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Service in the spirit of the Sisters of Mercy is a key part of the Ģ����ý experience, one that has continued throughout the pandemic despite logistical challenges. This summer, students participated in a group project to support a local non profit: .

Grace Guest House supports patients and their families by providing a haven and place of respite when they are receiving care at regional healthcare facilities. It seeks to enable families to focus on their loved ones while tending to the well-being of those families, out-patients and caregivers referred through regional healthcare facilities. ​Grace provides overnight stays and day respite in a secure and peaceful guest house that provides a caring and compassionate environment 24/7, is walking distance to Mercy Hospital and a complimentary shuttle drive away from all of Buffalo’s healthcare facilities.

Trocaire’s MAP students raised two car loads full of non perishable items off the organization’s wish list, volunteered at the House and served as volunteers at its signature fundraiser, Ride with Grace. Ģ����ý also served as a sponsor for Ride with Grace, which is a motorcycle safety and awareness ride that hosted 154 riders. They covered 125 miles, guided by 8 police escorts and supported by 30 sponsors, 52 volunteers. The event raised close to $50,000, all to support families’ stays with Grace House.

Grace seeks to enable families to focus on their loved ones while we focus on the well-being of those families, out-patients and caregivers referred to us through regional healthcare facilities. ​Grace provides overnight stays and day respite in a secure and peaceful guest house that provides a caring and compassionate environment 24/7, is walking distance to Mercy Hospital and a complimentary shuttle drive away from all of Buffalo’s healthcare facilities.

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Spring 2021 Efforts Result in $1,740 Impact in Local Community

April is National Volunteer Month, and Trocaire is marking the occasion by highlighting some of the recent good work by the college’s Mercy Action Project (MAP).

What is MAP?

Service is in Trocaire’s very DNA as a college founded by the Sisters of Mercy. As part of Trocaire’s commitment to its Mercy heritage and the impact service makes in the community, every student must participate in MAP before graduation.

This co-curricular learning experience provides local service opportunities that integrate Trocaire’s mission while connecting that service to a student’s career path. The purpose of MAP is to promote a campus culture committed to personal enrichment and service in the spirit of the Sisters.

Spring 2021 MAP students had the opportunity to serve in a group project supporting (JFS).

Immigrant and Refugee Resettlement Project

One of the ways JFS assists the local refugee, immigrant and asylum-seeking population is by welcoming them to their new homes and providing household necessities to get them started. This spring, MAP students—with help from the generosity of the Trocaire community—collected 20 baskets of household goods to help that effort, which will be placed in houses awaiting their new refugee and immigrant residents.

MAP students raised more than $1,000 worth of basket items, in addition to $500 in gift cards that will allow JFS Resettlement Project families to purchase items needed to settle into their homes themselves.

Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, would be proud as our students committed to working in the name of one of the Sisters’ Critical Concerns, Immigration,” said Colleen Steffen, coordinator of community-based learning at Trocaire. “These baskets give dignity to those needing it most by helping them to set up their home with blankets, comfort items, cleaning supplies and emergency items as they begin new lives.

COVID-19 Relief Fund

MAP students also supported JFS’ COVID-19 relief fund by selling 48 succulents in one week, resulting in $240. These funds will go to benefit the three groups JFS has identified as suffering most as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: children, families and senior citizens.

COVID-19 has definitely shifted the way service and volunteering looks in our world,” said Steffen. “Despite this adjustment, our Spring 2021 MAP students have stepped up and made a difference. We each have the power to carry the Mercy legacy forward, and I am proud to see our students make this impact in our community.

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Mercy Heritage Week 2020 is upon us! Though our celebration might look different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent need to maintain social distancing for everyone’s safety, Trocaire’s Office of Student Affairs still has a full week of Mercy-centered programming planned.

Each Day, Trocaire will focus on one of the of the Sisters of Mercy. Click the links below to check out what each day will hold!

Monday, Sept. 21: Nonviolence

Tuesday, Sept. 22: Immigration

Wednesday, Sept. 23: Earth

Thursday, Sept. 24 (Mercy Day): Women

Friday, Sept. 25: Racism

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Brian F. Attea, Esq., managing partner of law firm Attea & Attea, P.C. in Hamburg

Richard P. Hershberger, Ph.D., MBA, chief academic officer of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo

Sister Mary Ann Schimscheiner RSM, ’67, leader of the Buffalo area of the New York, Pennsylvania, Pacific West (NyPPaW) Sisters of Mercy community from 2008-2014; chief executive officer of Kenmore Mercy Hospital in Buffalo from 1981-1999.

The following board members were elected to serve as officers for the 2020-2021 academic year:

Chair: Thomas Waring Jr., principal at GCW Capital Group, a financial planning and investment management firm in Hamburg.

Vice Chair: Lisa M. Kirisits, CPA, managing partner at certified public accounting firm Kirisits & Associates, CPAS, PLLC in Buffalo.

Corporate Secretary: Alicia J. Thompson, director of the Erie 1 BOCES School Library System and supervisor for the Western New York Regional Library Automation Service.

Treasurer: William Barrett Wadsworth, partner with North Woods Capital Benefits and president of North Woods Asset Management.

In addition, James Notaro, Ph.D.; Thomas J. Quatroche, Jr., Ph.D.; and Sister M. Jeanne Thomas RSM, ’67 were bestowed the position of Trustee Emeritus due to the exemplary length and quality of their service to Trocaire. Each served on the board for nine years.

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September is Hunger Action Month, and last week to highlight the growing problem of hunger and food insecurity on college campuses.

WBFO’s Kyle Mackie interviewed several members of Trocaire’s Office of Mission, Ministry and Service, which oversees Catherine’s Cupboard, the on-campus student food pantry. She also interviewed a student and single mom of three who has taken advantage of the food pantry in the past.

Funded entirely by donations, Catherine’s Cupboard is discrete, completely free and open to all students. It is located in Room 340 and features non-perishable foods, toiletries and baby items, and Coordinator Sister Marie Andre Main RSM, ’62 also works to connect students in need with other community resources. It was started several years ago when a student survey reflected national and regional figures–one third of those surveyed said they had experienced food insecurity during their time at Trocaire.

Check out the WBFO story,

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This week allows the entire Trocaire community to come together in big ways and small and embrace the values on which the college was founded by the Sisters of Mercy. From “meeting the unmet need” of our students and the wider community to advocating for the , we invite everyone to participate in as many Mercy Heritage Week activities as they can.

Throughout the Week

• Back Foyer:
  • Balloon Arch
  • Tea with snacks (different snack each day)
  • Mercy Artifacts
  • Non-perishable food drive for Catherine’s Cupboard (orange collection boxes in back foyer and around campus)

• Commons:
  • Candy tea cups
• Sacred Space (Room 316):
  • Looping videos on Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy
• Activity sign-in (end of the week drawing for prizes)

��

Daily Event��Schedule

Each day focuses on a different Critical Concern of the Sisters of Mercy.

Monday 9/23
Critical Concern: Non-violence

All Day: Personal Pledge of Non-Violence (Commons)

10 a.m.-5 p.m.: Prayer Flag Activity (Commons)

10:30-11:30 a.m.: Buffalo Peacekeepers (Commons)

Noon-1 p.m.: Toward the Common Good Luncheon (Room 260)
Topic: Aiming for Sanity: Confronting the Gun Violence Culture

Tuesday 9/24 (Mercy Day)
Critical Concern: Women

10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Sacred Space Open House and Interfaith Trivia with prizes (Sacred Space)

11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Chocolate Crosses & Questions with Sisters of Mercy (Commons)

11 a.m.-1 p.m.: A Comfortable Cup of Tea with snacks (Library)

11:45 a.m.: Mass (Sacred Space)

Wednesday 9/25
Critical Concern: The Earth

11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Catherine’s Cupboard Open House (Room 340)
Refreshments & snacks will be served

11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Pledge to Care for Our Planet (Courtyard)

Noon-1 p.m.: Speak for the Earth (Courtyard)

Thursday 9/26
Critical Concerns: Immigration and Racism

11 a.m.-1 p.m.: “Where is YOUR passion?” Meet and greet Mercy Sisters Janet Korn and Mary Marvin and hear the Sisters’ stories regarding their civil disobedience on behalf of the treatment of immigrant children in ICE detention facilities, and how that landed them in jail. Sisters will be Room 303 at 11 a.m. and then in the Commons starting at noon (all welcome to both sessions)

Friday 9/27
The Mercy Charism: Our History and Heritage

1-2 p.m.: Tour of the Mercy Center. Meet in front of the bookstore at 12:45 p.m.
Registrations are encouraged but not required. To register, contact Bob Shearn (Mission Office) at x2483 or��shearnr@trocaire.edu.

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Ģ����ý held a panel discussion on human trafficking titled “The Trauma of Human Trafficking: A Healthcare Response” on April 25. More than 40 people from both the college and the outside community attended.

Trocaire draws inspiration from its founding ����and Catholic social teaching, with its emphasis on human dignity and the common good. Organized by the college’s Office of Mission, Ministry and Service, this event also speaks to the Sisters’ five Critical Concerns, two of which are supporting women and advocating for non-violence.

“Traffickers prey upon the vulnerable. They deceive, coerce, and abuse their victims,” explained Bob Shearn, Trocaire’s director of Mission, Ministry and Service. “Consequently, victims are often deeply traumatized and typically bear deep psychological and emotional scars from the trampling of human dignity, in addition to any physical wounds.”

Panelists at the event included:

Julie Palmer, executive director of����(People Against Trafficking Humans), a faith-based not-for-profit organization working to end human trafficking in Western New York and beyond through education, prevention and restoration.

Kelly Galloway, executive director of��,��a Christian organization in Buffalo that works to help those exploited through human trafficking through housing, a 12-month healing program, life skills and coaching sessions, and awareness efforts.

Cheryl Catuzza, MSN, RN, Nursing faculty at��Ģ����ý. Cheryl has worked extensively in the public health sector over the past seven years, especially among the youth detention population. She has seen firsthand the devastating effects of human trafficking on its victims and has worked to help heal and restore their lives.

Mary Jo��Gugino-Colligan,��Mercy associate and president of����a Christ-centered non-profit in Rochester dedicated to helping women and girls achieve freedom, dignity and restoration locally, across the nation and around the world.

“Our panel of experts represented a wealth of experience and distinct perspectives on working with victims of human trafficking, both from a healthcare and human services perspective,” Shearn said. “They helped attendees explore the world of trauma and offer approaches to identifying, treating, and hopefully, restoring the lives and dignity of those who have been affected.”

Those in attendance heard about how these organizations are working on the front lines to provide vital services to victims, and the panelists also inspired attendees to raise questions, offer comments and share their own stories about human trafficking and its devastating effect on the community.

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A Catholic institution founded by the Sisters of Mercy, Trocaire draws inspiration from Catholic social teaching with its emphasis on human dignity and the common good. This event also speaks to the Sisters’ five Critical Concerns, two of which are supporting women and advocating for non-violence.

Human trafficking, a form of modern slavery, affects mostly women, but also children and men from all walks of life, race, ethnicity and socio-economic strata.

“Traffickers prey upon the vulnerable. They deceive, coerce, and abuse their victims,” explained Bob Shearn, Trocaire’s director of Mission, Ministry and Service. “Consequently, victims are often deeply traumatized and typically bear deep psychological and emotional scars from the trampling of human dignity, in addition to any physical wounds.”

Panelists at the event will include:

Julie Palmer, executive director of (People Against Trafficking Humans), a faith-based not-for-profit organization working to end human trafficking in Western New York and beyond through education, prevention and restoration.

Kelly Galloway, executive director of , a Christian organization in Buffalo that works to help those exploited through human trafficking through housing, a 12-month healing program, life skills and coaching sessions, and awareness efforts.

Cheryl Catuzza, MSN, RN, Nursing faculty at Ģ����ý

Mary Jo��Gugino-Colligan, Mercy associate and president of a Christ-centered non-profit in Rochester dedicated to helping women and girls achieve freedom, dignity and restoration locally, across the nation and around the world.

“Today’s panel of experts have a wealth of expertise dealing with victims of human trafficking, both from a healthcare and human services perspective,” Shearn said. “They will help us to explore the world of trauma as it pertains to victims of human trafficking, and offer approaches to identifying, treating, and hopefully, restoring the lives and dignity of those so victimized.”

“The Trauma of Human Trafficking: A Healthcare Response” will take place at the Mercy Center auditorium, located at 625 Abbot Road in Buffalo (across the street from Trocaire’s main campus). Attendees are welcome to park on the streets around the Mercy Center, and there will also be shuttle service from the parking lot of the Salem Lutheran Church on the corner of Whitfield and McKinley Parkway.

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Community relations and community outreach refers to the various methods used to establish and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with the community and Trocaire’s most important stakeholders.

Part of that work ensures that Trocaire is well represented and that our college community makes positive contributions to the community we are a part of. We can’t accomplish that unless we head out into Western New York and meet with and talk to people and organizations to learn about them and identify where there may be opportunity to connect and collaborate.

Recently, Trocaire’s Director, Marketing and Public Relations made contact with several amazing Western New York nonprofit organizations that are doing incredibly important work within the community. In fact, many of their missions and visions align well with the of Trocaire’s founders and thus, you can see a Mercy spirit alive and well within many areas of Buffalo Niagara.

Here are a few of the organizations she got to know better. Check them out to learn more about the ways they contribute to our community and make sure to contact them if you are interested in learning more!

– aims to increase access to and the utilization of preconception, prenatal,��perinatal��and postpartum health care services within vulnerable populations to enable improved birth outcomes.

–
Raises awareness, develops systems and provides advocacy that improves engagement and outcomes with
restorative solutions for offenders, victims and community.

works to integrate foreign born Western New Yorkers through a diverse array of support services including those within the healthcare sector.

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