Spring 201 1 Unfinished Business
Possumus We Can
A Publication of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Ministries Foundation
“Experience opens us, creates a chasm in our hearts and expansion in our lungs, allowing us to pull in fresh air to all that was stagnant. We breathe deeply and remember fear for what it is: a resistance to the unknown.� Terry Tempest Williams, naturalist and writer
Possumus is Latin for we can. It sums up the drive and willpower that identifies the Sisters of St. Joseph as one of the most influential non-profit organizations working in Minnesota in the past 150 years.
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n this issue, we take a new look at topics we’ve highlighted in previous issues of Possumus – topics in which the Sisters of St. Joseph are invested and passionate. In our first issue, we wrote about how and why the Sisters of St. Joseph embrace a pact forged in 2000 by the nations of the United Nations, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They pledged that rich and poor nations would become partners to meet its obligations to its own citizens and to each other to end poverty in the world by 2015. Lofty goals; yet the Sisters realize that within the context of the global MDGs, we must act locally. It is where our strongest impact lives. It is where we can work to end poverty, one person at a time. These updates on human trafficking, healthcare, human migration, and compassionate economics highlight what we have accomplished and what still challenges us. In a nutshell: we have come a long way; but in light of the challenge of the millennium development goals, we have a long way to go. We must grow our ministries in partnership with others to make a bigger imprint for justice. We need your help to continue our local efforts to address the poverty within our community. We need to generate a new way of thinking and acting, together, to change our world. Ralph Scorpio Executive Director Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Ministries Foundation
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Human Trafficking was the subject of Possumus in the fall of 2006.
Trade Thrives SinlaveMinnesota by Christina M. Cavitt
“I just rescued a child!” Linda Miller announces happily upon returning to the small lobby of Civil Society in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. Her agency provides legal support and systemic change advocacy for the state’s diverse communities. Most of its resources are focused on helping victims of human trafficking. Miller, a licensed attorney, serves as the organization’s director. Her co-workers burst into applause at her news, riding a wave of relief and hope in the ocean of despair that is human trafficking. Three hours earlier, a St. Paul area high school counselor called to say, “There’s a highly mobile kid sitting outside my door. If you want to help her, come now.” (Highly mobile means someone who is very likely to run away.) According to the teenager’s mother, the girl had been missing from home for several nights. The 14-year-old’s file indicated she recently transferred from a nearby school, that she was possibly a drug user, probably mentally delayed and likely working as a prostitute. She had an uncooperative attitude, too, simply clamming up when officials questioned her. “Some teachers, counselors, police officers, and even social workers act judgmentally toward juvenile trafficking victims,” Miller explains. “Naturally, that makes kids defensive. At Civil Society, we try to help them understand their options. We laud their strengths instead of denigrating their life choices.”
When Linda met the student one-on-one, she cast no judgment and in her gentle way got the girl to drop her tough act. She discovered the young lady was intelligent, likable, and athletic enough to want to join the varsity basketball team and filled with teenage insecurities. Sadly, her insecurities made her vulnerable to a local pimp who’d begun “grooming” her to become a prostitute.
Linda Miller and Karen Fernow, Civil Society non profit consultant, at the agency’s office.
“That guy told her she’s gorgeous (which she is) and that he loves her (which is a lie),” Miller says. “She was at a point where she wasn’t thinking clearly, but she hadn’t completely bought into him yet. I talked
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with her about her strengths and pointed out the options available to her. I hope we reached her in time. But we can never be sure. We need to continue with the support we give these kids. And the help and encouragement provided by the CSJs and consociates is critical to our work.”
Hope, Reconciliation and Justice For All Human trafficking thrives in part because of the subordinate position women hold in many parts of the world. As a United Nations accredited NonGovernmental Organization (NGO), the Sisters of St. Joseph are committed to the United Nations Millennium Development goals established in 2000:
A self-renewing commodity Human trafficking has deep roots worldwide and
United Nations Millennium Goals
is thriving in Minnesota. Victims are exploited through
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
force, fraud or coercion to perform commercial sex or
2. Achieve universal primary education
labor. This modern-day slavery is the fastest growing
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
criminal activity in the world. It’s big business, tied for
4. Reduce child mortality
second place in illegal commerce with arms trade. Drug
5. Improve maternal health
dealing is at the top of the list.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
The U.S. Department of State 2004 Trafficking
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
in Persons Report estimates some 600,000 - 800,000
8. Develop a global partnership for development
human trafficking victims each year — many in Minnesota. The slave industry’s ‘product’ shelf-life has
The Anti-Human Trafficking Working Group of the Justice Commission of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Paul Province, and Consociates is focused on #3. The working group labors to prevent human trafficking through: 1. Education and public awareness; 2. Supporting legislation that incorporates antitrafficking and protection measures for victims; 3. Providing for survivors’ unmet needs.
an advantage over drugs and weapons. After a drug is smoked, injected or ingested, it’s gone. When a gun is sold, its major profit potential is realized. A human commodity, on the other hand, is self-renewing. “Women and children are raped as many as 40 times a day,” Miller says. “These violations happen right here in Minnesota – in the picture-perfect Twin Cities – every day, and not just in shabby neighborhoods, either.” Victims for whom traffickers are able to get high prices operate in wealthy areas and at the best hotels
Amidst picturesque lakes, lush summer foliage and stunning winter landscapes, Minneapolis and St. Paul appear to be idyllic cities. But people moving through the cattle market of human trade remain uncounted and see a very different place. “What the market will bear, the unscrupulous will provide,” Miller says. “In fact, Minnesota is said to be among the top 10 states in domestic and international trafficking for a number of reasons. For one, the state’s diverse population makes victims invisible within large pockets of immigrant communities. Its vast rural areas
because of groups like “The Nice Guys” – rich business people self-titled because they claim to not beat women and children. In 2006, Possumus magazine published an eyeopening article about the horrors of human trafficking in the metro area titled “Right in our Backyard.” Since then, awareness of the problem has increased and hundreds of victims have been rescued. Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands remain in the dark dungeons of forced labor and sexual slavery.
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provide excellent cover for housing and processing people through the system. Other factors conspiring to facilitate Minnesota’s human flesh trade include sharing a border with Canada, the large harbor in Duluth and the Twin Cities international airport.” The Minnesota American Indian Women’s Resource Center reports that the insular culture on Native American reservations further masks the nightmare. Domestic trafficked victims are United States citizens. Traffickers of international victims typically
obtain and keep the visas (often fraudulent), which they obtain in order to get the victims into the U.S. Each group has its unique set of problems, but if they escape exploitation, survivors from both camps suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, trauma is described in terms of complexity, from a single traumatic event to repeated exposure “frequently of an interpersonal nature, often involving a significant amount of stigma
Minnesota Counties with Identified Trafficking Victims
Sexual Trafficking Only Labor Trafficking Only Both Labor and Sexual Trafficking
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themselves to a life of prayer and service to those who were poor and needy. They taught lace making to young women so they could support themselves without having to resort to prostitution. “The CSJs have a reputation for getting things done,” Miller remarks, smiling. “They are an organized group of women and they understand systemic change. That’s why I was so excited when they invited me to the Province in 2005 to meet with Sister Gina Webb, CSJ (a member of the Province leadership team at the time), Joanne Tromiczak-Neid (CSJ Justice Commission coordinator), and Sister Mary Hasbrouck, CSJ (chair of the Justice Commission’s Anti-Trafficking Working Group) to discuss how they could help.” Since that day, the Anti-Trafficking Group of the CSJ Justice Commission has partnered with Civil Society and despite government aid cutbacks, progress has continued to reach and aid trafficking victims and survivors. Much of the work has centered on awareness. For instance, Sister Ansgar Holmberg, CSJ created an outreach poster featuring Civil Society’s crisis line. She designed it to be easily translated. Today, the sign is available in 23 languages.
or shame.” The study’s authors noted that human trafficking victims – especially sex slaves – experience the most complex symptoms, “including anxiety, panic disorder, major depression, substance abuse and eating disorders, as well as a combination of these.”
Suffer the children In the world of trafficking, children are worth a lot more money than adults. According to the U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons report, more than half of victims trafficked into the United States are thought to be children. It is no coincidence that most of Civil Society’s work is with children ages 14 to 18, but they find increasingly younger children in need of assistance, and they serve the needs of adult victims, as well. Linda Miller points out four major areas where assistance is critical: 1. Housing, food, medical, safety and security, language interpretation and legal services. 2. Mental health and counseling. 3. Income assistance: cash, living assistance. 4. Legal status: T Visas, which allow trafficking victims to stay in the U.S. and assist in investigating and potentially prosecuting traffickers; immigration, and certification. “It would be unrealistic for me to expect to see the end of human trafficking in my lifetime,” she says. “Eradication of the criminal element is out of my hands. So I stick with what I can do, and that’s helping victims become survivors and then provide the evidence in order to convict the traffickers.”
Making lace with prostitutes
CSJs participate when Civil Society personnel testify before the senate. They organize volunteers and donate research, time, resources and emotional support for survivors and Civil Society staff. When there was a major federal bust in 2007, dozens of victims suddenly showed up at Civil Society with needs that couldn’t wait.
Minnesota’s heartiest and most dedicated individuals and organizations — organizations such as the Sisters of St. Joseph — share Civil Society’s goals. The Sisters of St. Joseph have been helping the disadvantaged for a long time. They trace their roots to 1650 in Le Puy, France, where six women committed
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“The CSJs worked with us to provide bus cards, personal items and gift certificates for food,” Miller remembers. “We wanted to get these people out – not keep them holed up someplace. But when you have a bunch of people with different ethnicity from yours, where can you take them for dinner? I invited Sister Mary Hasbrouck to come with us. I said to her, ‘I hope they don’t choose Kentucky Fried Chicken again,’ and she suggested Old Country Buffet, which they simply loved.” Additionally: • CSJs and consociates organized awareness training for volunteers at St. Mary’s Health Clinics and Methodist Hospital to identify human trafficking victims. They provided a business card-sized handout that outlines trafficking signs. The general public thinks a trafficker is an easily identified, sinister-looking character. But, in fact, many little girls are solicited by slightly older girls. They are the ones used by pimps to solicit recruits. • Sister Ann Redmond, CSJ set up the first Minnesota Conference on Sex Trafficking in 2006 at St. Catherine University.
• CSJs provided Civil Society with intern case managers through the St. Joseph Worker Program.
Systemic change “Human trafficking is an enormous problem,” Sister Mary says. “But there is always hope. We have to keep helping victims today and creating systemic change for tomorrow.” She notes that while there’s no time for laurel resting, workers and volunteers can at least look back on victories as a way to draw energy to keep up the fight. For instance: • More people know about the problem. • Brave survivors have come forward to tell their stories. Some, like Bukola Oriola (see photo at left), have written about their experiences. • Although no sex traffickers have been charged or convicted under Minnesota’s state sex trafficking definition, in May 2007 and November 2010 the federal government made major busts that convicted more than 30 sex traffickers (2007) and indicted more than 30 sex traffickers in 2010. • Federal law is now used substantially to arrest traffickers. • Civil Society has rescued hundreds of victims who they have identified to be trafficking victims under federal law. • Minnesota Statutes needs to replace the term “prostitution” with “commercial sex act” (so prosecutors can spend their time proving that the sex trafficker is guilty, rather than trying to prove the chief witness (the victim) intended to prostitute her/himself. • There is increased media attention. • Some law enforcement personnel and agencies are showing understanding that victims need to be treated as victims in order to arrest and prosecute more sex traffickers. For instance, in Chisago County, authorities recently treated a commercial sex act victim like a victim – not a criminal.
Bukola Oriola (left) is a Nigerian international human trafficking survivor whom Civil Society helped to safe surroundings so she could provide evidence against her trafficker. In 2010, she partnered with Civil Society on more than 70 presentations. She also wrote Imprisoned: the Travails of a Human Trafficking Victim. At center is Raj Chaurdhary with SEWA (South Asian Women’s Association), a Civil Society subcontractor who provides culturally and linguistically specific outreach to human trafficking victims. Sister Mary Hasbrouck is on the right.
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Answers simple, but not easy
like teaching English or donating legal, vocational counseling, case management and medical, dental, and psychological support.
The first step toward systemic change is awareness. “People have to wake up, read the paper and face the fact that these atrocities are happening right under our noses,” Sister Mary notes. “Young women do not choose to get involved in commercial sex, unless you consider the alternative – remaining at home to be raped by your father and brothers – a choice.” The Civil Society website (civilsocietyhelps.org) is a good place for citizens to start learning about how they can help, says Sister Mary. Then, after the initial shock of realizing the depth and breadth of this blight on Minnesota’s landscape, they can support legislation, provide funds and/or offer in-kind gifts and services
Hoop dreams What about the 14-year-old baseball hopeful mentioned at the beginning of this article? Will she make headlines at a hotel bust? Or will her fame come from shooting hoops at a local basketball tournament? “I like to think the latter,” Linda Miller says with her remarkable optimism. “There is always hope, and hope is what gives us the strength to change the world – one survivor, one legislation, one day at a time.” ?
Letters Will Change the Law “Human traffickers often transport victims across state lines, turning their crimes into federal offenses,” says Minnesota State Representative Joe Mullery. “Unfortunately, anti-trafficking bills aren’t front-burner issues for national lawmakers because victims aren’t voters and voters aren’t writing to Congress. In my entire political career, only one constituent has ever written to me about trafficking, and she worked for a social agency.” Representative Mullery is appalled that human trafficking exists anywhere; he’s outraged that it flourishes in his home state of Minnesota. He firmly believes in Civil Society’s mission and actively supports the Sisters of St. Joseph in their efforts to create systemic change and help trafficking victims. Most recently, he spoke at St. Catherine University. He’s also an integral part of anti-trafficking state legislative efforts. He was the first legislator to introduce legislation that awards mandatory civil damages to those trafficked. If the public wants to stop the practice of modern-day slavery, he continued, they have to tell their congressmen and women how they feel. A lot of people have to send letters or it won’t make a bit of difference. “In the U.S., we need more federal laws, and funds, to protect victims and prosecute pimps,” he says. “We also need stronger state laws, but the Feds must take the lead. Those laws will cascade into state and local governments and law enforcement agencies. When congressional offices are flooded with voters’ letters demanding anti-trafficking legislation, we’ll start to see things change.”
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ry a little compassion
Our economic system is not working. The gap between the wealthy and the rest of us is increasing, leaving more people at the bottom with inadequate means. Unfortunately, we think that there’s no other choice, or that the only alternative is the government controlling everything. And that’s not true. We, the human community, can create systems that serve the needs of society as a whole and the earth. Every society is responsible for redefining its values. The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution makes it a moral imperative of our society to … promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. This is the American version of love God and Neighbor without distinction, the founding call of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Economics is not compassionate, but people are compassionate. Human beings are called into relationship with God and one another. Treating others as we want to be treated – the golden rule — is shared by all the major world religions. The individual act of compassion is part of this, but we must see it in a broader context, in relationship between people and between earth and people. How can we as a human community reflect that compassion? This is where the contradiction comes in with the classical definition of economic man: a selfsufficient human being making choices that maximize one’s utility or preference. Its foundational insight is individualistic, designed for the individual’s success. Compassionate economics recognizes our interdependence. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: “A self-sufficient human being is sub-human. I have gifts that you don’t have, so, subsequently, I am unique. You have gifts that I don’t have, so you are unique. We need each other. We are made for the delicate network of interdependence.” Compassionate economics redefines and transforms our understanding of economics. The economic system itself must be inclusive; it needs to embody compassion in its foundation. Now we must ask if what
we see emerging is the economic system that we value, that serves the common good. How do we live that? Living compassionately is a reflective act. Being human calls us to a fuller, expanding life, and self-reflection is the key to what it means to be a human being. Because things are changing so rapidly this is even more essential today. The world is moving. We need to allow ourselves to see what’s happening. We assume that we human persons think first and then act. But in fact, we experience first and then think about that and work on understanding it. Our experiences shape our perceptions and our future choices, continually making new choices based on our experience. We need to watch and listen. The world is changing. As Americans we need to listen to what the rest of the world is saying. There are other ways of looking at things. We have an opportunity now because of technology and other ways to begin to better understand global issues. I don’t think we’ve had a chance like this before. How young people today use social media is an example of how technology can help move us forward. Technology shapes how people see community in a new way. They’re finding people of like minds through facebook and other social media. They are creating communities that are often global, connecting with people in other countries and cultures. Young people clearly have an image of the earth as one, which is a far different image than the one I grew up with. The younger generation sees the interconnections, so there is hope. The world is under construction. It gets bigger and smaller, and we see others doing their piece to make it whole. The system changes as we change. Sure, there still is a lot of concentration of power and wealth, but things are changing, people are changing, we are changing. Can we create a compassionate economy? Yes, we can! ? Mary Ellen Foster, CSJ
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pening the door
My name is Alice. I’m from China. My family use a computer or type. My goal was to be able to moved to New York when I was 19. We lived in open my mouth and to understand others, that is all. I Chinatown. Everyone spoke Chinese where I worked, was so hungry and interested to learn, and this school at the store where I bought groceries, and everywhere made it possible for me to meet and exceed my goals. else I would go. I even got a drivers license in Chinese! Learning English feels like I got to open the door I was There wasn’t a need for English in New York, but trapped behind and go out into the world. I still feel without English I felt trapped in Chinatown. I could my life expanding. not go to the museums or Times Square because I When I decided I was ready to find a job, the didn’t know how. I remember being stopped by a teachers helped me find all the information I needed. tourist and being unable to I remember being in my first understand a single word he interview and being asked if I said. I just smiled and said “Bye.” would be able to answer the That was all I could do. phone. It felt so great to say I wanted more. Everyday I yes! I was hired as a greeter at a would open my eyes, get ready hotel. I never thought I would and go to work. I remember be ready to work for such a asking myself, “What do I have big, nationwide company that for working so hard?” I always required me to speak English felt like I was standing on the everyday. I continued to attend outside watching people do classes when I was able; and if I things that I could not. When I needed anything, I always felt like Alice Poon placed an ad like this in a local Chinese had the opportunity to come to I could come home to Learning In newspaper so others could also benefit from Learning In Style. Minnesota I seized it because I Style for help. I still email Teacher knew I would be able to go to school. It was my turn. Ann when I have long reports to type for work and she My first day in Minnesota I opened the yellow helps me with corrections. pages and looked for a school. I found Learning The whole American dream has come true for In Style and felt the name was special, but I tried me. I got married and we bought our first house. I another school first because it was closer to where I have been very successful at my job. I have been was staying. The classes were so big that the teacher awarded the Diamond Service Award from the city of couldn’t pay any attention to me. I couldn’t learn Bloomington for three years in a row, and in July I was anything. promoted to supervisor. My husband and I have begun Learning In Style was different. Everyone was so to dream of opening our own business. friendly and nice when I arrived. I felt welcomed into I am very, very thankful to be a part of this school. a family. This school made me so excited everyday. I I begged Sister Agnes to let me volunteer at the school. would bring my lunch so I could stay and learn all day. Everything started from here, and I wanted to give I always felt that coming to school was worth it. The back. Now, I take every Friday morning off from work Sisters and other teachers make it special; they always to help support the school. made sure I understood what they were teaching. Then Everyday I thank all the angels – the teachers, the the next day they would make sure I remembered it. volunteers, the donors, the Sisters of St. Joseph – that When I first started attending Learning In Style, I make this school possible. You can count on me to pay didn’t have the skills or confidence to speak English it forward. ? and barely opened my mouth. I didn’t know how to Alice Poon
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St. Mary’s Health Clinics was the subject of a Possumus article in the Fall 2008 issue.
fter health care reform, A then what? by Christina M. Cavitt
She said a good administrator “must keep on top of things in this rapidly changing field and should be flexible enough to roll with the changes.” She was Sister Rita Clare Brennan, CSJ, administrator of St. Mary’s Hospital in Minneapolis from 1953 to 1962. She was right on the money then, and her words ring true today. The operative words were change and flexibility. Over the years, the health care landscape has evolved radically. However, for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Paul Province (CSJs), the basics of caring for those in need haven’t altered since 1851 when four of them sojourned up the Mississippi from St. Louis, Missouri, to the St. Paul territory to start a school. A school, indeed. Two years later, a cholera epidemic trumped the three Rs. Overnight, the women converted the log cabin school into a makeshift hospital where they became nurses. They possessed the flexibility to change direction to meet a dire need. As time passed, the CSJs became integral to the Twin Cities’ hospital system. They quietly – well, not very quietly when a strong voice was required – cared for those who fell through the system’s cracks and steadily campaigned for systemic change toward making medical care a basic human right for everybody.
In 1992, Sister Mary Madonna Ashton, CSJ, former Commissioner of Health under Governor Rudy Perpich, led the charge to establish St. Mary’s Health Clinics [SMHC], a provider of free high quality care to lowincome, uninsured adults and children in the Twin Cities greater metro area. The CSJs built a network of volunteer physicians, nurses, admissions personnel, interpreters and drivers. Further, they recruited local health care providers, specialty physicians, pharmacies, churches and schools to provide services free or at discounted prices. The eight volunteer-staffed clinics can be found in churches, schools and other buildings located among the people who need them. Because clients are seen in their own neighborhoods, transportation barriers are reduced. With interpreters on hand to help in the communication process, trust and relationships grow with every return visit. In addition, SMHC works with Park Nicollet Health System to provide health care to the uninsured in several Park Nicollet clinics. Now, at the dawn of health care reform bill implementation, the health care landscape is shifting again. Fortunately for the unfortunate, the CSJs are poised to respond to immediate needs as well as negotiate bumpy terrain to continue systemic change efforts to secure health care for everyone.
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Insurance is the name of the game
they also have the responsibility to take good care of themselves. We all have to try to do what we can to be healthy.”
So, if it’s as simple as healthy folks needing preventive care to stay well and sick people getting medical attention, what’s up with a complex reform process? Experts agree that while challenges can be stated simply, approaches start with insurance, and solutions are excruciatingly complicated. “At this point in the process, calling it ‘health care reform’ is something of a misnomer,” says Toby Pearson, Executive Director of the Catholic Health Association of Minnesota. “What we really undertook was primarily health insurance reform rather than health care delivery reform.” Pearson explains that the 5000-page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act weaves in reams of Toby Pearson, Executive Director of actuarial tables and the Catholic Health Association of Minnesota. mountains of data. Questions and issues such as acute care, long term care, clinics, administration and universities, not to mention advocacy, charity and social justice also rise up. “The most controversial part of the bill remains throwing everybody in the same cost-sharing and benefits pool,” he says. “We saw the first big change last September, when insured parents could start keeping their children on their policies until age 26, regardless of whether the child lives at home or is married. That’s designed to cover those in their first or second jobs, just out of school, still in school, or who have had difficulties getting health insurance previously, primarily because of affordability.” By including more of that younger population – which is statistically healthier – policymakers hope to lower overall costs. “Another general concept of the bill is personal responsibility,” Pearson says. “Yes, U.S. citizens have the right to health care, but
A matter of trust Even with new programs covering 35,000 Minnesotans who previously did not have insurance, an alarming number of people in the state still won’t get adequate health care. That’s where organizations such as the Sisters of St. Joseph come in. “Let’s face it; the uninsured do not represent a market most providers are eager to engage,” says Barbara Dickie, executive director of St. Mary’s Health Clinics. “People not covered by health insurance simply don’t enhance the bottom line.” SMHC, on the other hand, seeks out uninsured patients and has worked
A Better Bottom Line Finances are usually at the bottom line for health care organizations, and that’s as true for SMHC as any other provider. However, the Clinics have an added baseline that values human beings even more. St. Mary’s Health Clinics’ website states their mission and vision: • The inherent dignity of the individual person. • Health care as a basic human right, regardless of age, gender, religion, ethnic origin, race or ability to pay. • The well-being of the whole person. • Promoting the common good by providing access to health care. • The individual’s personal responsibility for his/her own health. • Direct, “hands on” care. • Ethical and fair process for allocating limited health care resources. For more information about St. Mary’s Health Clinics, visit www.stmaryshealthclinics.org.
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hard to establish itself as a viable provider for people between insurance programs, as well as those who cannot afford insurance or are not offered insurance. “Patient trust is critical,” Dickie says. “Over the years, our Clinics and staff have become a trusted resource, especially among immigrants who don’t speak English. They often come in visibly afraid, but our volunteer professionals put them at ease while providing them with the Barbara Dickie (right), Executive Director of St. Mary’s Health Clinics, care they need.”
Good Outpaces Perfect Senator Linda Berglin (DFL) District 61 is an ardent supporter of the service St. Mary’s Health Clinics provide many of her constituents. And she is devoted to legislation that makes good health care available to everybody. “As the benefits of the Health Care Reform bill roll out and culminate in 2014, we’ll discover imperfections,” she says. “But we can’t let perfect be the enemy of good. We had to start somewhere, and this was the right time and place to begin. “Health care reform doesn’t include immigrants – only U.S. citizens. There will still be a gap there. Frankly, there are still many unknowns. Much depends upon what the state will do beyond federal government minimum benefits. “An early critical step was implemented last fall, when family insurance eligibility was extended. The next thing Minnesotans will see is improved benefits for those who have been on general assistance medical care programs and Medicaid. Fortunately, neither the state nor providers lose out because of the federal match.” Effective January 2011, people holding benefits policies have access to mammograms, colonoscopies and cholesterol testing without copay or deductible. In the past, many avoided these preventive measures because they felt they couldn’t afford them. Often, conditions are treatable if they’re caught early enough. Early treatment is usually a lot cheaper than addressing a disease that has gained a strong enough foothold to be symptomatic. “The major association I’ve had with the CSJs is through the Clinics, and that’s a lot,” the senator said, smiling. “I attend Senator Linda Berglin public policy meetings with them every year and often, they send interns our way to work on poverty issues. Also, some of them help my constituents at St. Stephen’s with a shelter program.” In terms of UN Millennium goals, she emphasized, “The Sisters are extremely effective in their hands-on work at the grassroots level as well as in their public policy reform efforts.”
with Sister Mary Heinen, CSJ.
Porcupines and health care “Somebody told me that trying to understand health care reform is like trying to put your hand on a porcupine,” says Sister Mary Heinen, CSJ, advocacy director for St. Mary’s Health Clinics. “You’re bound to get stuck somewhere.” In fact, her ready laughter, passion, experience, work ethic, professional credentials and encyclopedic knowledge of the health care industry make her an upbeat and effective director of advocacy since the CSJs opened the clinics. If anybody can make sense of health care reform, it is Sister Mary. She is too determined to not understand. “Sister Mary Madonna emphasized the need for the CSJs to help change policy as well as provide health care,” Sister Mary says. “As Commissioner of Health, she established a strong legislative presence that I’ve tried to carry forward.” In her role, Sister Mary’s direct service and systemic change efforts include tracking federal and state legislation, writing letters to legislators, participating in meetings, keeping CSJ leadership apprised of what’s on the horizon, and educating those around her. “I love to talk about this,” she says. “Every once in a while, somebody will ask me when I’m going to retire. I say, ‘Retire? Why would I want to retire when I’m having this much fun?’ Where else can I go around talking about health care as much as I do every day and not drive people crazy?” Sister Mary is a long-time member and former chair of the Catholic Health Association of Minnesota
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Board of Directors. She asserts that no matter how hard policy-makers work to create inclusive plans, some will inevitably fall through the cracks. She worries about who will catch them.
determine specifics, the number of people turning to the Clinics will not lessen any time soon, if at all.” Peters further notes that SMHC staff seeks out the best possible care for their patients at the lowest cost. They can deliver high quality, affordable service because of the generosity of volunteer physicians, nurses, admissions professionals, interpreters and drivers. In fact, major health care organizations and delivery systems say that without SMHC, those patients would come to their private facilities, especially their emergency rooms, where care is far more costly. “Some of the faces may change, but we don’t believe the numbers coming to the Clinics will decrease,” Sister Mary adds. “The extent to which existing clients move on to Minnesota Care or become employed simply opens the door for others to come in. “As long as the disadvantaged fall through the cracks, we must be there to catch them.” ?
We’re still here Clinic Manager Diane Peters has been with SMHC since 1992. She’s stayed because of her commitment to this CSJ ministry. In her experience, “We work hard to ensure that we take care of those in need, while at the same time, assisting our patients to transition to a state supported health care program when possible.” With the advent of health care reform, Peters is concerned that the public could misconstrue new legislation effectiveness. “We want to be certain that people understand that health care reform can’t possibly take care of everything and everybody,” she advises. “The bill has many restrictions and, although it’s too early to
Friday, May 6, 2011 Hilton Minneapolis
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet invite you to an elegant evening of dining and music to benefit St. Mary’s Health Clinics.
Featuring the music of
Synergy
Carondelet Gala
t e l e d n o Car ala G
Reception 6:30 p.m. Dinner 7:30 p.m. Music 8:30 p.m.
Dance Fever
A late-night dance party 8:30 p.m. Midnight
~
Complimentary glass of wine, dessert & coffee bar.
Celebrating 25 Years
For information and registration:
www.csjministriesfoundation.org/gala Online Auction 24/7 from April 25
~ May 20:
www.BiddingForGood.com/Gala2011
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H u m a n M i g r at i o n
Human Migration was the subject of Possumus in the spring of 2008.
person who A loves happiness by Karen Olson
It had been a very long full week for Vina at work when we met for what was supposed to be an hour or so. As we sat in the entry room of a home she has worked hard to obtain and improve, that hour quickly became so much more and revealed a life that one could only imagine.
I came here in 1996, and I took risks to get here. I met a woman also from Cambodia on the plane to Los Angeles. She asked me if I wanted to go to Minnesota with her. I asked her what was in Minnesota? She said they have snow there. I said, ‘Really? I want to go there!’
On November 1, 1996, just shy of 40 years old, Vina landed here in the Twin Cities. She flew in from Los Angeles, California, but her journey began thousands of miles and an ocean away. When many are experiencing established careers and families, she began her life anew, alone and unsure of what was ahead. Coatless, cold, and questioning why all the trees looked dead, she wondered what kind of place she had come to. The doors and windows were closed up tight, and there were no people on the street. She was frightened. Half a world away and three decades before,
And so began a new chapter for Vina, which is actually her middle name. Her first name, Sokhavuddh, combines Sokha and Vuddhanak. Sokha means fine, and vuddhanak means growth. Thus, Sokhavuddh means “a person filled with happiness.” When Vina first arrived in Minnesota she worked as a household helper in the house she stayed in, paying rent for a small room.
I was forced out of my house by the Khmer Rouge. It was so very painful. I was 17. I was a good student — number one in my class.
I lived with a family, did all the cooking and cleaning, not because they forced me, but because I had to. I decided to move out. I had applied for asylum.
Vina and her entire family were violently removed from their own home. They were forced to work arduous days in the rice fields and fed only a handful of rice before being allowed to sleep on the cold ground.
In her very cold, tiny room, she curled up at night in an effort to stay warm. Then came a turning point at which she decided she no longer wanted to live this way. Coming from a large, loving family and community and university trained as a teacher, she
I survived because I knew some day I would leave. Daily, they were ordered to speak their gratitude to their captors for their food and their lives.
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H u m a n M i g r at i o n
sent me to doctors to help me. I could not believe I was here.
felt there was more for her. She had taken this journey for a reason. Cambodia was behind her, but what was ahead? Vina had found the strength to survive the war and forced labor, leaving all she loved behind her. Could she find the strength to make this new life work?
Where was the strength that brought Vina through the camps, the war, and through the loss of her family? She threw herself into getting her GED and eventually completed a degree in social work at St. Catherine University, making the dean’s list four times. For a long time, she wore a rubber band around her wrist and would snap it to let herself know she was really
In the summer of 1997, with the help of Cindy, a legal aide, she found herself at the doorstep of Sarah’s ... An Oasis for Women, a ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph. There she met Sister Gina Webb, CSJ.
here.
It is hard to explain, but the pain that each of us carries inside, no one else can feel it. I still cry at night. I still wake up, cannot sleep. Let me tell you this story. When I was a teacher of fifth grade with 70 students in my class I taught all subjects. I prepared my students for the next level exam. A teacher in Cambodia is respected. A teacher in Cambodia is like a second parent.
Thinking of my safety, women’s safety, I went to Sarah’s. I met Gina and tell her I need a place to stay. She tells me they have 30 rooms and 30 are full. But, she tells me she will put me in the guest room. Gina is a very kind, generous one, not just to me, to everyone. So I moved in. My God, it was so comfortable. Let me tell you this, when I met Gina, she brought me around the house. She made me feel like I belonged there, I belonged to her family. You know what? She took me to the kitchen and showed me. She Vina in her native Cambodia. said, “This food here, it is for you. You do not need to ask. This is yours.” Can you imagine? She said, “This is yours.” She made me feel so comfortable, so safe, and it makes me cry. I could not believe I could have life at Sarah’s. I had to pinch myself to believe. But, I could not sleep, I could not sleep. I would finally fall asleep at six in the morning. They
Vina went on to tell the story of a fifth grade boy who did very poorly in her class. She punished him because of his low GPA and non-mastery of the simplest of math problems. This upset her a great deal. There was no way this boy would pass the exam to move on. He did not pass and did not advance. But, on the day of the exam, he brought her a present of many coconuts as a thank you for all of her work with him and for being his teacher. She asked
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H u m a n M i g r at i o n
him where he got the coconuts. He told her he was hired to pick them for people and he used the money to support his family. He had no family around to study with him and no time to do his school work.
It is not him who needed to tell me this. I was supposed to ask him. I was supposed to find out what was going on with his life before I punished him. How could he tell me? He was afraid of me. And, that taught me. I asked him, “After school, what did you do?” He didn’t have a friend to study with him because he was from a poor, poor family and he was hired to climb the coconut tree to support his family. It broke my heart. And, after that, I changed. I changed my teaching style. I told my students to trust me, I believe in you. I failed with him, but no more. His pain became Vina’s pain and then turned into her strength to change and help others. Vina’s pain brought to the doorstep of Sarah’s became the pain that was transformed into strength while she lived in that community of compassion.
Sarah’s is my family. It’s that simple. If I don’t have Sarah’s, I don’t have life. Sarah’s gave me a bigger sense of reaching out to
Sarah’s…an Oasis for Women In the mid-1990s, Sister Rita Steinhagen, CSJ introduced the director of the Center for Victims of Torture to the Sisters of St. Joseph in the hopes that the two organizations could work together to provide safe housing for women new to the United States who have fled their homelands. The CSJs responded by opening up Derham Convent to all women escaping danger and seeking safety and renaming it Sarah’s…an Oasis for Women. Today, Sarah’s continues its mission of providing women in need with a safe, welcoming place to live and the opportunity to create community with other women.
others. I now get to know people. I am so grateful. I was surrounded by different people, different skin colors, and I had to be scared before in my life. But after Sarah’s, now I do not fear. Most of my life, especially starting from the Khmer Rouge regime until now, I always have lived with fear and worry. However, I have tried to stand up fighting for fairness and justice. Sometimes, my braveness almost cost me my life. It’s sad that a person such myself has to live with that kind of feeling. I hate injustice. I have learned the quote from Pope John Paul, ‘injustice will be growing because we allow it.’ In 2009, while everyone needed a job badly, I walked away from a full-time job to get away from the unfairness that I received from the company where I worked for a year. I don’t want to live in fear and let people treat me the way they want any more. I am not here to be afraid. I am here to live my life. Looking for freedom and justice, she left Cambodia, her birthplace and her family home. Fifteen years later, here in Minnesota, she has formed her own family, her own community with people from her homeland and people from right here. With the same compassion the door was opened to her as dear neighbor in the summer of 1997 at Sarah’s, Vina feeds her neighbors with a soup she prepared and delivered to them on Thanksgiving.
That’s why I came here. I am happy when I can do for others. As a gifted teacher in Cambodia, a young boy taught her about strength and about pain. He opened her eyes, and she was never the same. As a woman alone in a country not her home, Vina learned about family, community and compassion in her life at Sarah’s…an Oasis for Women, and she hasn’t been the same. As a beautiful addition to the fabric of this country, Vina shares her sense of family and community with love of neighbor, and we will never be the same. ?
To experience more of Vina’s story, go to: www.csjministriesfoundation.org/vina1
Yo u r B o l d M ov e s
W
here does one person begin? Human Trafficking
First, educate and inform yourself on economics, the Millennium Development Goals, and human trafficking.
Check out the Civil Society website, which has pages of helpful information: http://civilsocietyhelps.org/test/html The United States State Department suggests “20 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking”: www.state.gov/g/tip/id/help
Economics Plan B 2.0 - Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble Lester R. Brown (New York: W.W. Norton, 2006)
Then, take action! (from the Millennium Project Website)
Also check out www.earthpolicy.org for more ideas and insights from Lester Brown.
There are a number of practical activities that you can undertake right now to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Here are a few ideas to help you get started.
People Before Profit Charles Derber
(New York: Picador, 2002)
Write your political representatives Tell them that you support the Millennium Development Goals and the Millennium Project’s recommendations for achieving them. Feel free to use facts, figures, and ideas from our talking points to help support your arguments.
The Real Wealth of Nations Creating a Caring Economics Riane Eisler
Organize letter-writing campaigns
(San Francisco: Barrett Koehler, 2007)
More is better – you can amplify your voice by enlisting other people in the campaign to achieve the MDGs. Reach out through personal networks and community groups.
The Great Turning From Empire to Earth Community David C. Korten
Write letters to local newspapers Send a letter to the editor to reach a larger audience of people. The web site of RESULTS.org has useful tools that can be adapted to help you target both politicians and media outlets in your own country.
(San Francisco: Barrett Koehler, 2006)
Sponsor a “house party ” or awareness event
Millennium Development Goals
Inform your friends and neighbors about world poverty and the Millennium Development Goals. Provide facts and figures and background about the Millennium Project, and then write letters together.
The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.
Join existing networks Many large organizations are working on poverty issues, and supporting them is one way to build support for the Goals. Visit www.unmillenniumproject.org/resources/ partners.htm to see a list of groups that support the Millennium Development Goals. ?
Check out the following links for information about the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals: UN Millennium Project www.unmillenniumproject.org MDGs www.un.org/millenniumgoals What’s an NGO? www.ngocongo.org/ngowhow
Design of Possumus by Ann Fleck / Periwinkle Concepts
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