Building a society
of justice and love
Learn more about sisters’ ministries around the globe
Sisters of the Holy Cross focus on ministries that help build communities of justice and love, eradicate material poverty and end gender discrimination against women. The needs of people from many countries and cultures shape our missionary zeal. Our ministries respond to health and education needs; unjust social, political and economic systems; and issues such as nonviolence, human trafficking and the environment.
Sisters of the Holy Cross live and work around the world as educators, nurses, administrators, counselors, social workers, parish and campus ministers, writers, attorneys, and advocates for social justice and systemic reform. We currently serve in Bangladesh, Brazil, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru, Uganda and the United States.
Some ministries are supported by the Ministry With the Poor Fund. This fund provides annual grants for individual sisters to use in projects they are involved in personally that directly assist the materially poor, the powerless and those living on the fringes of society.
Select one of the countries below to learn more about the ministries that are sponsored by Sisters of the Holy Cross or receive Ministry With the Poor Funds. Support our ministries by donating now.
Donor Impact Report
Bringing God's loving embrace to our word in need
The Sisters of the Holy Cross follow Christ’s call to be with our brothers and sisters in their suffering. Your prayers and financial support this past year have enabled us to live our mission faithfully. Read more...
Bangladesh
Bhadun, Bangladesh
Moreau Holy Cross School is a primary school for girls and boys that opened in January 2015.
Bhadun (Arunalaya) Sewing Center offers programs in sewing and machine embroidery to women with the goal of helping them earn income.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Holy Cross College is among the most highly rated schools in Bangladesh. It features a two-year program for women in humanities, science and business education.
Holy Cross Girls’ High School is a primary/secondary school for girls with an enrollment of approximately 1,800 students.
Holy Cross Students’ Hostel provides common living for around 40 young women attending Holy Cross College in Dhaka.
Kulaura, Bangladesh
Holy Cross Health Education Center provides basic health education and medication to area residents.
Kulaura (Pratasha) Sewing Center offers programs in sewing to women with the goal of helping create items that can be sold in commercial markets to provide a source of income.
Holy Cross School opened in January 2018 currently offers nursery and kindergarten classes. Additional primary school grades will be added on a yearly basis.
Ministry With the Poor Fund grants in Bangladesh
Bhadun
- At Moreau Holy Cross School, grants support the ministry work of Sister Jamuna Magdeline Gomes, CSC, by supplementing teachers’ salaries, providing books and technology, and funding extra-curricular activities.
Dhaka
- Funds requested by Sister Barnita Scholastica Mangsang, CSC, for the Proggalay Discerners House furnish medical supplies, food, books, and lodging, and provide faith formation and educational opportunities for young women discerning a call to religious life with the Congregation.
Kulaura, Moulvi Bazar
- Grant funding at the Prottasha Sewing Sheba Kunjo (Service Space)—requested by Sister Promila Gomes, CSC— provides sewing materials and machines; staff stipends; and tuition, salaries, seminar funds and food for young women pursing emotional and financial health through the center’s training programs.
- At Holy Cross School, Sister Shiuli Gomes, CSC, provides educational resources for children of tea garden workers living in extreme poverty. Funding supplements teachers’ salaries and enables the school to purchase desks, technology, water filtration systems, solar equipment for more consistent electricity access, and musical instruments.
- Sister Thecla Dinila Nokrek, CSC, requested grant funds for Holy Cross Health Education Center, which supports tea garden workers who need assistance with rent, medicines, access to medical treatments, transportation and winter clothing.
Brazil
São Paulo, Brazil
Colégio Santa Maria is a coeducational school with an enrollment of 2,900 students in preschool, primary and secondary classes.
Residencial Santa Cruz is a senior living facility that offers residence and healthcare services for the elderly.
Saint Martha’s Social Service Center provides programs for women to help them learn skills to support their families.
Ghana
Kasoa, Ghana
Our Lady of Holy Cross School offers co-education to more than 900 students from nursery through junior high.
Ministry With the Poor Fund grants in Ghana support:
Kasoa
- Sister Comfort Arthur, CSC, requested grant funds for the plastic waste management program Sisters Organizing and Advancing Recycling (SOAR). For the initiative, funds from various grants were pooled to purchase a truck for hauling recyclable plastics.
- At Our Lady of Holy Cross School, grant funding requested by Sister Evelyn Ntiamoah, CSC, supports social work and counseling programs for students and their parents.
- Funds requested by Sister Lelia Santah, CSC, for Our Lady of Holy Cross School, provided a photocopier for the school office and covered the cost of repairing cracked underground water storage and septic tanks.
- Sister Monica Assifuah-Nunoo, CSC, received funds for resources and materials to support faith formation activities for children and adults, and to supply basic needs for the elderly at St. Martha’s Parish Pastoral Care Ministry.
Takoradi
- Monies requested by Sister Evelyn Ntiamoah, CSC, will go toward a sister’s stipend, facilitators, materials and transportation needs for catechist formation and pastoral skills training programs at St. Kizito Pastoral Center.
India
Barakathal, West Tripura, India
Our Lady of Holy Cross School and hostel offers coeducation to approximately 250 students, from nursery school through eight grade, as well as housing students in the hostel as needed.
Ministry With the Poor Fund grants in India support:
Barakathal
- At Our Lady of Holy Cross School, Sister Bijoycy Thongnibah, CSC, uses the grant funds to supplement teacher salaries, to provide financial aid to students, and to cover the costs of parent meetings, student seminars, the student' magazine, student travel expenses for competitions, and professional development for teachers.
- Sister Mitali Mree, CSC, requested funds for beds and closets, and to cover housing fees for some students living at Our Lady of Holy Cross Hostel.
- Sister Nobina Rangsa Marak, CSC, used grant funds to support students at Our Lady of Holy Cross School. Monies were applied to classroom technology to support education, teaching aids and games and art supplies.
Laitlawsnai
- Grant funds requested by Sister Shardin Suting, CSC, for St. John School supplement teacher salaries, provide school furniture and are applied to student financial aid.
Meghalaya
- Young women discerning a call to religious life at Holy Cross Study House have furniture and opportunities for extracurricular activities, and receive assistance with student fees, thanks to Holy Cross Sister Rose Mary Marngar’s grant request.
- At Jatah Village Hostel, grant monies support the work of Sister Linda War, CSC, providing food and medicine for students, covering students’ housing fees, and assisting boys who are student workers.
Mexico
Ministry With the Poor Fund grants in Mexico support:
Guadalupe, Nuevo León
- Sister Esperanza Jacobo Acevedo, CSC, is using grant funds to supply a monthly food donation to Casanicolas House for Migrants, which provides a safe place for migrants to share their stories as they journey to find a non-violent existence.
Peru
Lima, Peru
The Center for Women provides leadership training and education on justice, political, social and religious issues.
A prison ministry program provides basic healthcare for incarcerated women and their children.
Ministry With the Poor Fund grants in Peru support:
Lima
- The Center for Women empowers women to assume more active roles in bringing change to their families, neighborhoods and society. Grant funds requested by Sister Esperanza (Sullca Clemente), CSC, for the center will provide workshops, biblical courses and counseling.
- At Chorrillos Annex Prison for Women, the work of Sister Lilma Calsin Collazos, CSC, is supported by funding that provides basic health care for female prisoners and their children, including medicines, vaccinations and medical equipment. Monies also support health workshops and spiritual retreats.
- Grant funds requested by Sister Mary Josephine Delany, CSC, will provide biblical pastoral reading and training opportunities.
Uganda
Kirinda, Uganda
Kyembogo Holy Cross Health Centre provides outpatient, maternity and postnatal care as well as outreach services in the adjacent villages, including immunizations and AIDS counseling.
Moreau Nursery and Primary School offers coeducation to more than 300 students from nursery school through the seventh grade.
Ministry With the Poor Fund grants in Uganda support:
Fort Portal
- Sister Daisy Kabuleeta, CSC, requested funds for the Katoosa Parish Kyamugenyi Kweterana group, to help those living in extreme poverty. Monies provide seedlings and chicks for agricultural skills training for 40 people.
- Thanks to grant funds requested by Sister Martha Nambi, CSC, mathematics and geography textbooks and educational workshops have been provided for students of St. John Mary Vianney’s Community Secondary School.
- Grant money requested by Sister Semerita Mbambu, CSC, will supplement the salary of a communication/development professional to promote and organize fundraising for Africa Faith and Justice Network.
Gulu
- Providing counseling materials for Koch Goma Primary School students whose families have suffered from war as refugees, is the goal for grant funds requested by Sister Beatrice Wangatia, CSC.
- Sister Grace Kitinisa, CSC, requested grant funds for Koch Goma Catholic Women’s Association to provide uniforms, cooking pans, and beading materials, and to assist with home visits and ministry in war-torn regions.
- Funds requested by Sister Lilian Briege Awino, CSC, will go toward developing a sewing training program for women in Gulu that will also generate income for people in Northern Uganda.
Jinja
- Sister Beatrice Driwaru, CSC, requested funds for the Uganda Discerner’s Program to support educational costs for young women discerning a call to religious life with the Congregation.
- To assist local cobblers afflicted with polio, Sister Mary Louise Wahler, CSC, requested funds for a cobbler ministry. Monies will provide a sandal making machine, construction of a kiosk and supplies to help the cobblers become self-sufficient.
- Grant funds requested by Sister Nancy Rose Njeri Njoroge, CSC, will provide training on raising poultry and developing a savings plan to widows and widowers at Holy Cross Bugembe Parish.
Kirinda
- The Kyembogo Holy Cross Health Centre received funds requested by Sister Angelica Birungi, CSC, to supply emergency transportation, counseling, medical materials and health education to maternity patients living in severe poverty.
- For students with financial need who attend Moreau Nursery and Primary School, Sister Edith Tumuhimbise, CSC, requested grant funding for enrollment scholarships.
- Immunization staff and volunteers of the Kyembogo Holy Cross Health Centre received grant funding— at the request of Sister Jacinta Mueni Munyao, CSC— that subsidizes stipends, food and the cost of transportation for their work in HIV, AIDS and life-threatening disease education.
- Sister Janet Nantumbwe, CSC, requested funds for musical instruments, uniforms and training to establish a student jazz band at Moreau Nursery and Primary School.
- Grant funds requested by Sister Lillian Nyakaisiki, CSC, for the Kyembogo Holy Cross Health Centre will provide transportation of the terminally ill to referral hospitals and provide food and health education for those with HIV or AIDS.
- With grant funds requested by Sister Rose Kyomukama, the Moreau Nursery and Primary School can afford playground equipment for students, including slides, swings and a merry-go-round, to boost recreation and socialization time.
United States
Los Angeles, California
West Adams District Nonviolent Communication Project is a program on nonviolent communication for parents and students in the West Adams District of Los Angeles.
Notre Dame, Indiana
Saint Mary’s College is a Catholic women’s college in the liberal arts tradition with an enrollment of more than 1,600 students.
Kensington, Maryland
The Academy of the Holy Cross is a college preparatory secondary school for girls with more than 500 students.
Salt Lake City, Utah
Holy Cross Ministries of Utah addresses the needs of the underserved including parish health screenings, legal assistance for immigrants, a kindergarten, a preschool, after-school and summer learning programs.
Ministry With the Poor Fund grants in the USA support:
California
- Sister Mary Alice Bowler, CSC, requested funds for training in violence prevention practices for sisters in Los Angeles who created the West Adams District Nonviolent Communication Project. Monies also will provide local students with materials on resolving conflict peacefully.
- Brother Andre Outreach Center at St. Agnes Parish received grant funds requested by Sister Maryanne O’Neill, CSC, for food to support the center’s outreach to poverty-stricken communities in Los Angeles.
Indiana
- Thanks to Sister Eileen Flavin, CSC, St. Vincent Anderson Regional Hospital Foundation in Anderson will receive funds to support its weekend food program, which provides food to local low-income students.
- Sister Joan Marie Steigmeyer, CSC, provides hope to prisoners in Florida, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio by using grant funds to send them cards, clothes and food.
- The Near Northwest Neighborhood received grant funds to increase the capacity of community organizing efforts, thanks to a request for assistance made by Sister Mary Turgi, CSC. Funds offer an organizer-in-training internship to one or more neighborhood leaders.
- Grant funding requested by Sister M. Rose Anne (Schultz), CSC, for St. Margaret’s House in South Bend, will support the Trauma Informed Care program. Monies will provide 6,600 meals to women and children.
- With the assistance of Sister Susan Kintzele, CSC, Dismas House of South Bend—a transitional housing community for individuals recently released from prison—received funds for staff salaries, clothing and basic needs for female residents, social activities, and to support a summer intern.
- Sister Suzanne Patterson, CSC, has requested grant funding to support the Broadway Christian Parish United Methodist Church of South Bend. These monies will provide financial support for its food pantry, soup kitchen and breakfast ministries, as well as food, clothing, laundry supplies and toiletries for marginalized and homeless individuals.
- Reins of Life of South Bend offers equine-assisted therapy programs for people with disabilities. With the help of grant funding requested by Sister Theresa Diane Streif, CSC, the organization will receive grant funding for horse care, utilities and program instructor salaries.
Maryland
- Grant funding requested by Sister Sharon Ann Mihm, CSC, for The Academy of the Holy Cross will provide financial aid to families unable to afford school tuition.
- Sister Ann Shaw, CSC, requested and received grant monies for Shepherd’s Table in Silver Spring, to provide food, kitchen supplies and staffing for the Food Service Program serving community members needing food assistance.
- Friends in Solidarity with South Sudan, with offices in Silver Spring, is a global organization that empowers South Sudanese people to create a just and peaceful society through its support of sustainable education, health and pastoral programming. With the help of grant funding requested by Sister Geraldine Hoyler, CSC, the organization can afford financial support for one staff person to work with more than 6,000 internally displaced people at Riimenze in South Sudan.
- With grant funding requested by Sister Kathleen Weber, CSC, the Holy Cross Health Medical Adult Day Center in Silver Spring is able to continue the Robert Grossman Scholarship Fund, which supports caregivers and their clients with physical or mental disabilities who cannot afford daily attendance fees for adult day care or respite care.
Utah
- Thanks to a grant request made by Sister Catherine Kamphaus, CSC, the Diocese of Salt Lake City is able to afford professional development and leadership training resources for current and potential administrators of local Catholic schools.
- Grant monies requested by Sister M. Genevra (Rolf), CSC, and awarded to Holy Cross Ministries in Salt Lake City support the Promotora Outreach Program by providing a salary for a promotora who connects low-income families with health education, referrals and insurance application assistance.
- Holy Cross Ministries’ Immigration Services program in Salt Lake City received grant funding thanks to a request from Sister Madeleine Marie (Clayton), CSC, to subsidize a pilot counseling program that is expanding services to provide bilingual, bicultural trauma-informed counseling services to immigrant victims of crime.
- At Holy Cross Ministries in Park City, Utah, grant funds requested by Sister Mary Ann Pajakowski, CSC, support the Parents as Teachers program. The project addresses the developmental and educational needs of low-income children up to age three with a proposed expansion to include high-risk children ages three through five.
- Sister Sharlet Ann Wagner, CSC, requested and received grant funds for the Holy Cross Ministries legal immigration program. Monies will support immigrant victims of violence apply for United States residency, freeing them from abuse and helping them become empowered, independent community members.
- Thanks to a grant requested by Sister Verónica A. Fajardo, CSC, Spanish speaking survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence will be empowered at Holy Cross Ministries Peace House in Salt Lake City. Funds will provide trauma focused group therapy and curriculum materials. Peace House helps victims of violence apply for United States residency and become independent community members.