Since the 1990s the presence of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor has taken on new features in the US, Italy, Brazil, and Senegal, through the development of new ministries that meet the evolving needs of different social contexts. In new forms and ways, the Congregation keeps providing its healing service to poor and suffering mankind, by trying to heal its often neglected wounds: social distress, the increasingly jarring inequalities of the globalized world, migrations, loneliness, drug addiction, and the exploitation of those considered least important.
In the US, having given up the healthcare facilities, the Sisters continue to respond to the calls for our Charism outside of hospitals and healthcare facilities. They launch assistance to homeless and abused women, pastoral care in parish churches, and support to poor and ill people – especially to patients with AIDS.
In 1988 the ministry “Haircuts from the Heart” is started with the goal of caring for the hair of poor and homeless children and adults. It is followed by the launch of “Our Lady of the Woods” in Cincinnati, a nursing home for elderly people in need. In 1994 the “St. Joseph Franciscan House,” a homeless center for reintegration in society, is launched in New York, while other new activities are organized in Cincinnati.
In 1996 the ministry for young people “Franciscans for the Poor” is born in Cincinnati, later known as “Tau Center”: this program is directed to groups of young people in schools, universities, and parish churches who wish to have an experience of Franciscan simplicity in the service of their neighbor and of the whole community.
In Italy the service to foreign women and victims of human trafficking is launched, whose number increases at the same pace as immigration. In 1995 the shelter “Parva Domus” is opened in Padua and later, in 1998, the community of Porta San Giacomo with “Progetto Miriam”, geared toward helping immigrant women escape exploitation and prostitution, regain their dignity, and find courage to re-integrate themselves and live and work in the community.
In 1998 Betania community is started in Pistoia together with, a few years later, the ministry for victims of human trafficking at a local shelter home.
In Brazil, new projects support pastoral care, thanks to the progressive involvement of Associates in the Congregation’s activities. Special attention is paid to children and adolescents in difficulty with “Progetto Girassol” launched in 1998 in Pires do Rio, in Goias.
The project’s goal is to support families in difficulty in taking care of their children, by offering a safe place to prevent high-risk behavior tied to social issues, through creative and recreational activities.
The initiative, which involves local volunteers and educators, operates under the Philanthropic Association “APAI”, created by the Sisters in 1954 for the protection of childhood and social well-being.
Since 1970 another Philanthropic Association has been active, “LAR e Creche São Francisco”, through which various activities of support to poor people and social promotion in the Ipameri region are carried out, with specific attention paid to childhood, adolescence and old age.
In Senegal, healthcare service is carried out through the clinics of Koungheul, Missira, and Koumbidja; promotion of women increases through the “Françoise Schervier” Center in Dakar, born in 1990, and the “Benedicta” training center of Koungheul, born in 1993. In these centers artisanal skills are nurtured in order to stimulate paths for work autonomy.
The two centers strive to offer girls training which makes them protagonists responsible for their lives and their futures, in order to reduce inequalities and regenerate the Senegalese society. Activities related to youth and vocation ministry are ongoing, serving new generations for both their spiritual growth and the development of a critical conscience that can guarantee their commitment to the common good of society, peace, and justice.
In the 2000s activities geared to immigrant women who are victims of human trafficking continue to be carried out in Italy, together with the pastoral care of the road in Padua and Messina, and the apostolate in Pistoia’s and Rome’s prisons. In 2004, the NGO “Francescane coi Poveri” is born, an association of social promotion that endeavors to support some SFP projects which require a specific legal recognition.
In 2009 the project “Raggi di Sole” is launched in Rome, a daytime care center for poor and homeless people with the goal of instilling a sense of trust in those who have lost meaning in life and lack the tools necessary to meet their bare necessities.
Ministry with families increases, with activities that support the spiritual journey of couples and their integration in the working and social world.
The activities of vocation and youth ministry continue, together with the accompaniment of teenagers, missions of evangelization, catechesis activities and the apostolic animation in parishes, home visits to ill people.
In 2013, the project “Colei che sa” is launched, with the goal of offering spaces for healing and growth to women ages 35 to 60, followed by the 2016 project “I colori di colei che sa”, addressed to immigrant women to ease their integration and build paths of healing and peace.
In 2014 the ministry “Luci nelle città” is started: it consists of prayer circles of Sisters and Associates who pray for the Congregation’s intentions and the needs of the Community of Life.In 2018, “Progetto Mosaico” is launched, to offer a peaceful and safe place for the growth of teenagers and young people with difficult family backgrounds.
Women, children, and teenagers in difficulty are the focus of the training center “Francisca Schervier”, inaugurated in 2001 in Brazil, driving force of the project “Educação, Cultura e Lazer”, which includes spiritual, cultural, and recreational programs for the promotion of people, women in particular. n 2008, during the Congregation’s General Chapter, held in Brazil for the first time, the “São Francisco” Auditorium is built by the Congregation in Goiania, which soon becomes a meeting center in a suburban area with few facilities.
New ministries strive to support children and teenagers and promote the role and the fulfillment of women. Women are appreciated for their skills and abilities, becoming symbols of hope in the social context where they live. At the training center “Frances Schervier” in Goiania is “Projeto Clar’Art”, which enhances the abilities, the active involvement, and the production skills of women for the sale of handcrafted products.
Within “Projeto Girassol” in Pires Do Rio, the “Projeto Semear” has been developed for the support of children and teenagers coming from families in need, with the goal of promoting their integration and social inclusion, so as to prevent potential risks or addiction. The activities of accompanying young people, apostolic animation in parishes, and home visits to poor and sick people continue.
In 2000 the elementary school “Sant’Antonio da Padova” is opened in Koungheul, Senegal. In 2002 the girls’ boarding school “Frances Schervier” is launched.
These are facilities geared toward fostering inclusion in education and the human growth of children and adolescents who live in the most outlying villages and would not have access to basic education.
In the village of Lwanga, a 2-hour drive from Koungheul, the Congregation opens the “St. Charles de Lwanga” school in 2008, which includes a nursery school and an elementary school. In 2006, Senegal welcomes a new community in Samine, Casamance, in southern Senegal: Kairo community. In 2007, in Keur Mbaye Fall, near Dakar, a school for women’s literacy and the promotion of women is opened. The “Centre de promotion féminin Sainte Claire” is attended by teenagers and young women from a suburban area of Dakar, which is poor, isolated, and lacking infrastructure. In 2011, within the activities of St. Francis clinics, a new nutritional program is started.
Project “Sr. Giusy” focuses on women and children of the Koungheul area. The woman becomes the expression of a new prophecy in the most isolated villages, as main character and creator of this new program in favor of life.
In 2016, the “Centre de restauration” in Samine is begun in order to offer cooking instruction to women to strengthen their sense of responsibility and their dignity through the preparation and sale of food. Also in 2016 the activities of the nursery school “Mame Elisabeth” begin in the periphery of Keur Mbaye along with the activities of a new clinic in Lwanga.
Since the 2000s, Sisters in the US have been engaged in support services to women who are victims of addiction, in services of pastoral care, and in assistance and religious education in parishes. In 2002 “Mary’s Dwelling Place” is opened in Cincinnati followed by “Tamar’s Place” in 2010, a center which provides support and hospitality to women who are victims of prostitution and addiction. The commitment to supporting poor and sick people continues in several parishes and different contexts. In 2010 the Centennial Barn in Cincinnati is renovated. Dating back to 1898, it is transformed into a cozy space offering spiritual growth opportunities. It welcomes groups and events for the enrichment and growth of the whole person in the unity of body, mind, and spirit.
A portion of the green area next to St. Clare Convent is dedicated to families, many of whom are immigrants or refugees, for the cultivation and sharing of the fruits of the earth.
In 2012 ministries sponsored by the Congregation in Cincinnati are gathered together under the Corporation “Franciscan Ministries”, which becomes an expression of our healing charism at the service of people in need.
“Franciscan Ministries INC.” is a not-for-profit organization which meets the needs of vulnerable and neglected people, respecting their dignity through a personal approach. The program “Art For All People” is begun, which is a service of art-therapy offered to people with physical, mental, or spiritual frailties.
In 2013, the “Franciscan Peddler Thrift Shop” is opened in Cincinnati, and its proceeds are used to support poor people who are served by SFP ministries.
A ministry to accompany couples wishing to get married in the wonderful St. Clare Chapel in Cincinnati is developed. And in 2017, the “Sisters Corner” is launched: a small shop with needlecraft gift items handmade by the Sisters, associates and volunteers the proceeds of which are offered to people who are poor.
