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a s s o c i a t e s

HEALTH CARE MINISTRY
Raising Bon Secours Associates by Traci Ray, BN, BSN, CDCES
Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist in Charleston, South Carolina
M
Hope: Serve Their Communities y goal as a person, nurse and educator is to support people with diabetes.
I believe helping them is my God-given purpose on earth. As a diabetes
nurse educator, I see people who have diabetes or prediabetes, people
by Amy Kulesa, Director, Bon Secours Associates
who are newly diagnosed and people with many years of experience with
Since their establishment 40 years ago, the Bon Secours Associates, in all their diversity, the disease. I teach basic information about diabetes and provide nutrition, financial,
have been serving local communities in many ways to help others to wholeness. medication injection and meter training. I also teach diabetes education classes with
a dietitian. Before COVID-19, I participated in many community outreach activities.
The charism of embodying and promoting compassion, period in history, we know that we must constantly and
healing and liberation has invited people across many fields prayerfully reengage interiorly and in community to be I also assist teammates and their families who are managing diabetes by offering education materials, answering questions and
and walks of life to exercise their gifts on behalf of the effective channels and vessels of the charism. finding diabetes products at lower costs. For non-English-speaking patients, I provide education materials in their language.
healing work of Bon Secours. In 2022, the theme chosen It is my privilege to feature the ministries of different Bon When patients have concerns, I call doctors, insurance companies and other organizations on their behalf. Sometimes I buy
by the Associates to focus their intentions in ministry is Secours Associates so that readers may gain an appreciation diabetes supplies for patients and ask vendors if they have programs for people without insurance.
“Raising Hope: Reengaging in Charism and Mission.”
of the breadth of services provided by Associates on behalf I am searching for ways to be Good Help and will start working on a plan to help people who are discharged from the hospital
Two years of a global pandemic, the accompanying of the mission of Bon Secours. In this issue, four Associates and live in their cars.
quarantine and the rapid rate of change in our world share how they are serving their local communities
remind us that in every place, in every circumstance, and highlight some of the many ways Associates are
we represent the mission of Bon Secours to be Good Help “raising hope” as they accompany others on their path to
in concrete ways to others. Living in such a tumultuous wholeness, showing the warm, human features of Christ. ADVOCACY FOR HISPANIC RESIDENTS
AND OTHERS IN NEED
by Bonnie Talty
SPIRITUAL COMPANIONING MINISTRY Wellness Outreach Social Worker for Community Health in Greenville, South Carolina

by Linda Mastro W
ellness Outreach is a program of Community Health that serves the most
Spiritual Director and Retreat Leader on the Eastern Shore of Maryland
M y and social workers who address the social determinants of health with an emphasis
vulnerable and marginalized members of society. Our team consists of nurses
community outreach as a spiritual director and retreat
facilitator is inspired by my times of retreat, study and spiritual
on access to quality health care. My office is in a small Hispanic Catholic Church in
formation as a member of the Bon Secours family. I live on
the San Souci neighborhood of Greenville, South Carolina. We primarily serve the Hispanic community. Many of the
Maryland’s Eastern Shore and carry the Bon Secours charism with
me across the Bay Bridge to a private retreat center where I accompany individuals people are recent immigrants who are unfamiliar with our culture and arrive with an array of legal, financial and health
problems. In the last few years, there has been a huge influx of Central Americans, many of whom have never seen a doctor.
and groups seeking a deeper relationship with God. The workshops I lead and the
As a social worker, I perform a holistic assessment of their situation addressing food insecurity, financial issues, housing,
private conversations I have with others are infused with a commitment to healing, liberation and compassion.
immigration and other legal issues and access to health care. I also facilitate communication with community agencies to
I am honored to witness the spiritual journey of women and men of all ages. Together, we explore wounds that might keep access their resources and often act as an interpreter for them. Sadly, because of their immigration status, families are rarely
us from freely embracing ourselves as God’s beloved. Compassion infused with silence and laughter create a space in which eligible for any kind of government benefits, but in Greenville we are blessed to have very generous people and agencies
to listen to God’s calling and to take ourselves more lightly. The vocation of spiritual direction guides me to remember that who are willing to assist. As a team, Wellness Outreach is a ministry of caregivers providing our community with a caring
God is the true director, and my role is to be a companion, offering encouragement and an occasional provocative question. and hopeful atmosphere. We are committed to bringing people to health and wholeness as part of the healing ministry
In the process, I experience how grace arises when I dedicate myself to being a healing, liberating and compassionate presence. of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.

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