Sister Lorraine Burns, SSND, remembers the old days as she prepares to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the tutoring center she helped found.
She hadn't intended to found anything. She was just attending a meeting of the Wilton Province. That's all.
"The year was 2004. It was clear we would be merging with Baltimore and Chicago. We wanted to carry on a Wilton SSND legacy in Rochester, New York. We were sitting in a circle and talking about ideas."
An idea surfaced to help girls who were falling behind in school. They needed mentoring; one-on-one tutoring; human interaction that they weren't getting elsewhere.
Sister Lorraine chuckles about what happened next.
"It was a great idea. But the next question was, 'Who's going to do it?' We went around the circle, everybody saying they couldn't. I was last. I said, 'I guess I'll do it.'"
Notre Dame Learning Center moved into a room at Charles Settlement House in Rochester, NY, and three 6th grade girls formed its first cohort.
"A hairdresser from the neighborhood also came. She wanted to learn English. But we zeroed in on kindergarten through 8th grade level, because they had the greatest need. Then and now."
Sister Lorraine recruited students from 10 inner-city Catholic schools and neighboring public schools. As more students arrived, Sister Lorraine realized she needed help. It was quite a job to raise money, find students, coach volunteers, and keep the place tidy. But the work was immensely gratifying.
"Parents were so appreciative. The girls made such progress. Other Sisters joined the staff. We made a difference in the lives of so many children."
In 2010, Sister Lorraine took Sister Evelyn Breslin, SSND, to lunch to ask her to take over. She said yes, and the Center continues to thrive under her leadership today.
"I pray whoever's life I touched, it was for the good," Sister Lorraine says. "It really only takes just a little effort to do something important. You don't realize what effect that has."
NDLC will be celebrating the effect Sister Lorraine has made on October 4, 2024, during its 20-year anniversary gala.
You can read more about NDLC here:
The September/October 2023 edition of 55Plus magazine, Pages 54-56.