Mercy Education Project named a Champion in Action

January 14, 2010 - 12:58 PST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact:
Beth Dugan, External Communications Manager
Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community
e-mail: bdugan@mercywmw.org
phone: 773-779-6011 x15

CHICAGO, IL (January 14, 2010) - Mercy Education Project named a Champion in Action
Charter One Bank and WXYZ-TV 7 provide $25,000 grant, volunteer and promotional support in recognition of excellence in workforce development.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - Charter One and WXYZ-TV announce Mercy Education Project (MEP) as the 2010 Champion in Action winner in Michigan in the area of workforce development. As the beneficiary of this award, MEP will receive a $25,000 grant, public relations and volunteer support.

The Women's Educational and Career Development Services Program at MEP provides a holistic approach to workforce development - starting with education. Mercy Education Project has been a doorway to a brighter future for women in Detroit since 1992, offering basic education and GED classes, employability skills and career development to 150 women annually by providing onsite childcare, transportation and meals. MEP partners with local health care providers and other employers to provide career exploration, skills training and, in some instances, guaranteed interview for qualified program participants. Since 2007, 100 percent of those completing the MEP program have gone on to employment, college or both.

"Mercy Education Project empowers the women it serves by providing educational and workforce development resources to help participants achieve self-sufficiency," said Sandy Pierce, President, Charter One, Michigan.

As the 2010 first quarter Champion in Action, Mercy Education Project will receive:
• A $25,000 grant in unrestricted funds from the Charter One Foundation
• Media coverage from WXYZ-TV 7, including public service announcements
• Volunteer support from Charter One colleagues
• Promotional support in all Charter One branches and ATMs throughout Michigan
• Exposure on both Charter One's and WXYZ-TV 7's websites.

"We are proud to be chosen as a Champion in Action. It is a privilege to have our program recognized for the resulting positive impact in the area of workforce development," said Amy Amador, Executive Director of Mercy Education Project. "We will proudly continue the work of helping disadvantaged adults open the door to a brighter future for themselves and their families."

Mercy Education Project was the brainchild of a group of Sisters of Mercy who were inspired by the book "Reviving Ophelia", which focuses on the middle-school girls and the forces at work in their lives, as well as the need the sisters saw around in the deeply damaged Detroit educational system. They decided to try and help break the cycle of illiteracy particularly prevalent in southwest Detroit by working with young girls from low income families.

They began Mercy Education Project as an after-school tutoring program offering remedial tutoring for girls in grades 1-8. Their focus was and still is in reading and math, but over the years, their services for girls have expanded and the project has added programs for women 18 and older.

"I am like [the] caged bird that has been set free," said Nicole Simmons, when she "graduated" from Mercy Education Project with her GED in 2006 A bright, but bored, middle-schooler, Nicole eventually dropped out of school and had a child. She attempted to complete the GED, but didn't succeed until she came to Mercy Education Project. Today she is a junior studying criminal justice at Marygrove College. Since 2000, every 8th grader in MEP's tutoring program has gone on to high school--an important step that many students in southwest Detroit never manage to take.

In middle school Delisa, following in the footsteps of her older sister Deirdre, enrolled in Mercy Education Project's after-school tutoring program. Both girls improved their skills--and their grades. Both completed high school and learned leadership and job skills working as youth leaders in MEP's summer program. Today Delisa is majoring in elementary education at Wayne State University, and Deirdre completed her Bachelor's degree at Xavier University in New Orleans in 2009.

"Not only are our students attending college," said Maureen Mulcrone, RSM, MEP's Director of Development and Marketing, "they are coming back to give back. This year we have three former students tutoring in the after-school program and we regularly invite some of our GED 'grads' to inspire and encourage new cohorts of adult students."

"In our community, 23 percent of the adults never made it through the 9th grade. MEP ensures that girls have the academic skills to make it to high school and to succeed," says Amy Amador, MEP Executive Director.

Sister Gilmary Bauer, RSM, served as the first Women's Program Coordinator and returned to MEP in 2009 as a volunteer tutor for Spanish-speaking women.

"We have women who come in unable to read," said Sister Maureen Mulcrone, RSM, MEP's Director of Development and Marketing. "We're proud of the fact that by the time they complete MEP's program, more than 90 percent of our participants will pass the GED." Both staff and volunteers find satisfaction in seeing girls who have been failing learn to love reading or seeing women whose sense of self is transformed. "If you volunteer at MEP, you could find yourself caught by the mission for a long, long time," Sister Maureen said.

*****
The Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community has sites in Auburn and Burlingame, Calif.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Chicago, Ill.; Detroit, Mich.; and Omaha, Neb., with Sisters living and ministering in 28 states and five other countries. It is one of six geographical communities that make up the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, an international community of women religious vowed to serve people who suffer from poverty, sickness, and ignorance, with a special concern for women and children. In innovative and traditional ways, Sisters of Mercy address human needs through collaborative efforts in education, healthcare, housing, spiritual, pastoral and social services. The Institute of the Sisters of Mercy is comprised of more than 4,000 Sisters and 3,000 Mercy Associates and Companions in Mercy

The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas sponsor or co-sponsor seven major national healthcare systems, 20 colleges and universities, 20 elementary and preschools, 39 secondary schools, and hundreds of affordable housing developments. They also serve in programs ranging from hospice for persons with HIV/AIDS, to adult literacy centers and resettlement programs for refugees.

To learn more, go to: www.mercywestmidwest.org or www.sistersofmercy.org

Contact

Sisters of Mercy WMW
http://www.mercywestmidwest.org
IL, 60655 US
Beth Dugan - External Communications Manager, 773 7796011

Keywords

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