Sister Joanne Roy’s work with junior high students was the inspiration for a Portland parish to bring Christmas cheer to inmates.
SACO — Receiving a Christmas card and a present would bring a smile to any face this time of year, but perhaps nobody needs that extension of love and generosity more than a person incarcerated. That idea that has inspired a special group of parishioners at Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Parish in Portland for decades and sprung from an initiative a Saco nun and her young charges.
“The whole idea is about helping those in a jail that is within the parish boundaries and helping the students, adults, former inmates, all of us, to care for our sisters and brothers at this time when they are separated from their families,” said Sister Joanne Roy, SCIM, of Saco.
Preparing packages, including handmade Christmas cards and knitted items, for inmates at Cumberland County Jail in Portland began over 25 years ago when Roy was the religious education coordinator at Sacred Heart Church in Portland.
“I had the junior high group and always sought activities for this lively age group. So we began by asking parishioners to bring in Christmas cards. We tied cards together, prepared nice envelopes, and made an appointment at the old small county jail and brought them,” she said.
From that small activity grew an initiative that drew participants from around the parish and beyond, to the point where over 500 packages are now prepared for inmates each year.
“The parishioners donated cards, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd donated cards and gave money to buy some at good prices, and everybody helped to prepare the cards,” Roy said.
About 10 years ago, the women of Esther Residence in Saco joined the helpers. Operated by the Good Shepherd Sisters, Esther Residence is a transitional home for women who are leaving incarceration and/or treatment programs. The residence provides a range of services and assistance as the women get back on their feet.
“Some of the women at Esther Residence received the packages when they were incarcerated and they are happy to return the favor,” said Roy, who is executive director of the residence. “One woman who has been helping prepare the packages for about 20 years was an inmate. She wasn’t shy about telling people she had been a recipient and is now on the other side.”
Headed in a spiritual direction when younger, Roy stumbled upon a book on a bus while returning to Maine. The book was about a man who opened a home for women after incarceration. A chance and meaningful moment that led to Roy working in a group home with teen girls in Lewiston, earning a master’s degree in social work, serving in her current position at Esther Residence, and promoting an initiative which provides hope to the sometimes forgotten.
“They are grateful,” Roy said. “It is a little token of our love for them.”
The program is in good shape this year, but materials and resources are needed for next year. Now it the perfect time to help as Christmas cards and envelopes will soon be on sale.
“What we need is large envelopes. When card companies throw away envelopes from stores after Christmas and Valentine’s Day, they give them away for free,” said Sister Joanne. “We need green and red envelopes, sizes 9 and ¼ by 6 and ¼ preferably, or 8 and ¾ by 5 and ¾. Christmas cards, religious and non-religious, with white envelopes are great too.”
For more information, contact Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Parish at (207) 773-7746. Those who can help with donations of cards or envelopes ,may bring the donations to the parish pastoral center, located on 307 Congress St. in Portland, on Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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