Behavioral Health Services

Supporting people afflicted with mental health conditions and chemical addictions – along with their families, is a special call to serve.  Compassion, healing and liberation are at the heart of a sister serving in the healing ministry of Jesus to people at risk emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, and physically.  To embrace this need, Catholic religious affiliated community-based programs are blessed with healthcare professionals and support staff to help people in need of therapy and support. You will find ministries in clinical services, residential programs, counseling, supported housing, crisis intervention and oversight and management of the chronically ill.  God has a special place in his heart for people with special needs.  Sisters who use their gifts to serve these very vulnerable people are special too!  Do you have gifts for working with vulnerable people?  Is God asking you to consider using them as a sister?

Can you see yourself as a sister serving as a:

• Addiction Counselor
• Administrator, manager, supervisor
• Administrative support staff
• Board Certified Psychiatrist or Psychologist
• Clinical Social Worker or Case Manager
• Medication Aide
• Mental Health Counselor
• Nurse [registered, licensed practical, or aide]
• Psychiatric Rehabilitation Specialist
• Physical Therapist
• Residential care giver
• Residential Program Manager
• And, many other ways to serve…

Child Care

It takes a village to raise a child!  You would be so welcomed by a community as a religious sister ministering to God’s “little ones” within the communities the sisters serve.

Child care programs serve infants, children and adolescents, providing them and their parents with:

• After School Programs
• Case Management for Children
• Developmental Child Care
• English as Second Language classes for parents
• Fathering Programs
• Holistic Care: embracing the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of children & family members
• Hospice and Palliative Care: for children suffering life threatening illnesses
• Interactive Parent and Child Learning Groups
• Management of Pediatric Asthma
• Parenting Programs
• Primary Care Services for children with special needs

Opportunities to serve include:

• Bereavement Councilor
• Case Manager
• Chaplain
• Child Development Specialist
• Counselor
• Home Health Aide
• Hospice Physician
• Instructor
• Nurse Practitioner
• Nurse: Registered, Licensed Practial Nurse, as well as Aides
• Pediatrician
• Psychologist
• Social Worker
• Support Staff
• Teacher and teacher aide
• Therapist (speech, occupational, physical)
• Volunteer

Ecological Stewardship

As citizens of the world women religious Sisters recognize that it is our job to work together to keep water supplies and lands uncontaminated, to safeguard nature preserves and to defend the rights of others.  Addressing the environment is critical today and religious sisters are in the forefront.  In support of environmental efforts, faith based Catholic ministries sponsored by women religious sisters undertake such initiatives like a four year world-wide plan to develop and implement systems for energy and waste management, efficient recycling and environmentally preferred purchasing

An example of a local community outreach program in which you can use your gifts is a program called “Clean and Green” which teaches landscaping and grounds keeping to the unemployed looking to learn new job skills.  Four hundred vacant lots in southwest Baltimore have been transformed into attractive green spaces which are consistently maintained.

Your gifts and talents as a sister are needed here too as a:

• Engineer
• Landscaper
• Master Gardner
• Materials manager
• Program Director or Supervisor
• Teacher in work force development

Family Support Centers and Clinics

Mary, Joseph and Jesus as a family experienced heart aches, challenges and joys just like families today.  They were refugees; experienced homelessness and displacement, loss, grief, new starts and so on.  Today the gifts of sisters are needed to support families at risk.  As a sister, you can use your gifts and talents, as communities of sisters have for centuries, in reaching out to support the physical and social needs of families.  Imagine the impact you will have on the lives of families with limited resources by sharing your gifts in building God’s kingdom, providing love, ministerial support and empowerment to struggling families in need.  Can you imagine yourself serving God and others in some of these ministries?

Use your gifts in Family Support Centers and Clinics devoted to the needs of families with ministries that provide:

• Case Management
• Computer skills classes
• Developmental Child Care
• Diabetic and Fitness Centers
• Disease Management, e.g.,for congestive heart patients, diabetes, etc.
• English as a Second Language classes
• GED and ABE Preparation
• Health care to special needs children, at risk adults and adults with disabilities
• Health education programs such as diabetes, asthma, chronic illness, pain, wellness…
• Health Education to public housing residents
• Health Fairs
• Health Promotion Programs to public housing residents
• In Home Intervention services
• Information and Referral Programs [for physicians, and other services]
• Medical Life Coaching [ engaging primary care physicians]
• Mobile self-contained and free standing Clinics that provide
  • Childhood Immunization
  • Dental Care
  • Examination of treatment for sick patients
  • Flu shots for adults
  • Free primary care for uninsured
  • Health Screening
  • School physicians for Children
• Parent and caregiver education programs
• Parent and child learning groups
• Parenting Classes
• Personal Health Counseling
• Preventive and Early Intervention programs
• Programs providing free health care to the uninsured under the Federal Poverty Level
• Teen self-esteem classes
• Vocational programs
• Work Force Development [job readiness] Classes

Your gifts for mission can be used as a:

• Accountant
• Case Manager
• Child Care Worker / Development Specialist
• Clinician
• Counselor
• Dentist
• Fund Raiser
• Grant Writer
• Medical Director
• Medical Life Coordinator
• Nurse Practitioner
• Nutritionist
• Pharmacy Technician
• Physical Trainer
• Physician
• Program Coordinator
• Program Director or Manager
• Reginstered Nurse or LIcensed Practial Nurse or Aide
• Social Worker
• Support Staff Member
• Teacher [for GED/ABE, ESL, work force development, parenting, computer classes]Therapist
• Technician
• And there are many other opportunities…

Global Initiatives

Pope Francis at World Youth Day Rio 2013 said – be like the disciples who Jesus commissioned and sent to go out to the world to serve!  For a religious sister who is considered active apostolic and a “contemplative in action” it’s about availability and mobility for God.  We take God wherever we go.  If you see yourself being with people, being of service out in the world, know God will use your gifts in ways you may not have imagined yet.  Where do you see yourself in ministry?  What would it be like to use your gifts to serve a larger world, people of different cultures and ethnicity?  Many communities are international, like the Sisters of Bon Secours who are located in eight different countries. In some instances they form alliances with other Catholic religious orders and Catholic Dioceses, as well as with major charitable organizations, like Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Medical Mission Board, to better answer the needs of people we serve. Here are just a few initiatives to help your imagination along as you think about how to use your gifts in service of God’s people and creation.

Peru:

• Catechesis / Religious Education
• Child Care and Child Development Program
• Clothing Production
• Education
• Health Care
• Infant Mortality Initiative
• Parishes and pastoral works
• Prison Ministry
• Safe Water/Soil Programs
• Social Justice Initiatives / Advocacy, e.g., addressing Copper Mine contamination…
• Youth and Young Programs

Haiti:

• Clinical Resources
• Financial Assistance
• Medical Equipment

South Africa:

• Catholic Parish Support
• Family Counseling
• Food Distribution
• HIV/AIDS Clinic
• Pastoral Home Visits
• Refugee work with Zimbabwean Boys Shelter
• Soup Kitchen

Tanzania:

• Higher Education

Housing

Perhaps your gifts and skills and experience are related to housing.  Sisters have found their gifts and talents called upon to address affordable housing for people who live on the edge.  It’s possible that God wants you to put your gifts in action by helping to provide affordable housing for seniors, indigent families, and people with disabilities.  Sisters are involved in rehabbing and developing affordable housing and have been for years.  Ask yourself, if God is nudging you to serve others through a ministry in housing?  Is this where your passion is?   Gifts and talents a sister can use to serve the greater community could include:

• Asset Manager
• Program Director or Executive
• Property or Residential Facility Manager
• Construction Manager
• Resident Representative

Women’s Resource Centers

Women and children throughout the world suffer from unfortuate circumstances or from the injustice of others or policies or systems.  Do you see yourself addressing the needs of women – and children – in ministry?  God calls us to create a more humane world where there is equality and respect for all human kind.  Your gifts and skills as a religious sister can make a difference!  To support the health, well-being and social needs of women, God may be asking you to make a difference as a Sister serving in ministry to help women living below the poverty level, or needing our support and affirmation to achieve a decent quality of life.  Can you see yourself as a sister who makes this difference?  What skills would you bring, or want to develop to answer God’s call to make this happen?  Could it be in a ministry that meets pressing needs of women and children?   

Programs offer assistance to women in:

• Case Management
• Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening
• Diagnostic Testing
• Drop in Centers that provide:
  • Case Management
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Classes in parenting, self-esteem
  • Domestic Violence Counseling
  • Eviction Prevention
  • Hospitality Services [meals, a shower, phone use, mailing address use, clothes…
  • Human Development programs
  • Physician Referrals
  • Shelter
  • Spirituality
  • Volunteer opportunities
• Health classes, e.g., heart health, pre-natal, reducing infant mortality
• Lecture series from volunteer physicians, Clinicians, social workers, etc.
• Rsk Reduction and Awareness Programs

Sisters can use their gifts to serve as a:

• Accountant
• Case Manager
• Chaplain
• Clinician
• Computer Instructor
• Counselor
• Dietician
• Doctor
• Fund Raiser
• Grant Writer
• Instructor
• Nurse Practitioner
• Program CoordinatorProgram Director or Manager
• Registered Nurse
• Residential Worker
• Social Worker
• Support Staff Member
• Technician
• Teacher
• Therapist
• And other ministries as well…

Youth and Young Adult Ministry

Mentoring and supporting youth and young adults is a sacred trust.  Have you considered the many ways to work with youth and young adults – ways to assure their future and wellbeing?  Is this where your passion and gifts are?  Whether it’s in a parish or maybe a stand-alone program to mentor youth to break the cycle of poverty in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods there are great needs to encourage youth to remain in high school and to guide them through the many  challenges they face.  Is this at the heart of your passion? Sisters are wonderful role models for youth and can help guide them through their adolescence or provide many opportunities for learning and growing.  Even working with young adults to provide faith building experiences or job internships can be fulfilling God’s plan for you.  There are lots of ways to use your gifts and talents as a Catholic sister.

Sisters use their gifts in:

• Youth employment programs
• Youth mentoring programs.
• Youth at risk programs
• After school programs
• Youth or young adult ministry programs
• And so on….

 Serving God and others using your gifts as a:

• Counselor
• Case Manager
• Facilitator
• Life Coach or Work Force / Job Readiness Coach
• Program Director
• Social Worker
• Teacher
• Young Adult Ministry Leader