Oblate Sisters in Need

I remember well the summer of 1970, when I worked in the “sea island” area of South Carolina. People lived in shacks, and lacked many of the necessities of life. I lived in a convent of the Oblate Sisters of Providence that summer, and they taught me how to behave in that predominantly African-American community in the rural South. I learned a great deal from them, and we had some great times together.

I have known several Oblate Sisters of Providence over the years, and they do wonderful work wherever they go. They were founded as an African-American community in the days of segregation, and are still predominantly (although not exclusively) African-American. Their ministries have focused on the urban poor, and their work is treasured in those communities.

But now, I discovered that they are need themselves, hit hard by the recession. Their story was in today’s Washington Post.