Sr. Celeste Wobeter, in addition to being Provincial President, is also Chair of the Non-Violence Committee. She coordinates meetings and organizes the agenda for this group, which is composed of six Notre Dame Sisters and three Notre Dame Associates. These people bring to the work many gifts, a variety of knowledge, and a talent for hard work. Currently beginning the fourth of a four-year mandate, the committee followed much of the formation process in determining a direction for the Sisters and Associates’ response to family violence.
The first directive of the Notre Dame community was to study the Notre Dame spirituality of non-violence. The founders of the congregation, in many ways and in bold actions, lived out a spirituality that called for work against family and societal violence. Sisters and Associates continue to educate themselves about living out the spirituality of our founders, and how they can be more non-violent in their lives. The goal is to become people of compassion and peace as we follow the Gospel call.
On a second, just as immediate level, committee members studied the problem of family violence on many levels, and surveyed agencies and women from domestic violence programs in the Omaha area to determine need. The need for transitional housing was very high. Transitional housing is a combination of temporary quarters for women and their children who are leaving domestic violence programs such as the Shelter, coupled with training in living skills, financial management and parenting skills designed to restore psychological and emotional health and balance. With this type of support, women are more capable of independent living outside the domestic violence situation. As recommended by the Non-violence committee, the Sisters and Associates chose to focus on making a positive difference in the transitional housing available in the Omaha area. In order to effect the most good, they chose to collaborate with a pre-existing successful program, Catholic Charities’ Family Passages. Operating in the former Paxton Manor from 1996 until the close of the building, then renting apartments for the women served, Family Passages consistently serves twelve women who remain in the transitional housing for an average between 6-18 months.
The greatest need experienced by Family Passages was lack of funds to pay the rental of the apartments, and lack of funds to add more badly-needed apartments for transitional housing use. The Notre Dame Sisters and Associates created the Safe Homes Project to collaborate with Family Passages in filling this need.
The concept of Safe Homes is simple. People of all faiths long to take steps to end family violence. Family Passages is an effective, proven method for assisting women and children to build a new life that does not contain violence. Safe Homes is the connection between the two. Through trained volunteers (mostly Sisters and Associates at this stage) information about the need and educational materials about domestic violence flow to local faith communities (church congregations and other faith-based groups). The response, support for Family Passages, has been overwhelmingly positive.
The Notre Dame Sisters and Associates have a continuing commitment to this program. It is seen within the Notre Dame community as a continuation of the Notre Dame history of meeting the unmet needs of women, children and families. Safe Homes is a pilot program as well as a successful advocate for Family Passages. Safe Homes demonstrates the efficacy of Sisters and Associates working together. It also represents a new variety of advocacy, one in which the advocate is a conduit between the need and the resource which will meet the need. It’s the difference between starting up a program to meet a need, and connecting necessary support to an already functioning and successful program. It is, in a way, the flip side of something that the Sisters have always done, advocating to connect a person in need with the resource to help that individual. Now Sisters and Associates are advocating to strengthen the resource, so that it is there when individuals need it.
The entire Notre Dame community offers very strong encouragement to the Non-Violence Committee and to the Safe Homes project. There has been a high level of participation by both Sisters and Associates. Sr.Celeste herself feels very energized by the work of the Non-Volence committee.
"What we’re about feels so right, and we really are making a difference in lives."