Margaret Plevak

Margaret Plevak

Margaret Plevak has worked in both the Catholic and secular press for more than 25 years. She's also written for a number of publications, including National Catholic Reporter, St. Anthony Messenger and the Milwaukee Journal.

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The Bridge Café in San Luis Obispo, California, which trains and employs the formerly incarcerated, opened its doors in February 2023. It is a program of Restorative Partners, founded in 2011 by Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Theresa Harpin. (Courtesy of Restorative Partners)

Restorative Partners' programs help criminal offenders make fresh start

Changing the lives of those who have gone through the criminal justice system — and changing public perception of rehabilitation — is the goal of Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Theresa Harpin, a longtime activist and member of her congregation for more than 40 years. 

Adrian Dominicans Sr. Lorene Heck (foreground) and Sr. Mary Priniski with Achuar guide Celestino Antik, travel on the Pastaza River during an ecotourism trip through Maketai, a nonprofit co-founded by Adrian Dominican Sr. Judy Bisignano. The ecotrips give Western visitors a close-up introduction to both the Achuar and the Amazon. (Courtesy of Lorene Heck)

Nonprofit co-founded by 'Sister Jaguar' continues to support Amazonian Achuar people

Maketai, an Arizona-based nonprofit co-founded by Sr. Judy Bisignano and Sandra Morse, partners with an Ecuadorian nonprofit, Fundacion Mente, on projects ranging from reforestation of the rainforest to ecotourism. 

Daughter of Charity Sr. Anne Marie Lamoureux, right, welcomes guests at the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland. A dream of Lamoureux’s grew into Seeds of Hope, a program that offers retreats to those marginalized by society. (Courtesy of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton)

Q&A with Sr. Anne Marie Lamoureux, on inviting marginalized people on retreat

Sr. Anne Marie Lamoureux helped create Seeds of Hope, a program at the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton that offers retreats for people on society's margins — addicts, the homeless, the poor and isolated.

Ashley Neises, left, and Andie Donnan sell some of the produce they raise on Sandhill Farm.

Sinsinawa Dominicans spread mission through collaborative farm programs

"We, like most congregations, believe the life force that flows through creation, through our land, through the animals, through humanity, is sacred," says Sinsinawa Dominican Sr. Julie Schwab.

 

Adrian Dominican Sr. Durstyne Farnan, who has represented the Dominican Leadership Conference at the United Nations since 2019, attends the 2022 U.N. climate change conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. (EarthBeat photo/Doreen Ajiambo)

Q&A with Sr. Dusty Farnan, working at the UN toward gender equality

"We have to keep educating girls because they are our future, our hope that this world will become more equal and that we will become more life-giving," says Sr. Dusty Farnan, who represents Dominicans at the U.N.