Now is the time to register for the tenth IVC New England Madonna Della Strada Award Ceremony on Sunday, April 24, at Boston College High School.This is our first live celebration since 2019. We are excited to be back at BC High. Register early as space is limited this year. Attendees must be vaccinated and face masks are required for attendance.

Join us as we celebrate the lives of Eileen Hayes, Beth and Meyer Chambers, and Frank Kartheiser. We will gather for liturgy at 4:00 pm. Father Oscar Pratt, Pastor of St. Katharine Drexel will be the celebrant. Reception, dinner and awards follow. Our awardees:

Eileen Hayes has been CEO of Amos House for 20 years. She has grown the agency from a soup kitchen to a major social service agency on the south side of Providence. Amos House offers programs and services to individuals facing poverty, hunger, and homelessness. Eileen's life work has been in program design and implementation toward strengthening individuals and families.

Eileen is a trainer and facilitator in strength-based case management, trauma informed interventions, identifying and building resilience, motivational interviewing, and treating substance use disorders. She is the mother of four adult children, and two grandchildren and lives in Providence.

Meyer Chambers lives music, working at Boston College, St. Sebastian's School, St. Katharine Drexel Parish, and with the Archdiocese of Boston Black Catholic Choir. Beth Chambers volunteered at Catholic Charities' soup kitchen at St. Katharine Drexel in 1988 and 31 years later is the Vice President of Basic Needs for Catholic Charities. The Boston Globe called Beth "a force of nature doing God's work on the front lines..."

When Hurricane Katrina hit, they welcomed ten of Meyer's New Orleans family into their home and raised $55,000 to help Katrina's victims. Every Thanksgiving, they host a progressive dinner with their neighbors for 75 Boston College choir members who then sing Christmas carols. They have two sons and live in West Roxbury.

Frank Kartheiser became an activist in 1969, joining the antiwar, United Farmworkers, and Catholic Worker movements. He opened a Catholic Worker House, the Mustard Seed, with two friends and later worked in Urban Ministry.

Having left the College of the Holy Cross in 1969, Frank returned to complete his education in 1988. In 1989, he was appointed Associate Director of Religious Education for the Worcester diocese. In 1993, he became the first director of Worcester Interfaith, multi-issue, multi-racial community organization of institutions reflecting the religious, racial, ethnic, and geographical diversity of the city. Frank has two daughters and he and his wife, Mary Keefe, live in Worcester.

Invitations and registration material for the Madonna Della Strada celebration will be in the mail shortly. Or, you may register online on the IVC New England webpage. Though this event is being held at Boston College High School, BC High is not an official sponsor of the event.

IVC New England continues to welcome applications for new nonprofit partnerships for the 2022-2023 year. IVC New England works with agencies whose mission is to help those most in need in the Boston/Worcester/Providence area.

Ignatian Volunteers are women and men, 50 years of age or better, with lifetimes of experience. Among our current service corps members are educators, health care professionals, retired administrators, social workers, musicians, lawyers, pastoral care workers, and others with a wide variety of skills.

IVC New England volunteers commit to ten months of service, working on the average of one or two full days per week from September through June. Nonprofit partners commit to a modest partnership fee, an engaging job description, and a healthy, respectful welcome of our volunteers as members of your team.

For a flyer that more fully explains how an Ignatian Volunteer can expand and deepen your mission, click here. For a listing of current volunteers and their assignments (we currently partner with 30 nonprofits), click here. Contact, IVC New England Director Dave Hinchen (dhinchen@ivcusa.org) for more information. Check out our website to learn more about us.

IVC New England is a member of the Encore Boston Network (EBN) whose mission is inspiring and assisting people over 50 to make a difference through work, service, and social action. EBN is a diverse community, bringing together "a variety of interests and expertise to end ageism and advance opportunities."

Encore Boston Network is seeking to hire a part-time Program Manager to focus on program development, partnerships and engagement. For more information about Encore Boston Network and the Program Manager opening, click here. To read its most recent newsletter, including IVC New England postings, click here.

Invisible Words is an exercise in empathy and a public art exhibition featuring a curated collection of signs made by people experiencing homelessness worldwide. The exhibit is at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library in Washington DC from March 13 – May 27. For more information, contact: Steve Eberle, IVC Vice President for Advancement, Marketing, and Communications (seberle@ivcusa.org). IVC is co-sponsoring this exhibit.To learn more, click here.

IVC Albany and IVC Syracuse are co-sponsoring an online program, The Heart of Discerning Leadership: Growing Beyond Polarization. The program will take place on Saturday, April 9 from 10:00 – 11:30 am ET.

The presenter/reflector will be David McCallum, S.J., who is the Director of the Discerning Leadership Program in Rome. Click here for a flyer on this event. Your donations assist the IVC programs in Albany and Syracuse.