by Sr. Elizabeth Ann Weiler, ASC
“I am not retiring. I am moving to be closer to family and the sisters of my community.”
Those were words I repeated often in the two months before I left Springfield, MO, where I had worked for over 13 years at St. Agnes Cathedral parish. It wasn’t that I planned to seek another paying job; I just knew that I wanted to find some meaningful volunteer opportunities outside my place of residence at Benedictine Living Community.
Although I have worked as teacher, nurse, pastoral minister, and with the mentally challenged in a Mennonite organization, I knew there were other ways a person might grow in compassion.
Finding them took longer than I thought it would.
Doing Outreach at St. Vincent de Paul in East St. Louis was a start, as is reading for the visually impaired at Mind’s Eye here at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.
Then I found myself at Our Brothers’ Keepers of Southern Illinois, an organization housed in a former convent where our sisters lived when they taught at St. Adalbert’s school in East St Louis. The organization was started by Fr. Chris Reuter OFM, Bishop Stanley Schlarman, and Louis Slapshak. When I first heard about it from Lou, I recalled the years when I took Communion to the Catholics in the Federal Medical Prison in Springfield, MO. I was informally offered a job as chaplain there and my answer was an emphatic “not me.”
Fear.
So why would I want to volunteer with people who have been in prison? And I was afraid of driving in East St Louis.
But…
I also recalled reading that when we try to avoid many (perceived) adversities, we make our world smaller. And I knew from past experience that was true. So, I said yes.
While my work is clerical, from where I sit in the Director’s office to do my work, I delight in hearing individuals come in to tell her that they have an interview for a job, or that their job starts next week. One man enthusiastically told her that after eight months of work, he was able to buy a car. But before any of that can happen, the staff of OBK works to help the men and women name their goals, write resume’s or complete applications , help them with life skills and mental health, and improve literacy, They also remind them, if necessary, of the conditions of their parole, such as not drinking alcohol which could cause them to fail a drug test. It is amazing to me that while one beer is not illegal, that alone could land them back in prison.
Recently I heard some disconcerting news. The Illinois Dept. of Corrections closed down one of the transitional houses due to poor management and, even though they had jobs nearby, some men were sent out of the area to housing in another part of the state. Still others were sent back to prison as they had no other acceptable place to go.
Normally a short-handwritten note is sent to any former client who does go back to prison, reminding them that OBK is just a phone call away and that they have the power within themselves to change. But I think that no one would blame these 20 men from being discouraged.
What impresses me most are the staff members themselves, several of whom have had significant problems with the law, along with other unfortunate life experiences, making them the right people to treat the new parolees with respect and encouragement. At the same time, they can discourage the parolees from avoiding the hard work of starting over or making excuses for bad decisions.
Needless to say, it is disappointing to staff when someone does relapse after finding a job, getting an apartment, etc.
The volunteers are also impressive. One man started a literacy program in prisons, which has been adopted in many states. As a child, he had his own problem learning to read and knew how important this skill is in our world.
Although this ministry is funded largely by grants, donations large and small pay for items such as toiletries, as well as bus and Amtrak tickets not covered by grants.
My job is to write the thank you notes. While my own contact with the individual clients is minimal, right now there is no better way to open my heart and strengthen my soul.
