For Lisa Cathelyn, getting a job as the Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation Coordinator (JPIC) with the Sisters of Saint Joseph U.S. Federation was a "coming home" after serving as a St. Joseph Worker from 2013 - 2014. It's a job she wouldn't have applied for if not for her St. Joseph Worker year.
During her St. Joseph Worker year Lisa worked at Risen Christ Catholic School (the only Catholic dual language Spanish school in Minnesota) as a health care services navigator and at St. Stephen's Human Services. Before she joined the program she had done a great deal of service work. She knew that after graduating college that she wanted to do a year of service, but not on a national level. She had never heard of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet but after being accepted into the program and meeting a few, she knew getting to know the Sisters would be her favorite part.
The St. Joseph Worker Program matches women with non-profits in the Twin Cities area to serve as volunteer interns during a year of service. The Workers serve at their placement sites for 36 hours a week and focus throughout the year on leadership development, intentional community, social justice, and spirituality. For many of the placement sites, having a St. Joseph Worker allows for more focus on mission without sacrificing operations and costs.
Inspired by the Sisters' dedication to social justice and to showing up for their communities, Lisa then earned her Master of Divinity degree at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California. She worked as a campus minister at a women's college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before becoming the JPIC Coordinator for the Federation. In her current role she connects with people throughout the Federation and asks how it can continue to move as a collective voice in the present and into the future. She wants to continue to advance the message of the Sisters' charism and works to bring people together in the common goal of continuing in the 'love of God and dear neighbor without distinction.'