What's Happening

July 12, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – The Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Adrian Resilient Community Initiative – approved in 2022 by the 2016-2022 General Council – is making a difference in the lives of youth who live in Adrian’s Historic East Side. 

The initiative, Growing up Resilient: The East Adrian Youth Resilience Collaborative, focuses on connecting participating youth and their families in East Adrian and the two Hispanic neighborhoods on the outskirts of Adrian with available community resources to expand literacy and family education and to connect the families with the resources they need. 

The plan includes developing Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs housed at the Boys and Girls Club of Lenawee and creating an Adrian Dominican Sisters Youth Learning Center and computer lab, to be housed in Ebeid Learning Center of ProMedica. This healthcare system encompasses southeastern Michigan and northern Ohio. 

Sisters, Associates, Co-workers, and the general public heard more about the initiative and its progress during a Lunch and Learn program offered June 12, 2024, at Weber Retreat and Conference Center.

“Our intent was not to duplicate efforts but to work collaboratively with other groups” to meet the needs of youth in the marginalized Historic East Side of Adrian, said Jennifer Hunter, Chief Operating Officer for the Adrian Dominican Sisters, and Co-chair of the Adrian Resilient Community Initiative Committee with Sister Sharon Weber, OP. 

The committee compared the population of the East Side with those of the rest of Lenawee County to determine the needs of the youth and families in that area and discovered several disparities. For example, 30% of East Adrian households are below the poverty line, compared to 11% in the rest of the community. 

Their discovery “formed our committee’s vision: a collaborative initiative among community members to provide youth in East Adrian with an opportunity for age-appropriate education and assistance in overcoming barriers,” Jennifer said.

Cody Waters, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Lenawee, spoke of the various programs offered by the club. Programs offer children the opportunity to develop in the areas of character and leadership, health and sports, academics, art, and career development.

In particular, Cody spoke of the organization’s summer camps to offer children a safe place while they experience art and enrichment in reading and mathematics. In the club’s peer-to-peer program, he said, older students help younger students improve their reading skills. 

Boys and Girls Club of Lenawee also relies on volunteers to help the children. “We want kids to enjoy what they’re doing and we want volunteers to enjoy it,” Cody said. “Relationship building is the key thing. Our team is trying to come up with different ways to get more mentors into the building.”  

Frank Nagel, Director of Community Impact for ProMedica, spoke of the healthcare system’s practice of screening patients for social factors that put them at a high risk. “When we have a patient at high risk for food insecurity, we can see at a ZIP Code level how these factors are taking place,” he said. People in Adrian’s ZIP Code, 49221, were in the “top five” of geographic areas with the need for greater resources, he said.

ProMedica first established an Ebeid Neighborhood Promise in Toledo “to address the gaps people have in attaining the resources they need,” Frank said. With the power of collaboration in Adrian, he said, “we can make sure that people are empowered to make lifestyle changes” that would improve their lives.

Lynne Punnett, Manager of Community Resilience for the resilience initiative in Adrian, said the Ebeid Center in Adrian has, since September 2023, been offering programs in areas such as financial literacy, home ownership, and parenting.  

This summer, the Ebeid Neighborhood Promise of Adrian is offering a six-week Literacy Pop-Up program in Adrian. For six mornings in June and July, children will be mentored as they focus on reading, writing, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Lynn said. Volunteer mentors include godparents, community members, and six Adrian Dominican Sisters.  

Partnership with the Adrian Dominican Sisters has “catalyzed this work … and brought us to a whole new level,” Frank said. “The power of this collaboration and partnership has been a humbling experience. I look forward to seeing the progress that is made because of our partnerships.”      

In late Spring, Boys and Girls Club of Lenawee publicly recognized the initiative by bestowing its Blue Door Award on the Adrian Dominican Sisters. “Through their generosity and steadfast support, the ‘Blue Door’ to our Club has been opened to so many local youth, and with the establishment of this new mentorship initiative, their impact on our Club and youth throughout the county will remain for decades and decades to come,” said Sara Herriman, Director of Development and Community Relations. 

“It was wonderful to be honored by and to partner with the Boys and Girls Club of Lenawee, an organization that has served the youth of our community so well for many years now,” Sister Sharon said.

“We were honored to be notified that the Adrian Dominican Sisters were being awarded the Blue Door Award by Boys and Girls Club of Lenawee,” Jennifer said.

•    Growing up Resilient is one of six initiatives developed by various regional groups of Adrian Dominican Sisters in response to the Congregation’s 2016 Resilient Communities Enactment. The other initiatives are:

•    Developing Resiliency in the Community of San José, Preravia Province, Dominican Republic. This initiative supports the construction of a technical school to offer training to local residents in fields needed by the local community.

•    Creating a More Resilient Immigration Community in McKinley Park (Illinois). The proposal is to establish a Comprehensive Adult Education Hub at Aquinas Literacy Center in Chicago’s McKinley Park neighborhood to offer GED instruction and literacy programs in the areas of computers, finances, the environment, and civics.

•    An investment to construct a second building at the Dominican School of Angeles City in the Mining barangay, Province of Pampanga, Philippines.

•    Affordable Housing as a Platform for Education Equity and Community Resilience. In partnership with Mercy Housing Northwest (MHNW), the initiative calls for extra in-house academic programs and social opportunities for children and their families in affordable MHNW housing projects to help them succeed academically.

•    The Empowering Resilient Women Initiative provides women in Flint, Michigan, who suffer from abuse with the resources they need to gain control of their lives, support for their families, and develop stronger communities.
 
 

 

July 12, 2024, Mosul, Iraq – Sister Donna Markham, OP, traveled a great deal in the early summer, but she counts as most important her visit to the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena in Iraq – a community that over the years has had close ties with many of the congregations of Dominican Sisters in the United States.

Sister Donna first met the Sisters from Iraq during her years as Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters from 2004 to 2010. The Congregation sponsored several the younger Sisters to earn advanced degrees in the United States, allowing them to spend some time away from the war in their home country.

“The trip to Iraq was important for the Sisters and for me to see one another,” Sister Donna said. “I have been there several times before for meetings and presentations.” She had planned in October 2023 to accompany Sister Raghad Saeed, OP, back home after she earned her doctorate in physics at the Catholic University of America but, at that time, the trip would have been dangerous.

Sister Donna visited the Sisters in May to offer support as they continue to struggle. In 2014, they had fled their convents on the Nineveh Plain with the incursion of the terrorist group ISIS and had spent years internally displaced. During that time, they ministered to others displaced by ISIS. They established schools and clinics and provided spiritual support and presence. Even after returning home after the Nineveh Plain was secured, they faced the challenges of rebuilding their churches, convents, and places of ministry.

Sister Donna found joy during her recent visit to Iraq as she learned about the Sisters’ ministries and how they continued service to the people. Sister Aman Miriam Mansoor, OP, is principal of a school in Baghdad, while Sister Ban Saeed, OP, conducts Montessori classes. Sister Nadiya Shamees, OP, ministers in a Baghdad hospital as a nurse practitioner. Sister Raghad teaches physics at the University of Mosul. 

Muslim and Christian children attending the school where Sister Aman Miriam ministers learn how to relate with one another as friends, Sister Donna added. “That seems to be a very important part of her ministry, so the children can grow up and not experience each other as enemies. The Sisters are highly regarded as top educators in the country, so parents of all religions are eager to send their children to the Sisters’ schools.”

While Sister Donna appreciated reconnecting with the Sisters, she also learned of the current hardships they face. “Clearly life there remains difficult because the Sisters really have little opportunity to leave the country. Many embassies have been closed to them,” Sister Donna said. 

In addition, the Sisters are seeing many Christian residents leaving Iraq. “Many of their homes were severely damaged by explosives that had been used by ISIS,” Sister Donna explained. “You see homes still burned out. Many Christians don’t see life as safe for their families. The Christian churches in Iraq remain very much in persecution.”

Sister Donna continued: “The Sisters’ resilience, focus on ministry, and efforts to help their people in ministry are remarkable. They pledge to minister there as long as long as there are Christians to minister to. But it’s a rough situation.”

Adding to the sadness of the flight of Christians from Iraq is the fact that many of the Sisters’ family members have left Iraq, Sister Donna said. Consequently, the Sisters remain separated from their own families who have relocated to other countries such as Australia, France, Jordan, Lebanon, and Italy.

Because of these challenges, Sister Donna said, it’s more important than ever for Dominican Sisters from the United States to visit them, if possible. “They were so grateful to have me come,” she said. “Any Dominican Sisters who might feel comfortable enough to visit them provide enormous support in this very tenuous time in Iraq.

“They said to tell the Sisters not to be afraid,” she said. “I certainly did not feel unduly afraid being there. The Sisters are very careful with where I go - they make sure that they’re safe and I’m safe.”

Still, Sister Donna acknowledged that traveling to Iraq can be a challenge. “It’s a very difficult trip and very long,” she said. “You have to be calm. I don’t think there’s imminent danger but, obviously, it can be rather disconcerting to go through so many military checkpoints.”

For those who might find a visit to Iraq particularly challenging, Sister Donna suggested other ways to show support for the Iraqi Dominican Sisters. “They always appreciate prayers,” she said. But they also appreciate connection with the U.S. sisters – if not through visits, then through email or Zoom calls. 

“It’s so important that we stay connected to them,” Sister Donna said. “They don’t need money or things. Their lives are simple and they seem to be doing OK financially. Connecting with the Sisters in any way you can is the greatest gift and support you can give them,” she added.