Left to right: Phoebe Barlett, Patty Angevine and Kelly Kovacs

Identifying Our Gifts – Joanne Burns-Theriault, Coordinator, Caritas
By Angela Rafuse, SC Centre

Joanne joined the Sisters of Charity in 2017 as the first lay person to assume the role of Coordinator at Caritas, however it seems she was destined for this role given her interconnected history with the Sisters of Charity. Joanne was born and raised in the North End of Halifax, around the corner from St. Stephen’s Convent and Parish which her family attended. Joanne’s maternal aunt is Sister Cecelia Catherine Batten (RIP), and her paternal aunt is Sister John Anthony Burns (RIP).

Joanne attended St. Stephen’s School and Saint Pat’s High School. She went on to Dalhousie University and was awarded a Sister of Charity Bursary. She worked at Mount Saint Vincent University for over 34 years. A number of the Sisters who taught Joanne now reside in Caritas.

While her role as a collaborator involves the responsibility of Manager, acting as liaison with partners and volunteers, advocating on behalf of the Sisters of Charity, you quickly realize Joanne’s “heavy work” is a bit more “abstract in nature”. The unique disposition of working in a retirement community as every Sister arrives for a different reason, some due to circumstances beyond their control. What is certain, a Sister has left a community for which they were fulfilled, comfortable and happy to be part.

When a Sister’s ministry journey calls them to Caritas, there can be a profound sense of unfamiliarity and transition: transition of new spaces, ways, relationships, and community to nurture and belong. While Joanne prepares the tangible aspects of the transition and move, the collaboration involves more unspoken aspects to fulfill. Some days may be easier than others as Sisters transition and adapt to their new community, and Joanne is here to walk with them in whatever aspect that may involve. Joanne remarked, “she has the grace to follow those steps wherever they may lead, and certainly with her faith in God”.

When we spoke about challenges in her role, you quickly learn Joanne is not one to shy away from challenges. While working full-time managing both the International Student Office and Campus Recreation and busy raising two sons with her husband Stephen, she returned to graduate studies. Studying often involved sneaking peeks into the textbooks during intermissions of her boys’ hockey games. Joanne graduated with her Masters in Adult Education and was the recipient of the Mount’s President Prize.

The unprecedented challenges during the pandemic while surreal and not to be downplayed, Joanne confronted with the confidence of her faith. From government lockdowns, healthcare deficiencies, staff and volunteer shortages, these paled in comparison to Joanne’s greatest fear of the inability to be physically present with the Sisters. The grueling obstacles and emotional challenges put on her was echoed within the Sisters and the world. Yet through adversity, Joanne’s commitment to her role, compassion for the Sisters and resilience to persevere emerged as she adapted to new ways to care for the Sisters and deliver on their needs, despite the chaos around her. In some ways, Joanne made it seem effortless and found new ways to thrive herself as the world emerges on the other side of the pandemic.

This was the longest one-on-one time I spent with Joanne, and I was truly moved by Joanne’s heartfelt care and compassion shared in her commitment to leverage her gifts to deliver on the needs of the Sisters. Her final thoughts to conclude our interview: “this is not a job; it is a ministry.”

Mosaic Collaboration – Heather Sinclair, Assistant to the Coordinator, Caritas 
By Angela Rafuse, SC Centre 

Heather referenced the word mosaic often during our interview. Interestingly, the word mosaic can be defined as “a surface decoration made by inlaying small pieces of variously colored material to form pictures or patterns”. This would prove to be an insightful description of Heather’s story of collaboration. 

Heather studied Recreation Management at Acadia University majoring in Outdoor Recreation. She lived, worked and volunteered internationally and led mosaic youth exchange programs, and not your typical youth exchange programs. The early years of her career she worked with youth from underrepresented groups with diverse and often complex backgrounds in focused on experiential education and adventure-based counselling. Heather’s leadership style could be one described as tough, but kind love. For over a decade she worked with Canada World Youth, which afforded her many cultural awakenings through her community work in developing countries, primarily Jamaica and Russia. After many years she returned home to Halifax to care for her aging parents, and at the same time she adopted a rescue dog.  During this period of her life, she became the founder of a rewarding dog walking business, Tails to Trails, that took her back outdoors and back to nature through rigorous dog hiking with as many as 10 dogs at a time. Through lifestyle changes, prayer and a very chance encounter, she was led to the Sisters of Charity in 2018.  

Heather relates her role as a collaborator similar to her childhood friendships. She frequently found herself acting as the “peace maker” between the diverse personalities on the playground. She would seek common ground through adversity by simply listening. The world has changed significantly since the pandemic, including inflation, labour shortages and healthcare strains. Heather’s childhood trait of listening and seeking common ground serves her very well in her current role.  She leverages this skillset to anticipate, advocate and deliver on the needs of the Sisters while fostering harmonious stakeholder relationships. The components of stakeholder collaboration have changed: the people, needs, expectations, timelines, and even patterns. Even Heather’s role changes often, sometimes by the moment, and yet Heather’s confidence to persevere never falters.  

Heather refers to the blessings of collaboration in the very same way she was led to her role at the Sisters of Charity: divine intervention. Through adversities there are tremendous opportunities and joys to find common ground, often without knowledge or direction on where that may lead. By listening and responding to that call, Heather’s greatest joy may be found. As someone who had a lot of extreme living experiences before coming to Caritas, it has served her well to work-through and deliver on the needs and expectations within her role. Just as the youth were “not a number” but distinctive individuals, she feels privileged to work and serve alongside the original feminists and matriarchal subculture, the Sisters or Charity. Heather exuded pride when she spoke of the gratitude and privilege she has to “walk the Sisters home” in her role, and to minister love all along the way.  

Figuratively and literally the word mosaic summed up Heather’s unique role in collaboration at Caritas. 

Collaboration
By Ann Masters

While the definition of collaboration is the ACT of working together to achieve a common goal, I think it could be the ART of working together. Developing that art requires commitment, empathy, desire, listening, patience and plenty of ideas.

When Carol Evans and I became co-coordinators of the Associate Relationship, we learned this art little by little. We became good at hearing what the other was saying, thinking about our response and the implications of our decisions. At first, I thought it would be better if we both had similar ideas but I have come to realize that there is more excitement and growth in diversity of thoughts. Our varied experience of location, lifestyle, and congregational connection bring richness and perspective to our work.

To collaborate with Associates throughout the congregations, we established the Associate Leadership Team which is composed of Associates from Bermuda, Boston, New York, Halifax, Cape Breton, Peru and British Columbia. We meet by Zoom every 6 weeks for prayer and to share ideas that foster development in our local groups as well as congregationally.

As members of the CCFP (Company of Charity Formation Personnel) we meet monthly with the other directors to share ideas from all the Charity Associates throughout North America. This collaboration gives us support and knowledge of what is going on in all of the Charity Federation.

Each of the local SC-Halifax Associate groups has a contact person who disseminates the emails and makes sure that all of their members get all communications from Carol and me.

So what was our common goal? These words from our Associate Handbook might say it best: “to widen and strengthen bonds with others who affirm the goals and mission of a religious congregation and who wish to live these from within their own lifestyle.” Collaboration has enabled me to widen and strengthen these bonds with others in Canada, Peru, Bermuda and the United States. My life has been enriched!