Hotels in the Indianapolis area are better equipped to recognize and help victims of human trafficking—thanks to an initiative launched before the February 5 Super Bowl by a group of 11 orders of Catholic women religious in Indiana and Michigan in collaboration with state and local officials and organizations.

The goal of the initiative is to raise awareness about human trafficking, assure that hotel staff receive appropriate training, and distribute educational materials to hotels willing to make them available in lobbies and guest rooms..

Father Ed Konerman, SJ, retiring after 16 years as Chaplain at the PHJC Ministry Center, celebrated his last Mass in the Ancilla Domini Chapel and the Catherine Kasper Home Chapel on January 29, 2012.

The St. Joseph Community Health Foundation and the Allen County Department of Health through their co-sponsored “Lead Poisoning Prevention & Healthy Homes Program,” received a $27,000 grant from PNC Foundation to fund Turnstone's “Little Plumbs” program. This program, created with input from the Healthy Homes staff, helps pre-school children afflicted with lead poisoning receive specialized speech therapy, occupational therapy, early childhood education, and nutritional snacks and meals to prepare them to successfully enter school.

3, 2, 1, Lift Off - Lindenwood's new website launched January 17, 2012. It offers a more sophisticated look and ease of use for viewers. Features include additional and enhanced views of our meeting room and grounds, on-line mailing list sign-up, event inquiry form to schedule at Lindenwood and much, much more.

When the Poor Handmaids gathered and created a musical CD, they did not know the ripple effect that effort would create. Sales of those songs purchase elk hides. The elk hides are used by creative youth in Chicago to make their own handmade drums. The drums bring a message of PEACE to a Chicago neighborhood steeped in violence. A small stone makes many ripples.

“Over 300 youth under the age of 20 perished in Chicago in the past three years, three in the last two months,” said Father Bruce Wellems to the crowd gathered outside the Holy Cross/Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish. He challenges parish members to make their own wood drums in the way of Native Americans who believe “If 100 drums beat as one, you can move the earth toward peace.” The drum is central to the Native American community and ceremony and considered to be the heartbeat of the Earth.

The St. Joseph Community Health Foundation, operated by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, recently announced $532,813 in grants to local organizations to improve health, wellness and health care access for the low-income people...

Storytelling is the art of capturing moments of our lives and sharing those experiences with others. Storytellers make you laugh, cry, relate and question. In honor of Veteran’s Day and those affected by war, five local community members shared their Personal Reflections of War on November 10, 2011 at Catherine Kasper Home Auditorium. This was the first in a series of events sponsored by the Intergenerational Living and Learning Committee and the public was invited.

The auditorium was filled to capacity. People lined the walls; youth offered their seats to the elderly. Sr. Michelle Dermody, PHJC asked for blessings on the program. May Crider, Lindenwood Event Coordinator, lead the audience in singing our national anthem. Many patriotic elderly residents rose and sang, causing nurses to spring to attention as wheelchair alarms sounded.

Terry Sanders has been named to the newly created position of Executive Director, PHJC Foundation/Vice President, Development Services effective November 14, 2011. Terry will oversee all development activities within the PHJC Foundation.  She will be responsible for directing the comprehensive development office for PHJC ministries to design and propose fundraising strategies, and to obtain financial and public support for PHJC ministries.

GARY | One last Halloween ghost stuck around at Forest Ridge Academy and perched on the shoulder of middle school teacher Julie Anderson recently as she delivered a donation to Sojourner Truth House Executive Director Sr. Peg Spindler, CSA, who oversees the Gary day center for homeless and at-risk women and children.

Forest Ridge Academy middle school students raised approximately $750 for the day center by selling $1 Boo Grams, personalized notes attached to small candies or balls decorated to look like ghosts.

The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ present a seasonal concert. The Culver Academies Choir, directed by Stacey Warren, and members of the Culver Academies Band and Orchestra, directed by Major William Browne, and Chad Gard, Assistant Director, will perform a program of Christmas music and other selections on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. EST in the Ancilla Domini Chapel, PHJC Ministry Center in Donaldson, Indiana.

Change is part of a Poor Handmaids life. They go where the Spirit leads. Sr. Esther Dolezal, PHJC spent many years in the dry, warm area of Materi Girls’ School in Kenya where she devoted herself to fulfilling needs of the children at Materi and the Caring Place Home for Boys. Her new mission is very different - the pharmacy at St. Anne Hospital. Sister Esther dispenses medication to the people of Igoji, Kenya.

Igoji (E go Gee) is located in the forested hills east of Mount Kenya. The higher elevation is a bit cooler even though it is near the equator.  Sr. Esther explained that trained medical professionals are scarce in the region. Her mission was born of necessity. St. Anne Mission Hospital is a small facility that provides local health care for conditions like wounds, malaria, and parasitic infections. If the patient has a complex case, they are stabilized and transferred to a larger hospital. The larger hospitals are often severely overcrowded. The smaller St. Anne’s Hospital is a preferred health resource for the local community.

Announcing the Official PHJC Facebook page.

Follow this link:

http://facebook.poorhandmaids.org

to stay connected to the Sisters with Daily updates, announcements and spiritual messages.

We welcome your feedback.

Click "LIKE" to post to your wall, or feel free to comment.

Every year the Poor Handmaids in the American Province gather together as a community. This June, Poor Handmaids from around the country and a few from around the world, converged on Donaldson, Indiana for Community Days.

This is a time for learning, for dialogue and reuniting as the PHJC family.

During Community Days, Chelsea Wakefield, MSW, LCSW, led a process on various issues related to leadership. Her sessions were designed to encourage the Sisters to “find voice” and to give expression to the truth in all the dimensions of their lives. The response to her presentations was overwhelmingly positive.