Announcing Our 2025 Hope Blossoms Honorees!

ST. ANN’S CENTER TO HONOR MICHAEL S. STEELE AT SPRING EVENT

Steele will be honored at Hope Blossoms 2025, along with Order of Malta Federal Association

Washington, D.C. – Sister Nancy Downing, CEO of St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families, announced today that Hon. Michael S. Steele, MSNBC Host and Former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, will be honored at the organization’s annual Hope Blossoms event on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, MD. Steele will receive the Mary McGrory Advocacy Award, recognizing his longtime support and advocacy for those at the margins - especially the mothers and their children living at St. Ann's Center.

Event Date and Time: Wednesday, May 14, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Event Location: Columbia Country Club, Chevy Chase, MD
Event Chair: Vince C. Burke, III

“God opens doors in people’s lives through St. Ann’s Center” said Steele, who has spoken movingly about his own adoption from St. Ann’s when he was an infant. “I’m excited to help raise up this mission and Mary McGrory’s incredible legacy by accepting this award in her memory. Let’s come together May 14 and help open new doors for more young families!”

Born at Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Mr. Steele was raised in Washington, DC. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University (‘81’), Georgetown Law Center (’91), and currently serves as Holder of the Chair for the Gwendolyn S. & Colbert L. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy at Howard University.

Sister Nancy Downing also announced that the Order of Malta Federal Association will be honored with this year’s Michele Heidenberger Volunteer Award in recognition of the lay religious group’s longstanding volunteer commitment to the families who live at St. Ann’s.

“Malta volunteers are ‘all in’ for St. Ann’s Center,” said Sister Nancy. “We are fortunate to count the Order of Malta as mission partners, and we cannot wait to officially celebrate their decades of support of the mothers and their children who call St. Ann’s home.”

Learn More Here

For highlights from Hope Blossoms 2024, click here: https://www.cathstan.org/local/st-anns-hope-blossoms-event-celebrates-hope-that-outreach-brings-to-mothers-and-children

Become an Event Sponsor!

Event Sponsors play a prominent role in the success of Hope Blossoms and providing much needed resources for the families served at St. Ann's Center. If you are interested in this opportunity and corresponding sponsorship benefits, please contact Ellen Toups, 301-559-5500 ext. 187, or by email at [email protected].

Gala deadline: Please submit your program ad in high resolution (300 dpi), logo, and website URL by April 15, 2025 to [email protected].

About St. Ann's Center

St. Ann’s Center helps mothers and children overcome crisis and achieve lasting independence and stability by providing a safe and supportive home, child care, education and employment assistance, and clinical social work services within a Catholic community that welcomes all.