reawaken a friendship and restart a conversation. A time when Sisters and others went and knocked on doors to find out how a family was, or to ask if someone needed help who was recovering from an illness or a recent addition to the family.
As we continue to celebrate the 90 years of Sisters
of Social Service in Los Angeles, we are revisiting many ministries that were and are a vital part of the local communities where Sisters lived and worked....
Read more!
Los Amigos de Sotel - Friends of Sawtelle
by
Esther Medina Garcia
In the late 1940s, '50s and early '60s - in an
era when most of us grew up in - Sawtelle was
a town bordered on the west by Centinela, on the south by Pico Boulevard, from the north by Wilshire Boulevard and the east by Sepulveda Boulevard. Later, in the 1950s, Sawtelle was incorporated into West Los Angeles, however, on the old maps you can still see the name Sawtelle.
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Read more!
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Los Amigos de Sotel Reunion, August 2017
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Regis House Community Center
by Jamey Fitzpatrick and Sr. Albertina Morales, SSS
Although more than 60 years has elapsed since Sawtelle Center began, kids still love cooking, families still need help navigating our complex world and Regis House is alive and well and filled with dozens of visitors each day. Now located in
Historic Filipinotown
after moving in 2007 to fill a pressing need, more than 300 families are served there monthly, with offerings for all ages. Read more!
Timeline - Sawtelle to
Historic Filipinotown
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Blessed are the Peacemakers:
The First San
Fernando
Valley
Interfaith Solidarity March
By Bryanna Benedetti-Coomber
with Sr. Deborah Lorentz, SSS
The First San Fernando Valley Interfaith Solidarity March
took place on Sunday, September 10 in commemoration
of the
16th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The
march
symbolized solidarity and unity among people
of all faiths
who reject violence in the name of religion.
The march was
attended by over 500 people who braved
the SFV Valley heat
to stand in solidarity with one another.
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Save the Date!
Weaving Hope with a Faith That Does Justice
Interfaith Social Justice Convening Day
April 14, 2018 -
9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Great speakers! Exhibitors! Networking!
More details to follow soon...
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We invite you to join us for this engaging day devoted to social justice actions and collaborations. This event will give everyone the opportunity to learn, reflect,
network, create potential collaboration, and share effective action strategies for making personal and organizational responses to urgent issues. We hope our convening will also build a community of solidarity in which we can strengthen how we can, together, put faith into action.
Weaving Hope with a Faith That Does Justice
is a project of the Anima International Foundation (Anima) in partnership with the Holy Spirit Retreat Center. Anima
is the newest initiative of the Sisters of Social Service Community. Founded in 2017, Anima empowers innovative and contemporary ways of responding in solidarity to those whose human rights and dignity are diminished by the violence of persistent poverty and injustice, especially women, children, immigrants and refugees. Anima does this in partnership with the most vulnerable through humanitarian aid, direct service, advocacy and building capacity building, collaborative solutions.
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Día de los Muertos
- or Day of the Dead - is celebrated on November 2 throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican ancestry living in other places, especially in the United States. This holiday is a day
of remembrance and a day to honor deceased family members and friends.
It is day acknowledged
internationally in many other cultures. Prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century, the holiday is attributed to the Aztec culture dating back hundreds
of years.
Read more...
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Sharing Our Impact
and Our Collaborations
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Sr. Paula Vandegaer, SSS
Celebrates 50 Years of Pro-Life Work
By SSS Novice Raquel Cruz
We are grateful once again to the Holy Spirit
that moves
in us and around us!
Sr. Paula Vandegaer, SSS,
was
honored and recognized for her 50 years of
Pro-Life
work,
along with Archbishop Jose H. Gomez who was also
recognized for
his ongoing
Pro-life leadership. It has been
a big journey very
well accomplished.
Sr. Paula started
this
beautiful ministry to defend the life of those who
cannot
defend themselves. Over the years, she has taught
and
trained others to follow the same steps in defending
the life
of the unborn babies.
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Lisa Lopez, SSS Candidate,
Named
NCRC-KPBS Community
Hero
for Her Work with Asylum Seekers
By Bryanna Benedetti-Coomber
Lisa Lopez, a SSS Candidate
and accomplished attorney in San Diego, was honored by
the National Conflict Resolution Center (NCRC) and KPBS radio
as a "Community Hero"
for her work with asylum seekers.
Lisa is Founder and Executive Director of the Southern California Immigration Project
(SCIP),
which has provided free or low-cost legal services to immigrants and asylum
seekers, particularly from Africa. The project also provides healing resources
for survivors
of Female
Genital
Cutting and other human rights violations.
Read more...
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Community Organizing - a glimpse into the heart of the work
By Jamey Fitzpatrick
This fall,
Sr. Maribeth Larkin, SSS,
was interviewed by
Queensland Community Alliance
about her four decades of work as
a community organizer. She and Joe Chrastil are currently the Regional Organizers for the
Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) Northwest
, and provide direct support and training for the leaders and organizers of organizations partnering with IAF in Washington, Oregon, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Sr. Maribeth's passion for community organizing sprung from her early work in the 1970s...
Read more...
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Alliance Aotearoa
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This video
was created by Sr. Maribeth's colleagues in New Zealand at
Alliance Aotearoa
, a group she has collaborated with since 2013. She shared that it focuses on their effort to build a broad-based community organization in Aotearoa, the Mauri word for New Zealand which means "
Land of the long white cloud
". https://vimeo.com/235255941
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Keep in Touch with us - in the New Year!
Did you move?
If you need to let us know your new address, feel free to call or email with your change. Please contact
Bryanna
in the Development Office, and she's happy to
let others know.
Can't find your 2017 thank you letter?
Just let us know if you need another one! We are happy to email it to you or send
you another hard copy through the mail.
Donation summaries
Would you like a
summary of all gifts
from the 2017 calendar year for taxes?
Feel free to call or email Bryanna and let us know you'd like one.
Our Development Office contact information is below in the teal box.
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Start the New Year with Resolve!
New Year's resolutions allow us to take stock of the last year, reevaluate our
priorities, and reset.
We hope you join us in 2018 in resolving to give back to the community and to those on the margins our world,
so in need of care and hope.
Click here for a few New Year's Resolution ideas connected with the SSS Community
to help you get started.
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Holy Spirit Retreat Center:
Upcoming Events
Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino is an interfaith space offering an array of day and weekend classes, groups, and retreats. We also rent the facility to outside groups to hold their own retreats. We have spiritual direction and space for private time available.
Click here
to read about a few of our upcoming retreats or visit our website below to see our full offerings, registration
details, and fees.
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