CSS honors 15 of its own for ‘exemplary’
service
By NADIA MARIA SMITH
CS&T Staff Writer
AUDUBON - In honor of the 200th anniversary of the Church
in Philadelphia, Catholic Social Services celebrated by
recalling its own history of service and remembering all
the men and women who make that service possible.
Fifteen men and women from the various agencies run under
the umbrella of Catholic Social Services were awarded the
Bicentennial Heritage Award for “the distinctive ways
[they] have brought alive our mission of providing help
and creating hope for those in need,” said Msgr. Joseph
A. Tracy, the Secretary for Catholic Human Services.
He presented the awards to the recipients at a luncheon
Friday, May 9 at St. Gabriel’s Hall in Audubon.
All the awardees have been working 10 years or longer with
CSS, some as long as 36 years. In that time, they have established
a new program or transformed an existing one; provided leadership
and guidance during a time of significant change; served
as a trusted guardian of institutional memory and a wise
steward of agency resources; delivered exemplary quality
direct-care services to clients, or mentored a generation
of subsequent leaders in the agency. Ralph Stinson, for
instance, has been working at St. Gabriel’s Hall for
36 years.
Stinson is now one of three residential directors responsible
for the daily life of boys aged 12 to 18 who have been committed
by the courts to St. Gabriel’s for juvenile crimes.
Over Stinson’s 36 years, he has worked in various
capacities to ensure the reintegration of the at-risk youth
into the community as responsible citizens.
St. Gabriel’s Hall does that by providing academic
and vocational education, social services, mental and behavioral
health services, arts and recreational activities, spiritual
development and community service opportunities.
“I have had the opportunity to ‘touch hearts’
and to make a real difference in the world during my lifetime,”
Stinson said. “I believe that my vocation to our mission
has been a calling from the Holy Spirit.”
Geraldine Stemplewicz has worked in several capacities at
the Don Guanella Village over the past 30 years. She is
now the workshop trainer at the Cardinal Krol Center, which
is an intermediate care facility for individuals with mental
disabilities within the village.
She works with 15 men aged 25 to 64 in the workshop, helping
them carry out their work responsibilities and, in many
cases, helping them succeed in ways that other trainers
were unable to do.
“I love my job and look forward to working here every
day,” she said. “This job has fulfilled me in
ways I never thought possible. People ask me when I will
retire, and I say never. … I love the residents too
much to retire.”
Sister Julia Walsh, a Handmaiden of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, is a social worker for Casa del Carmen Family Services,
which offers bilingual social services, parent education
and after-school programs.
Sister Julia works with those who come in for emergency
services seeking food, clothing, medical assistance or housing.
She also works with elderly clients who have a language
barrier and need assistance obtaining medical benefits or
paying bills.
For the past 18 years, Sister Julia has been doing the best
she can for those entrusted to her care.
“Each morning I pray that, in my work that day, I
may have compassion to see others with the eyes of Christ,”
she said, “and that He will guide me in words and
actions, so that my work will truly be His Work.”
CS&T staff writer Nadia Maria Smith can be reached
at npozo@adphila.org or (215) 965-4614.
Bicentennial
Heritage Awardees
Ann Cahill
27 years of service
Teacher
St. Gabriel’s Hall
Edward Cahill
36 years of service
Chief Financial Officer (retired 2007)
Catholic Social Services
Sister Maureen Crissy, R.S.M.
16 years of service
Program Director
Women of Hope - Vine
Colleen Haley
27 years of service
Workshop Manager
Cardinal Krol Center
John Hall
35 years of service
Assistant Director of Education
De LaSalle In Towne
Albert Henry
35 years of service
Physical Education and Health Teacher
De LaSalle In Towne
Belvie Hilyard
22 years of service
Case Manager and Program Coordinator
Delaware County Family Service Center
David Reid
34 years of service
Director of Resource Development
MR Services Division
Louise Reilly
23 years of service
Direct Care Professional
Divine Providence Village
Geraldine Stemplewicz
30 years of service
Workshop Trainer
Cardinal Krol Center
Ralph Stinson
36 years service
Director of Residential Services
St. Gabriel’s Hall
Anne Walker
30 years of service
Director of Education
De LaSalle Vocational
Sister Julia Walsh, A.C.J.
18 years of service
Social Worker
Casa del Carmen
Celestine Werts
12 years of service
Youth Care Worker
St. Vincent’s Home, Tacony
Frank White
34 years of service
Intake Coordinator
St. Francis-St. Joseph Homes for Children