SISTER STORY

MASKS AS MINISTRY

Sister Gerrie Grandpre, SJC | Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to reshape our routines, it has also shifted the way the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden carry out their ministry to their neighbors across the river at the Beaver County Jail. 

Sisters, who have offered their presence and prayers to women at the jail regularly over the past decade, quickly transitioned from weekly in-person visits to monthly letters in March when visits were suspended in response to the virus. With a holistic approach to ministry, the letters seek to support the women’s spiritual well-being while a separate mask-making endeavor tends to the physical health of our incarcerated neighbors.

Sister Gerrie Grandpre sprang into action to gather donated fabric and sew filter-enabled masks when she learned that those in the Beaver County Jail were in need. She has provided 200 masks to the jail to date. With 40 years of experience in health care as a nurse, teacher and pastoral care provider, she knew the jail’s congregate living environment made those who are incarcerated increasingly vulnerable to the highly contagious coronavirus.

Since the onset of the pandemic, Sister Gerrie has spent hours seated at her 70-year-old Singer Featherweight sewing machine, which, she says, “still sews like new,” to stitch a total of 350 masks for housemates, family members, friends and those in the jail. She used an Amazon Christmas gift card to purchase the initial supply of fabric and elastic and began offering to make masks for those in need.

“The nurse in me always wants to leap out to help meet a need,” she says. “Being housebound made me feel helpless until I realized that making masks could meet an important need.”

By mid-April, she had sewn and distributed about 45 masks when she learned that Sisters and staff members at the Motherhouse could use more. Sisters residing at Hope House, which sits behind the Motherhouse, joined the effort by gathering fabric and preparing patterns for the next 75 masks that Sister Gerrie would sew. In May, after learning of the Beaver County Jail’s need for masks, she quickly sought out a new supply of donated fabric and continued selflessly sewing for our neighbors in need.

Sister Gerrie has always found joy in hands-on creative activities like sewing, gardening, baking and photography. As our Congregational photographer turned mask maker, she shares the fruits of her labors — from masks to meaningful imagery — to serve God and neighbor without distinction.