Feb. 9, 2001

Page 1

The Catholic News & Herald 1

February 9, 2001

February 9, 2001 Volume 10 t Number 22

Inside Robert Gately remembered as veteran newsman ...Page 3

Aid reaching Indian earthquake survivors ...Page 7

Local News Diocesan high schools show sporting spirit

...Page 5

Asheville man answers call to diaconate ...Page 16

Every Week Entertainment ...Pages 10-11

Editorials & Columns ...Pages 12-13

Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are hungry, for you will be satisfied. — Luke 6: 20-21

S e r v i n g C a t h o l i c s in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte

Sisters continue outreach with charisms of mercy, charity

By JOANITA M. NELLENBACH Correspondent ROSMAN — The directions are simple: Right after Victory Baptist Church, put your blinker on when you come to the 45-mile-per-hour sign. And, then, just around the curve to the right is the sign for the Frances Warde Health Service. Turn up the driveway and into the parking lot. The rocking chair is out front, and the “Welcome” sign on the door greets around 100 patients a week. A lot of those patients are the elderly poor; many are children. Grants, donations and fees charged for services fund the Frances Warde Health Service. Grants come from various sources such as foundations. A recent grant from the Sisters of Mercy of Belmont, N.C., for instance, will pay the salaries of the nursing staff this year. Medicare pays 80 percent of treatment cost for patients eligible for that benefit. Patients pay all or part of the remaining 20 percent, whatever they can afford, of their treatment cost. The clinic subsidizes about 45 percent of its patients from such sources as the Good Samaritan Fund, the repository for all donations Frances Warde receives. The clinic also has a patient assistance program, in which drug companies provide medicines for patients who are below a certain level of income, don’t qualify for Medicaid, and have no health insurance that pays for drugs. What would it mean not to have the clinic available? “They’d owe doctors a lot of money,

Photo by Joanita M. Nellenbach

Sister Carol Hoban, SC, family nurse practitioner at the Frances Warde Health Service, consults with patient Brenda McCall. or they wouldn’t go and they’d be dead,” Mercy Sister Jacqueline Dewar of Detroit, said. Mercy Sister Gretchen Hermanny, M.D., and Sister Jacquie founded the Frances Warde Health Service 18 years ago in nearby Balsam Grove. In a way, they were following in the footsteps of Sister Frances Warde, leader of the first group of Sisters of Mercy to come the United States. They arrived in America in 1843 and spent their lives founding hospitals, schools, orphanages and homes for women. Sister Gretchen’s specialty is internal medicine. A Sister of Mercy of New Jersey, she had researched regions that were medically underserviced and decided that this area near Brevard in rural Transylvania County was the place where she wanted to work. She called a friend, Sister Jacquie, a former teacher, principal and pastoral minister.

“I wanted something that was with the poor,” Sister Jacquie said. “Our community had a program called New Foundations that put people with the poor. Gretchen had finished her boards and was ready to go. She called me and asked if I wanted to go. I said ‘Sure.’ “ They arrived in November 1983 and for the first 10 days lived in a travel trailer with no electricity or running water. “We had a gas stove,” Sister Jacquie said. “We did a lot by candlelight, and we went to bed early.” Father Joseph Mulligan (now pastor of St. Luke Church in Mint Hill) had recently been assigned as pastor of Sacred Hart Church in Brevard, and he helped them find a house that could serve as home and clinic. “He was a great help,” Sister Jacquie said. “I don’t know what we would

made to ministry rooted in the Lord. A Mass in honor of the World Day for Consecrated Life was held in the chapel at Maryfield Nursing Home in High Point on Feb. 2. According to information from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference (NCCB/USCC), the day, commissioned by the pope, has been observed in dioceses across the country for the past several years to commemorate those men and women who have answered God’s call. All men and

women religious, including diocesan and order priests, live a consecrated life — one in which they pledge their lives to God through the profession of the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Although diocesan priests do not necessarily take the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, they do commit to lead simple and celibate lives in service to their bishop and the diocese. Although Feb. 2 is the day designated for the worldwide celebration,

See SISTERS, page 15

Celebrating life in Christ

“...I have called you by name — you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1 By Alesha M. Price Staff Writer HIGH POINT — On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, a community of Maryfield Nursing Home residents, the Poor Servants of the Mother of God Sisters that staff the residential care and nursing home facility, other men and women religious and area supporters gathered to celebrate the commitment many have

See CELEBRATING, page 8


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