Sr. Beverly & Sr. Grace Mary: Charism in action
Sponsorship is a ministry
The USA Province of the Sisters of the Divine Savior (Salvatorians) sponsors four institutions in Wisconsin. One, Divine Savior Healthcare in Portage, offers emergency and urgent care services, a birthing center, inpatient and outpatient services, intensive care, rehabilitation and outreach clinical services, and Community health care education. Tivoli at Divine Savior Healthcare is a 120-bed residential facility for persons needing rehabilitation, skilled nursing care, memory care and assisted living.
The other three are located in Milwaukee. Divine Savior Holy Angels High School prepares young women for lifelong learning and service to their families, their Church, their community and the world. A college preparatory curriculum and robust diverse extra-curricular program work together to develop young women who are creative and critical thinkers and effective communicators to become tomorrow’s leaders with a sense of personal responsibility.
Hadley Terrace Apartments, on the site of the Sisters’ original Motherhouse, offers affordable apartment living along with independence, companionship and security in Milwaukee’s central city. Sisters of the Divine Savior have been committed to the care of older adults for more than 120 years, starting with Home Care when they first responded to the invitation of Bishop Katzer to come to Milwaukee in 1895.
And, St. Anne’s Salvatorian Campus, considered, “The Home with a Heart” by all who experience its services, provides skilled nursing care, rehabilitative services, assisted living, memory care and respite care in a loving atmosphere fostered by dedicated staff and volunteers who incorporate gospel values into every aspect of living at St. Anne’s.
Sponsorship describes the relationship between the Sisters and our institutional ministries. It represents our commitment to focus on mission, stewardship, and lay leadership in the institutions. A key element of the vision of our Founder, Fr. Jordan, is collaboration with mission-focused lay persons from all walks of life so that all might know the Savior. This core value of working together with others underlies the Sponsorship Ministry of Salvatorian Sisters in the USA. To facilitate this collaborative way of fulfilling the Salvatorian Mission, the Province Leaders have appointed three Sponsorship Coordinators, Salvatorian Sisters Beverly Heitke and Grace Mary Croft and Frank Probst, PhD to work with dedicated administrators, staff, boards and volunteers in nurturing the Salvatorian mission through animation of the core SDS values. These values are: to improve the quality of life, to promote justice, to serve in solidarity with the poor, to collaborate with others for mission and to practice responsible stewardship.
This collaboration enables the Sisters to carry on the vision of Father Jordan among hundreds of people who work in, and who benefit from, the ministries sponsored by the Salvatorian Sisters in making known the Savior’s loving kindness in education, health care and housing for the poor. Our Salvatorian mission brings life to all of these ministries and they, in turn, bring life to the Sisters of the Province. It’s heartwarming to see how Fr. Jordan’s vision of collaboration with dedicated lay persons has evolved to bring ever-fuller life to so many!
by Sr. Grace Mary Croft and Sr. Beverly Heitke