SBOL_Jeanne

By Carol Masshardt Since age 19, Sister Maryadele, of the Catholic Charities Labore Center, has been guided by her faith, and that has led her, surely and through experience, to work with and on behalf of those suffering. “I was always close to the church where I grew up in Syracuse, New York, and learned so much from the sisters along the way, but it was when I saw them in action at a nursing home that I began to understand the meaning of God in action and lives. Faith isn’t just a Sunday morning thing,” she said. Many know Maryadele as the former Director of Labore prior to her “retirement.”  It may be less known that she returned to the ministry that has meant [...]

Observant and energetic, Kathy Lafferty, Executive Director of the South Boston Neighborhood House, was shaped by early experiences on the same streets she can nearly see from her office on H St. “I remember looking at Bob Monahan and Helen Alex and thinking, Wow, you can grow up here, and then stay and make a difference.” That was, and continues to be, appealing to a woman who has now devoted thirty years to an organization where she went as a child and in a community she knows well. Five generations of her family have participated, including her own two now college age children with husband, Shine Lafferty, also of several generations in South Boston. As the youngest of five, she remembers with delight her early [...]

For South Boston’s Linda Chiaramonte, it started a dozen years ago when she spotted a flyer at the library. Literation’s, a program designed to help students reach reading proficiency by fifth grade was seeking volunteers to help students at the Boy’s and Girl’s Club after school program. “My husband was quite ill, and I had to stay close, but also needed something. And I thought working with children, which I hadn’t done, would be good when I was so absorbed in illness,” she said. “There is fun and energy with young people.” She has continued ever since. Ellie Sullivan started eight years ago, when she wanted to do something meaningful and local. Both Linda and Ellie had leadership positions through their lives, and though each [...]