His
work is labor of love
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
Stanley Faison is the business manager for St. Martin de
Porres Parish and the development director for the parish
school.
That work is far different from his previous career, which
was buying and selling commercial real estate in New York.
Despite the national economic downturn in real estate values,
there is still a lot of money to be made in that area —
but Faison, 41, knows money isn’t everything.
“When you go home at night and know you’ve made
a difference in lives, there is no comparison,” he
said.
A Philadelphian out of Corpus Christi Parish and St. Helena
Parish, he is a graduate of La Salle College High School
and Fairfield University, where he earned his degree in
economics and finance.
“I have 16 years of Catholic education,” he
said with pride.
Working in real estate in the Big Apple was exciting and
glamorous for Faison as he rubbed elbows with the movers
and shakers of the world, of course, but when he went home
at the end of the day he wondered: Where was the satisfaction?
Two-and-a-half years ago, well before the bottom fell out
of the real estate market, he decided to come back to his
roots. His maternal grandparents’ home in North Philadelphia
was vacant at the time, so he moved in.
In New York, he usually attended Mass at a church on Park
Avenue. During frequent visits to Washington, D.C., he would
drop in at that city’s cathedral on Sundays. Back
in Philadelphia, at first, he attended Mass at the Cathedral
Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.
All three are beautiful houses of worship, but for Faison,
they were just a place to go to Mass to fulfill his obligation
as a committed Catholic. He didn’t know the parishioners
and they didn’t know him.
One day, passing St. Martin Church, he stopped in —
and liked what he found. Very soon he was attending Mass
there on a regular basis. Father Edward Hallinan, St. Martin’s
pastor, took notice, and asked him to do some volunteer
work for the parish. Faison agreed, and very soon it turned
into full-time employment.
His current parish is certainly not on Park Avenue in Manhattan,
but Faison has come to understand that ‘location,
location, location’ is far from the most important
factor in forming important relationships: “We are
all the same, really. We are all called to be one.”
Of his twin hats as parish business manager and development
director for the parish school, Faison considers the development
work most important.
Because of the neighborhood’s economic demographics,
St. Martin School cannot operate in the black without financial
assistance. Finding new donors and building up a base of
corporate and foundation donors can be a struggle, he said,
but his work remains, for him, a labor of love.
“I know that Catholic schools are the best foundation
for young people” he said, “whether they are
Catholic or not.”
For more information on St. Martin de Porres School, call
Stanley Faison at 215-228-8330.
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance
writer.