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Immediate Release
September 1, 2009
Contacts
Ann Thompson, 651-592-3900, athompson@csjstpaul.org
or Sister Marie Herbert Seiter, 651-696-2775, mhseiter@csjstpaul.org
Learning takes a stylish turn at new center in Minneapolis
Anything is possible, especially when a group of committed, impassioned, focused and determined women work together. That reality is helping immigrants and others in Minneapolis as the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (CSJs) open the doors to a new Ministry Center at 2200 Nicollet Avenue. map
The Ministry Center is full of life and light, the result of months of reconstruction and remodeling. (A Ministry Center open house is scheduled for Thursday, September 10, 2009 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. For information or directions call 612-870-1815.) “Eventually the Ministry Center will provide space for a wide variety of programs that support and serve the community,” explains Sister Marie Herbert Seiter, CSJ, who heads up the Sisters’ Ministry Collaborative.
The building’s first resident is Learning In Style (http://learninginstyleschool.org), a Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet program previously located in Calvary Church in Minneapolis. “Learning In Style provides quality education in English, math, computers and citizenship to adult immigrants and refugees in the metropolitan area and beyond,” explains the program’s director, Sister Agnes Foley, CSJ.
“The education at this school is very good for me because at first my ear was closing and my teachers helped me to understand and to speak,” said one student from Africa.
“’Since 1994 when we were established, we have registered 3,200 students from 72 countries,” continued Sister Foley. “Students may have no education at all or they may have college degrees. What they do hold in common is a desire for safety, freedom, stability, opportunity and progress—and an ability to communicate in English.” Learning In Style’s staff include Sisters, consociates (women and men affiliated with the Sisters’ mission and values), Jesuit novices, and many friends, including former students.
“This may seem like a difficult time to ask for money, but it is the best time to give,” says Sister Irene O’Neill, CSJ, who is charged with raising funds to cover the building’s costs. But fundraising challenges have never stopped the CSJs who have opened hundreds of programs throughout Minnesota and beyond starting with St. Joseph’s Hospital in 1853.
For additional information about Learning In Style or the Sisters of St. Joseph visit www.csjstpaul.org.
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