Poised for Growth

PASSAIC  Since its doors first opened on Sept, 24, 2013 in a former rectory, there have been more than 10,000 visits to the Passaic Neighborhood Center by women who live in the hardscrabble neighborhood of mostly immigrants on the city’s east side. Now, as the center, started by women religious who serve in the Diocese of Paterson, marks its fifth anniversary, it is poised to grow, hoping to expand and add new classes and other services in the hopes of reaching out to more women in the community in which it has rooted.

To mark the center’s fifth anniversary on Monday Sept. 24, “All of our women are getting together for a luncheon at the Center,” said Sister Ann Marie Paul, the center’s director from its inception, who is a member of the Mendham-based Sisters of Christian Charity. “They will provide food from their own culture to share with the group. We will have a (free) raffle for the women, with the prizes provided by our board, volunteers and other benefactors,” she said.

The Center hosts thriving community gardens, diaper and food banks and more at the former rectory of St. Nicholas Parish on Washington Place, not far from City Hall. The services surely are vital in one of the poorest parts of one of the poorest cities in New Jersey. But the Center has provided something beyond those tangibles for many women: a respite from the isolation of being a newcomer, a camaraderie and Christian fellowship.

“It has helped me a lot in so many different ways,” said one woman, who before coming to the Center didn’t venture too far beyond her home other than taking her daughter to school. “When you don’t go outside, like before, you get depressed. Now I work in the garden, I sew. I’m not as closed off,” she said in Spanish.

She came from Puebla, Mexico more than a dozen years ago and has made a life in Passaic, where her husband works in a plastics factory. That life, she said, has been enriched by the Center, where she now is an informal liaison between the many religious sisters from a variety of orders who serve in the Diocese and volunteers who staff the center and women in the neighborhood.

Like the neighborhood around it, the Center draws mostly immigrants from Central America — many who are fearful in the current national political climate around immigration. The Center offers a setting in which they can relax a bit in one another’s company.

“We’re not taking away the very real struggles they have, but they are building community,” said Sister Catherine McDonnell, vice-chancellor for urban ministry and planning for the Diocese, “It’s emotional support. What I love about it is they are helping each other with their challenges.”

In 15-raised garden beds in the side and backyards of the imposing brownstone of St. Nicholas Church, the women grow food for their families — tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, the mint-like yerba bueno and papalo, an aromatic herb popular in parts of Latin America. The harvest is good and helps stretch tight family budgets, as do donated provisions.

“Food insufficiency is not just a hot topic, it’s a reality here,” said Sister Ann Marie. “The Center is very collaborative, we respond to the women’s expressed needs.” She and two other sisters from the order live in the nearby St. Mary’s convent — they are present in the neighborhood. “The women saw we were here to stay…They know they are not forgotten,” she said.

The idea for the Center grew from a meeting of a half-dozen women religious orders in the Diocese; similar initiatives have been undertaken elsewhere as the congregations tap into long histories of urban ministry to the poor. “The women religious are very creative…they saw the needs of the poor and rolled up their sleeves,” said Sister Mary Edward Spohrer, provincial superior of the Sisters of Christian Charity and former chancellor/delegate for religious for the Diocese.

“Our congregations are aging but it feels like God is asking more of us,” said Sister Catherine, who is a Dominican Sister of Hope. Startup money came from the “Partners in Faith” diocesan capital campaign and was augmented by donations and grants.

With the mission of strengthening families through educating and empowering women, the center hosts face-to-face English classes four days a week and a grant from the Sisters of Charity allowed for desktop computers loaded with Rosetta Stone language programs. But Sister Ann Marie stressed: “We don’t want to be a computer center. We want to be a center of relationships. Our goal really isn’t to teach English or quilting or crocheting. Our goal is to build relationships so when women have a need they come to you.”

The Center also has hosted “know your rights” seminars on immigration law. The sisters and volunteers have helped the women navigate the bureaucracies and paperwork that can be particularly daunting for newcomers.

Donations helped to purchase sewing machines used in the quilting classes and Sister Ann Marie said it is hoped that entrepreneurship and leadership classes will soon be added with the goal of assisting the women in setting up small businesses to sell their handcrafted items.

The space at St. Nicholas has a homey feel; the Victorian building with a large porch was rehabbed before the center opened in September 2013. “It’s welcoming, warm and familial,” said Sister Mary Edward, who was a major force in the coordination of the collaborative effort of the religious orders to make the center a reality. On a recent morning a volunteer watched some of the women’s children — engaged in games and puzzles — while a dozen moms quilted around a large dining table in another room.

The Diocese will continue to underwrite a portion of its annual budget of $140,000, but Sister Ann Marie said the Center will ramp up fundraising and grant writing as part of the plan for the next five years. A video about the center is in production.

There are hopes to reach beyond the Spanish-speaking community in more broadly serving multi-ethnic Passaic and expanding without diluting its core strength. “It’s a beautiful and blessed place…With women working together there are many gifts to be given and shared,” said Sister Mary Edward. “In a world with so much competition, it really is a counter-cultural ministry.”