From the Heart: E-News

In This Issue:
A Message From the Director, Sister Donna Stephenson
Matthew Carpenter Growns in Faith
Melissa Iciek Discovers Life on a Sheep Farm
Anthony Sloan Finds Peace, Offers Hope
Keeping in Touch with our Former Volunteers

Director's Message
During the season of autumn, Mother Earth blesses us with an abundance of varied colorful harvested fruits, vegetables and grains, which calls each of us to give thanks for all God’s goodness that fills our autumn days. This abundance in nature reminds me of the many and varied gifts that the Change a Heart: Franciscan Volunteer Program has been blessed with over these past nine years. Since 1999, 31 young adults have served the poor in the name of the Sisters of Saint Francis. A blessing indeed!
We began the ninth year of the volunteer program by welcoming three new volunteers:Matthew Carpenter, Melissa Iciek, and Anthony Sloan whom you will meet in this edition of our newsletter. They come to us eager to make a difference in the lives of the poor, to grow personally, spiritually and professionally. As one of the volunteers stated during our week-long orientation: “This is it – this is my life now. College is over, and now I need to take my life seriously and see how I can make a difference in the world.”
In September, some former volunteers gathered for a retreat to reflect on how the values they lived during their year of service are still a part of their lives. Each one is still reaching out to those on the margins of society and trying to continue to live a simple, spiritual life.
Recently, the Sisters of St. Francis of Millvale merged with the Sisters of St. Francis in New York. We are now formally the Sisters of St. Francis. With this new merger there will be possible opportunities for the volunteer program to expand into other geographical
areas including international sites in Peru and/or Africa.
Mark your calendars! Our Hearts and Hands Gala will be held on April 12, 2008. May the season of autumn call you forth to share the abundance of your lives with those in need.

Peace and all Good! Sister Donna Stephenson

Matthew Carpenter
ello, my name is Matthew Carpenter. I am 22 years old and recently graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in philosophy. I am also in the process of applying to medical school. The Change a Heart program caught my eye while searching for volunteer opportunities following graduation. Incorporating my Catholic Christian faith was an important criterion, and Change a Heart seemed to fit that ideal perfectly.
I remember the first phone call I received from Sister Donna. I had never talked to an actual sister before! Excited about the prospect, I told my dad about our conversation. He was surprised, and said that I must be really special to get a call back from a sister (he is the product of a Catholic school education). I’m not sure what he meant, but from that moment on I knew Change a Heart was the right program.
I volunteer at North Side Christian Health Center. I shadow the doctors once a week. In addition, I attend community health and revitalization meetings for the North Side of Pittsburgh, and work to aid in the activities these meetings help sponsor. For example, last week I helped build a playground in the area. Next, I will be working at a community children’s festival by handing out health information to parents.
Change a Heart has been such a blessing. I am growing in my faith every day. The relationships formed because of this program are truly amazing. I look forward to whatever the next 10 months has in store.

Top

Melissa Iciek
My name is Melissa, and I am from Rockville, Md. I attended Lehigh University where I graduated with a bachelor of science degree in economics and very few career ambitions because I didn’t want to feel like my life had to be “on track.” Instead, I decided to spend a year volunteering with the Diocese of Buffalo. It was an experience I gained so much from that I decided to volunteer another year with the Change a Heart: Franciscan Volunteer Program.
Now, I minister on the Spaulding Shelter Farm with owners John and Joan in Greene County, Pa., working with community organizations, helping on the farm, and providing a peaceful retreat environment for local residents. This is my first experience living on a farm or even in a rural setting, therefore, the work is very new, yet very rewarding.
On my first night alone at the farm, the sheep knocked their fence down in an attempt to reach the corn feed. I yelled for them to go back, but because I don’t speak sheep, my pleas to bring order were in vain. Eventually, I decided to charge at them because I thought it would be more effective. Well, perhaps, but not wearing sandals. I did, however, manage to fall in what I wished was mud.
I steered all of the sheep to the right side of the gate – except one. Eventually the ewe went back through the fence, but not before getting caught in a ladder. After rescuing her, I returned to the house to share my adventure with John who just came home. He said simply, “Well, that will happen,” and then proceeded to explain the escape tactics of ovine.
My hope for this year is that I will grow to learn how my great happiness can meet the world’s great need, to paraphrase Parker Palmer. I also hope to learn how to count sheep and not fall asleep!

Top

Anthony Sloan
I am a 2006 University of Michigan graduate with degrees in psychology and English. I volunteer at Allegheny East Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center as a day treatment therapist and psychosocial rehabilitation specialist. I provide group therapy and conduct activity groups among other responsibilities.
Five months have passed since that period of my life in which my faith collapsed, and I had left myself stranded on the shore of desolation and self-pity. Since then, my outlook has drastically changed. My desire to help the world remains just as strong, but my understanding of the “less fortunate” has been forever altered. The individuals I once viewed as distant from myself due to the appearance of impairments, I now realize are no different than you or me. I can state this with complete certainty and confidence because I know my limitations, and I know that what I have achieved in my life is far from my God given potential. Thus, I have come to understand that an act as simple as a smile, as selfless as an outstretched hand, can uproot the mountains of the world – when it is delivered from a heart as pure and loving as those amongst whom I work each day. Such is the power that radiates from those humble few, those closest to Christ in body and spirit; the ones society has discarded as “unfit, disabled, marginal, or handicapped.”
Such is the adversity that they face each day of their lives: so much so that one simple act can surpass all I have and will ever achieve in my lifetime – when it comes from a heart burning with passionate love. But to an outsider, to an empty heart, such acts are invisible. Mother Teresa once stated that “What the poor need the most is not pity but love. They need to feel respect for their human dignity, which is neither less nor different from the dignity of any other human being.” So I leave it with you. We are in charge of our destinies. Where we choose to take them is another matter.

Top

Keeping in Touch with our Former Volunteers

• Teresa (McInnis) Ferrari, 2004-2005, is the Heart Walk director for the American Heart Association. She was married in Argentina earlier this year and resides in Naples, Florida.
• Gretchen (Rivera) Zaccagnini, 2002-2003, is a social worker for Life Pittsburgh. She was married in Puerto Rico in August of this year.
• Our first ever Former Volunteer Retreat was held September 14 through 16 at the Motherhouse. Four volunteers participated: Michelle (Lentz) Basista, 1999-2000; Cheryl Cuglewski, 2001-2002; Liz Gonda, 2001-2002; and Gretchen (Rivera) Zaccagnini, 2001-2002. It was a wonderful opportunity for these former volunteers to reflect on, and recommit to, the four values of the program: simple lifestyle, spirituality, service to the poor and community.

Top