News

We want to keep you in the loop of what’s happening in the SSJ Erie community. Browse through this section to explore our most recent publications, our Facebook feed, our Jubilarians' bios, and the most recent obituaries of our Sisters who have passed.

SSJ Mission & Ministries Foundation Awards 2020 Grants

| August 4, 2020

Six grants totaling $150,000 were awarded by the SSJ Mission & Ministries Foundation in July. In response to the COVID crisis, the Foundation changed its grant process to ensure that the heightened needs of the area’s most vulnerable are met. Specifically, the Foundation board voted to award 100 percent of the funds requested by each…

Grants Improve Preparedness and Connectivity

| August 4, 2020

Thanks to three foundations – The Norbert Hardner Foundation, SOAR! and the SSJ Mission & Ministries Foundation – Sisters and staff will be safer and more connected in 2020. Since January, nearly $85,000 in grant funds have been awarded to the Sisters of St. Joseph to cover the following projects: $36,000 from the Hardner Foundation replaced…

Adapting Mission to the Times

| August 4, 2020

As I was listening to Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper give a weekly update on coronavirus statistics, she commended the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network for the safe manner in which it is conducting the Little Italy Farmers Market. It made me wonder how the pandemic is affecting how the SSJNN staff is helping…

we remember . . . Ann Loretta Urmann, SSJ

| July 20, 2020

Ann Loretta Urmann, SSJ, age 95, of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania, died on July 18, 2020. She was born Mary Regis Urmann in Elbon, Pennsylvania, on August 23, 1924, the daughter of the late Joseph and M. Ruth McMackin Urmann. She graduated from St. Leo High School, Ridgway, PA, in 1942. …

July 30 – World Day Against Human Trafficking

| July 9, 2020

In 2013, The United Nations designated July 30th as World Day Against Trafficking in Persons to raise awareness and work toward preventing human trafficking. COVID-19 has impacted human trafficking. Children are more vulnerable at this time to online exploitation. School closures mean that many children no longer have a safe environment and are often confined…

Racism and White Privilege

| July 2, 2020

A reflection by Betsy Wiest, SSJ Agregee and Social Justice Coordinator We have all been affected by recent events in our world: the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests, marches, and vigils following the death of George Floyd. These events have left us breathless, angry, confused, and seeking direction. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern…

PHOTO AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE: (l-r) Eva Mastromatteo of Erie News Now interviews Stephanie Hall, SSJ Associate and Communications Director, and Nancy Fischer, SSJ, as part of a 5-part series during Catholic Sisters Week.