(In the photo are Sr. Lory, center, and two nuns with the Sisters of the Servants of Mary. At left is Sr. Silvia and at right is Sr. Cecilia; both are English language students. In the other photo are more students at SVDP-ALC.)
One of the many services which the St. Vincent de Paul Society supports for the general public in post-Katrina New Orleans is the Learning Center or the school. This was created right after Hurricane Katrina by Deacon Rudy Rayfield with the help of Sr. Lory Schaff, a Catholic nun with the Congregation of St. Joseph. Deacon Rudy saw the disadvantages many New Orleanians faced in finding work after being displaced by Katrina; he realized that literacy and education were key in finding proper jobs for our people. So, he contacted Sr. Lory who had been involved with Catholic school education for many years in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and elsewhere. The school began in a small room in the building on Canal Street in New Orleans with about two students. In a short two year period, the school is now in a much larger location in Gentilly and has a roster of well over twenty students, with several graduates who have already obtained their GED's. (The GED is the high school equivalency diploma issued by the State of Louisiana.) The school, officially called the St. Vincent de Paul- Adult Learning Center for Empowerment, now has three regular teachers and two part-time volunteer teachers. Sr. Kathleen Bahlinger, CSJ, a good friend of Sr. Lory's, now operates the school with Sr. Lory; they are assisted by a teacher who is with Literacy*AmeriCorps. Billy Edwards of Tau House and Dr. Kathleen Dunlap, MD are volunteers who help at the school as well.
Read more about the school at its official blog at http://www.svdpalc.blogspot.com/.
Read more about Literacy*AmeriCorps at http://www.literacygno.org/.
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