Sister Jerome’s Poor Receives Grant for Mission College Project The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland has awarded Sister Jerome’s Poor: Mission College a St. Ann Legacy grant of $5,000. “This St. Ann Legacy grant will provide welcome help for our minority college students, who urgently need groceries and shoes, textbooks and gas cards, even repair of their car, if they have one,” states Sister Jerome. “The need is so great and the students work so hard that now they are seeing graduation more surely in their future.” Sister Jerome’s Poor: Mission College helps young-adult students from economically-disadvantaged families to overcome hurdles that prevent them from receiving the certifications/degrees necessary to break the cycle of poverty and become productive members of society. This is a major blessing to both the youth and society, Sister Jerome says, since under-educated adults are mainly on entitlements and are a burden to taxpayers. “Poverty begets poverty, and the only hope to escape it is a good education. I have found this to be true time and again in my decades as an educator and school administrator,” Sister Jerome continues. This ministry will utilize the St. Ann Legacy grant to assist 12 young adults from poor families with education expenses that could force them to drop-out of school. As needed, they will be supplied with gas cards or bus passes for help getting to and from campus/class, gift cards for or direct donations of proper shoes and clothing, food, books and materials for classes — including technology necessary to produce homework/papers for school. Sister Jerome’s Poor is a ministry sponsored by The Ursuline Center to help needy working families and college students struggling to pay bills. With rising costs and job losses, there are acute needs experienced by the working poor, and few or no resources to help in emergencies. “Helping families to hold together and college students to stay in school are two prevalent needs that respond fabulously to a little help at a critical time,” Sister Jerome observes. This ministry does not duplicate existing services.