Summer 2008

Progress on Many Fronts

Renovation and expansion projects are happening on several fronts, including St. here at the monastery, the Keeler Women’s Center in Kansas City, Kansas, and Mosteiro Deus, our dependent priory in Mineiros, Brazil.

St. Cecilia's
St. Cecilia’s will have a whole new look when the renovation is completed next year. There will be an addition to the north, containing a lobby, gathering area, elevator and stairwell. The old metal ramp between St. Scholastica Chapel and St. Cecilia’s will be replaced with an indoor ramp and space for sitting. (Artist's rendition of renovation is pictured on the right.)

On the first floor, the studios and offices will be painted and some of the ceilings will be replaced. Restroom facilities will also be renovated. The music library will be converted into a heritage room. The second and third floor will be converted into ten or twelve bedroom spaces with private bathrooms.

A new heating and cooling system will be installed and the electrical system will be upgraded. Also a sprinkler and fire alarm system will be added, and the front of the building will be landscaped.

Benedictine College football players got a chance to do some
weightlifting and repay the sisters for all the prayers as they moved
the furniture from St. Cecilia’s. Sister Rose Marie Stallbaumer does
the coaching here.

Dooley Center Patio
Raised flower beds are being installed in the Dooley Center patio to allow the older sisters and those in wheelchairs to garden. Each sister will have her own plot to plant seeds and watch her flowers and vegetables grow throughout the summer months. These outdoor improvements were funded by the generosity of donors in a special appeal made at last year’s Night of Dreams.


Keeler Women's Center
Keeler Women’s Center moved from the seventh floor of Donnelly College to a much larger space in the Catholic Charities Building at 2220 Central Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, in January 2008. Instead of one small meeting room, they now have a large meeting room for 18-20 people and two smaller meeting rooms for 10-12 people. In addition, they have two counseling offices, a room for childcare, office space for staff and interns, a prayer room, a kitchenette, a hospitality room, and much more storage space.

The center has added monthly nutrition classes, a bilingual counselor through Catholic Charities, classes for potential homeowners or people facing foreclosures through Guadalupe Centers, Inc., tutoring in basic literacy through Literacy Kansas City, and other programs that help women in the urban core address issues related to education, advocacy, personal and spiritual development.

Pictured above: Mayor Joe Reardon of Kansas City, Kansas, cuts the ribbon with Sister Carol Ann Peterson, director of the Keeler Center.


Mineiros, Brazil
Our dependent priory in Mineiros, Brazil, also hopes to increase their living space and remodel some areas. They plan to demolish the former bookstore to create more bedrooms for guests and new members. They also want to change the location of their chapel so that visitors will not need to pass through their monastery area. Eventually they would like to build an extension to the monastery to provide space for small shop owners to rent.

Sister Giselia Morais in front of the Brazilian monastery’s bookstore.