St. Ann’s Blog

St. Ann's Center recently celebrated our 160th Anniversary with Hope Blossoms, our first-ever virtual gala. During this event, we honored the Daughters of Charity with the Mary McGrory Advocacy Award. We also honored Miguel Coppedge and Jake Garner with the Michele Heidenberger Volunteer Award. Watch the video recording and support our ongoing fundraising goals by clicking here.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were forced to postpone our major annual fundraising event in 2020, Hope Blossoms, leaving a significant gap in our revenue which funds our Supportive Housing Programs. Help us bridge the gap so that we may continue to provide essential services to vulnerable mothers and their children. 

Please CLICK HERE to view our virtual tour.

This Women's History Month we honor iconic journalist Mary McGrory. Known as “The First Queen of Journalism,” McGrory began her career at a time when few women worked in newspapers. She became the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1975. For over fifty years, McGrory also served as a volunteer at St. Ann’s Center and was a friend to the Daughters of Charity. 

We're thrilled to kick off Women's History Month by honoring our founders - Theresa A. Costello, Lucy Gwynn, and Margaret Bowden. In 1860, these three Daughters of Charity (a Catholic community dedicated to helping the poor), embarked on a mission to Washington, D.C. to establish a foundling home for children in need. They also established an education and job-training program to help single mothers become breadwinners.

It took years for Lisa Cohen, a boxing champion and motivational speaker, to recover from the trauma of her years in the foster care system. Today, the DC resident advocates on behalf of children in foster care.

For some of the organizations holding up the Washington region’s safety net, this time will bring unprecedented challenges. For St. Ann’s, it will mark a new test in a timeline filled with them. To figure out how to move forward, it just has to look back. The organization was founded during a crisis, and it has reinvented itself time and again since. Read more at The Washington Post

The May 18, 2020 issue of The New York Times featured the stories of Susana Chiang and her daughter, one of the families being served by St. Ann's, and of Lazett Henry, a former resident, and how St. Ann's provides a true home. Read the full article at The New York Times

“From an early age,... I realized kids in my city… in my world, didn’t grow up with a home where they had no worries and a loving family”. Sister Mary Bader shares the source of her vocation, how she became a Daughter of Charity, and the life of St. Ann's Center for Children, Youth and Families. Read more at The Catholic Standard »