Joint ACT of MERCY Starts 150th
Anniversary Celebration

Four years of preparation came to completion on March 18 when simultaneous presentations of a joint one million dollar grant to Mercy Housing California were announced by Sheila Browne, RSM and Mary Waschowiak, RSM. The shared Act of Mercy was chosen after a long period of prayer and discussion by both the Auburn and Burlingame Regional Communities. It is a way of saying that the anniversary celebration is more than looking back to a great past; it is a commitment to the future.

Mercy Housing California was selected as the recipient of the grant both because it focuses on a critical social need and because it is linked to Catherine McAuley’s first ministry, sheltering women in need. Reflecting on the ministry’s importance, Maura Power, RSM, said: “By this ‘Act of Mercy’ we continue our dedication to enhancing the potential of the residents by developing their creative energies, by providing opportunities for learning what life-skills might be needed, and by becoming advocates for a more human life situation for all people.”

Like Catherine McAuley, the early California sisters focused on housing. In San Francisco many young women, finding employment as domestic workers, were exploited by their employers. Mary Baptist Russell saw that reality and immediately opened a House of Mercy to provide safe shelter. She also confronted the reality of many elderly left without housing or care. These she housed in a wing of St. Mary’s Hospital

Sacramento had some of the same needs but the most pressing was the care for half orphans. Accidents in the mines or the unhealthy conditions of climate left young children bereft of parents and care.

Today the Mercy ministry of housing is carried on in a variety of forms. Not only is Mercy Housing, Inc. a major provider of housing throughout the Western States, but in the Sacramento area is provides housing facilities geared to families, seniors and intergenerational communities. The merger of Mercy Housing California and California Rural Housing has added the elements of migrant housing, “sweat equity” housing and other development forms to its work.

The monies provided through the ‘Act of Mercy’ doesn’t go for “bricks and mortar.” It goes to resident programs. Sister Lillian Murphy,RSM, President and CEO of Mercy Housing said, “This donation will enable Mercy Housing to provide programs and services to assist residents to stabilize their lives and achieve their dreams of a better future for themselves and their children, and, more important, it shows the faith of the sisters in our mission which is critical for so many families and individuals.”

Many of the residents who find affordable housing through Mercy Housing lack basic skills and job training. Mercy Services fills that void with adult education, after school programs for the children and helping residents gain the confidence to lobby for better conditions in their cities and communities. One such undertaking was helping the residents of Mercy Village in Folsom lobby their civic leaders for speed bumps to provide greater safety for neighborhood children.

Mercy Housing, Inc. is also a leader in collaborative ministry. It has teamed up with health care systems throughout the country, creating a partnership with works to better the health of the whole. Without adequate housing, health costs increase. The partnership between CHW and Mercy Housing has provided land to build Russell Manor in south Sacramento and is an important dimension of the proposed senior housing complexes planned for Mercy Oaks in Redding and for senior housing in Folsom.

The number of Mercy Housing Developments in California is impressive. It has 90 facilities devoted to housing families, seniors, intergenerational groups or special needs clients. Twenty of the developments are in the Sacramento area, responding to the critical need for safe, affordable housing in the region.

The symbolic nature of the Act of Mercy is important as well. Organizers of the 150th anniversary celebration wanted to make a statement that the celebration was one of mission. It is hoped that all the various anniversary events will animate a renewed commitment to the Mercy mission, that by telling the story of Mercy’s 150 years of caring, more people will be drawn into the ministry through their contribution of time, talent and treasure.