Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Giving Back to Help Others

April 19, 2023

Cabrini Immigrant Services (CIS), Dobbs Ferry, NY, held a Giving Back Program to benefit an organization that assists Muslim women who are victims of domestic violence. Some of our ‘alums’ who are now in high school, along with some of the women in our Knitting Group, made 150 packets of different items to donate to the organization. The bags were filled with hand lotion, a small mirror, Chapstick, a pen and notebook, tissues, a facial mask, a keychain with a positive saying, such as “You are strong” and a pair of socks.

Thank you to Tom Costello, from The Joy of Sox, in Pennsylvania, who donated150 pairs of socks to add to the individual bags.

The program was organized by one of our Human Services Intern, Danna Morales, from Westchester Community College. Danna explained about the organization and the different types of services that it has for women who are victims of domestic violence.

Thank you to all who helped to make the lives of these women better

Virtual Anti-Trafficking Conference Provides Way to Combat Trafficking

March 18, 2021

~ by Soli Salgado, Global Sisters Report

Spotlighting the root causes and intersections of human trafficking, the Shine the Light

virtual conference demonstrated the range of people and concrete actions needed to combat trafficking effectively.

The March 8-9 webinar, for which more than 450 people registered, included a variety of voices: survivors with moving testimonies; sisters experienced in helping victims create new lives; experts who can speak to the unseen complexities exacerbating the problem; legislators who pass bills to curb the causes and religious organizations and volunteers who raise awareness by localizing the issue. Hosted by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd National Advocacy Center, the conference began on International Women’s Day.

Speaker Sr. Winifred Doherty, who represents the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd at the United Nations, emphasized how economic systems and force migration compound the issue of labor and sex trafficking, with marginalized groups such as non-white people most often falling prey.

Doherty considered how the coronavirus pandemic has shone a light on the “fault lines in society, showing ever more clearly the structural and systemic issues that we have known, ignored or chosen not to address,” she said. The looming threat of climate change, which is also without regard for borders and boundaries, is simultaneously exposing similar inequalities.

Doherty continued, “We must connect with and challenge the very system that perpetuates abuses, exploitation and injustices including gender inequality. We must look at the big picture – the interconnectedness of the web of all existence – the planet and its peoples.”

Missionary of Jesus Sr. Norma Pimentel illustrated Doherty’s point of interconnectedness as she shared her experience of ministering to migrants on both sides of the U.S. – Mexico border. Sr. Norma spoke of the mistreatment and abuse migrants encounter on one side of the border only for it to continue when they cross frontiers.

Pimentel choked back tears of joy as she share her experience witnessing refugees in the Matamoros, Mexico, camp finally cross the bridge into the United States last week after two years of living in uncertainty, having fled their homes but being unwelcome in the United States.

During the conference’s second day which focused on calls to action, a panel of guests highlighted a few U.S. parishes that can serve as examples for how to raise awareness and help trafficking survivors through efforts in local churches.

The sum of the conference affirmed Sr. Doherty’s opening speech calling on all to tackle the many individual causes that ultimately contribute to the phenomenon of trafficking.

“We must raise our voices for new systems and new structures that seek to uphold the sacredness of life through advocating for economies of care, gender justice, eco-justice and social justice,” Doherty said.

For those of who were unable to view the conference at the scheduled times, you can now access the recordings for our 2021 Shine the Light Human Trafficking Conference: Root Causes and Intersections on Human Trafficking:

Day 1: https://youtu.be/5GlE_rnuox4

Day 2: https://youtu.be/Lrtg0YGAPJU

They also are embedded in the Digital Toolkit page, as well, https://www.gsadvocacy.org/human-trafficking-conference-packet.html

To access the Corporate Stance of the Missionary Sisters on Anti-Human Trafficking

Please click here

Voices for the Voiceless

November 12, 2020

We are very proud and grateful for the students of Cabrini University’s ECG 200, Voices for the Voiceless class. They helped organize a Human Trafficking Awareness Walk at Cabrini University on November 10 (Cabrini Day) and had “stations” where they shared info on Human Trafficking. The students in this class have become abolitionists and we know they are going to continue to be voices for the voiceless!
~ The Barbara and John Jordan Center for Children of Trauma and Domestic Violence Education, Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition, and ECG 200 Voice for Voiceless-Anti-Human Trafficking Class

Some topics discussed:
What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery, in which people are controlled and exploited for profit. Perpetrators use force, fraud, and/or coercion to manipulate and establish control over individuals.
Types of Trafficking:
Various forms of trafficking exist around the world, including forced labor, sex trafficking, child labor, forced marriage, and child soldiers.
Statistics:
In 2019, 11,500 situations of human trafficking were reported to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline. These situations involved 22,326 individual survivors; nearly 4,384 traffickers and 1,912 suspicious businesses. Human trafficking is very much under reported. Shocking as these numbers are, they are likely only a fraction of the actual problem.
Impact:
Trafficked persons often have limited access to basic necessities such as safety, food, sleep, hygiene, and medical care.

Get Involved:
Learn everything you can about human trafficking and share that info with your friends, neighbors, family members; donate to organization’s who help trafficked victims & volunteer for them:

Please place the National Human Trafficking Hotline # in your cell phone 1-888-3737-888 and report suspected cases.

Survivor Focuses on Red Flags of Human Trafficking

November 14, 2019

Cabrini University’s ECG Anti-Human Trafficking class, the Barbara and John Jordan Center and the Cabrini Action & Advocacy Coalition (Cabrini Closet) recently organized an evening at Cabrini University with guest speaker, Tammy McDonnell, an activist, advocate and human trafficking survivor. The following are excerpts of the account of the presentation which appeared in Catholic Philly.com.

Human trafficking survivor Tammy McDonnell shared her experiences on November 6 at Cabrini University and, through a panel discussion that followed, raised awareness among students and residents about the crime of trafficking — a form of modern-day slavery — its prevalence in Philadelphia-area communities and how to combat it.
Human trafficking occurs when force, fraud, or coercion is used to control another person for the purpose of engagement in commercial sex acts or soliciting labor or services against that person’s will.

“Slavery is death,” said McDonnell, who is also an activist for Covenant House in Philadelphia. Human trafficking treats people as disposable, she said.

“Trafficking happens in your own backyard,” she said, adding that it is so prevalent, “you can be sitting next to a survivor, and not even know it.”
Her human trafficking story began when she sold her car for $800 to a man that she now realizes was a “recruiter,” an intermediary who referred her to someone who could give her a job that she needed, which “was the start of everything.”

Looking back, she now realizes her trafficker was a predator who took advantage of her vulnerabilities. She felt trapped and was too afraid to break away because she needed to protect her family from the trafficker, who made threats against her mother and her children.
Then one day, she said, “this cosmic mental switch went off, and I said, ‘I’m done.’” She fled Philadelphia for New Jersey, where she was homeless and subsisted by committing petty theft crimes, such as breaking into parked cars and stealing items which she sold to purchase food and drugs.
The crisis center referred McDonnell to a women’s recovery program, where she lived with Catholic nuns for 18 months. During her recovery, one of the sisters recommended McDonnell for a position as survivor advocate for Covenant House in Philadelphia. Now, her role has been expanded also to include outreach worker.

“I can raise awareness because it’s so necessary,” McDonnell said. She advocates for laws to prevent human trafficking in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. “I knew nothing about the law, except how to break it.” But now she attends community college, pursuing paralegal studies, and hopes eventually to attend law school. “My life is helping other people,” she says.

Tarana Burke Receives Presitigious Award from Cabrini University

September 26, 2019

Thursday, September 19, Tarana Burke, founder of the Me Too movement and social justice activist, received the Ivy Young Willis and Martha Willis Dale Award during a ceremony at Cabrini University. Awarded annually, the Ivy Young Willis and Martha Willis Dale Award recognizes women who have made outstanding contributions in the field of public affairs.

In October 2017, #MeToo became a viral phenomenon that quickly spread around the world. Burke emerged as a global leader in the evolving conversation around sexual violence and the need for survivor-centered solutions. Her theory of using empathy to empower survivors is changing the way the world thinks about and engages with survivors. Her belief that healing isn’t a destination, but a journey has touched and inspired millions of survivors who previously lived with the pain, shame, and trauma of their assaults in isolation.

Following her presentation which was conversational in format, Ms. Burke offered kind, compassionate and supportive words to students who asked questions or offered comments. ~excerpts from Cabrini U. website