The Journey Vol. 02, 2022

A Voice for the Voiceless

Lisa Polega, SCN, often spends her days in the courtroom, as her ministry has taken her to Louisville, Kentucky, to help some of the youngest and most vulnerable residents there. Sister Lisa is an advocacy supervisor for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) in Louisville. The nonprofit trains volunteers to be a voice for abused and neglected children in family court.

“Oftentimes, and I know a lot of us can say this in our various ministries, I think if Mother Catherine were around today, she would be mixing it up in the Jefferson County family court system,” Sister Lisa said of the work. “Sometimes, I think we don’t have orphans coming down the Ohio River, but there are so many children here in Louisville today that do need care, anything from parenting to fostering. These are the orphans from the wharf.”

Sister Lisa said advocates go “toe-to-toe with attorneys” in court to ensure the best decisions are made for the children. “Judges love us. The volunteer prepares the report and submits it to the judge and all attorneys involved,” she said. “Sometimes, you’re in court all day. We are an extra set of eyes and ears to make sure the child is in the best place.”

Sister Lisa has a master’s in theology, and through the years, she found herself working toward family unity. In Chicago, she worked with undocumented people seeking asylum, she worked to keep families together and advocated for immigration reform. In Mississippi, she worked with low-income families and through systems to meet their needs.

When she first came to Louisville looking for a ministry, Sister Lisa went to her Community for ideas. She processed coming to minister at CASA with Eva Kowalski, SCN, who had a lot of experience working with children and the Covenant House.

“I was concerned over some of the difficulties or some of the things I would be encountering,” she said. “Eva basically told me you may not have immediate results, but even if the child 20 or 30 years from now is in the most dire circumstance and they look back on their lives, and they just remember that little glimmer of hope, that kind word that was said to them, measure that as success.”

The late Marie Flowers, SCN, also influenced Sister Lisa’s interest in CASA. Sister Marie was an advocacy supervisor and volunteer for the nonprofit. CASA is a calling for many, both women religious and laypeople, looking to impact the lives of children in need.

Linda Ilnick is one of the volunteers at CASA in Louisville. She shared about her volunteer work with the nonprofit and working with Sister Lisa.

“It’s important to talk to the families; when you talk to the parents, you realize their lives weren’t much different and that it is cyclical, this kind of life,” Linda said. “Lisa is our support. A lot of times, most CASA helpers come from fixer backgrounds; we want to fix things. So, we come in like bulls in china shops, and that gets nothing accomplished. But Lisa is the one who you kind of talk through it with – this is how we are going to approach this, this is what we need to do. She goes with us on our first visits to a home because that’s kind of scary, going into people’s homes.”

Lisa also reads through the volunteers’ reports.

“It’s intimidating to write a report that is going to be read in court. For anybody, that’s intimidating,” Linda said. “She goes through our report, and we work through it, so that is a support to us volunteers. But Lisa has the perfect personality for it. Lisa is kind in her feedback. She says, ‘well, you could do it that way, but I don’t know, or we could do it this way,’ which probably is a little better. She is very supportive and encouraging.”

Sister Lisa is more than happy to offer this help.

“Volunteers are the backbone of CASA,” she said. “Volunteerism, in general, builds capacity into the system, any system. Technically, I am the supervisor, but supervision isn’t necessarily telling people what to do. I work with extremely gifted people. My job with volunteers is to help them identify their own giftedness in a situation.”

CASA President/CEO Will Myers, Advocacy Supervisor Lisa Polega, SCN, and Program Coordinator Megan Mosteller were pictured outside on the children’s playground. CASA offices are located in Louisville on the Kosair Charities campus.

Sister Lisa says each volunteer is different. Some are more aware and more confident in their giftedness. Her role may be to lead through example, or it may be to simply walk with them and encourage them in the work.

“Sometimes you’re the principal, and sometimes you’re the cheerleader,” she said.

While the work of CASA is essential, the weight of the ministry can be heavy. Sister Lisa will physically wipe her feet on the rug on her way out at the end of a tough day, an attempt to leave it behind as she heads home.

When she, too, needs support and encouragement, she turns to her SCN Community.

“There are a couple of women in the Community that I do know because of their professional background, their ministerial background, that they are great people to process it with,” she said. “I consider Betty Blandford, SCN, a go-to person. Sister Betty is somebody with whom I can process situations. are times I may go home after work and dinner, and she would hear of some of the situations, and she may have ministered in a position where she had encountered that in the past.”

Jacqueline Aceto, SCN, is a listening ear for Sister Lisa as well and can relate due to her own ministry work. SCNs Theresa Knabel and Marlene Lehmkuhl are among other Sisters who have been connected with CASA over the years.

“We are part of the safety net: teachers, social workers, attorneys, courts,” Sister Lisa said of those involved with CASA.

The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth support the nonprofit as volunteers and advocates as well as monetary support. CASA has been a recipient of grants from the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Ministry Fund, receiving its first grant in 2014. CASA President and CEO Will Myers believes the nonprofit is a continuation of the mission of Mother Catherine Spalding.

For Sister Lisa, working with CASA has its challenges, but every day is a learning opportunity.

“For every bad thing, you have to remember there are people helping. As a woman of faith, you need that rock in your life,” she said. “We experience secondary trauma when we read the reports and talk with the children and families.” She knows there is a God for children who are hurt, as well as for their abusers.

Being an advocate for vulnerable children is not something that can be done alone. It takes a team coming together for a common goal – to be a voice for the otherwise voiceless.

“When I need the strength, when I am in the courtroom talking with a variety of different attorneys who all have conflicting interests, we, as CASA specifically, have the voice of the child in mind. That is who we advocate for,” Sister Lisa said. “So, I think when we are mixing it up, I know there are voices that are louder than mine, that have more legal expertise. I do try to channel my inner Mother Catherine because I do know that to have my voice represent that of the child’s, however small that child’s voice may be,” is important.