The Sisters of Saint Francis of Philadelphia. Celebrating 25 Years of Compassionate Presence

Saint Helena Island is physically the largest of the sixty some inhabited islands that comprise Beaufort County. The Island is home to some impressive history including Fort Freemont, the Penn School, several antebellum plantation remnants and acres and acres of agriculture. As such, it is also home to many people whose lives have not changed much since the days of the dirt roads and mule drawn carts; in other words – people who are very, very poor. People whose ancestors picked cotton, people who pick tomatoes, people who lived off the bounty of the water and of the land, once upon a time. Plenty of folks in the world have fallen upon hard times and some have had helping hands reach out to them. But the people on Saint Helena Island are very fortunate to have the Franciscan Sisters. Sister Stella Breen and Sister Sheila Byrne are the ones with their hands reaching out to those hands that are outstretched. With warm hearts, lilting accents, and a wee bit of a hint of fairy-leprechaun in them (because they work hard to grant a wish to their people), these Sisters will just steal your heart.
Both of them, separately, came here on a circuitous route beginning in County Cork, Ireland. They knew when they joined the Sisters of St. Francis as teenagers that they would be leaving their home in Ireland and not going back. It was a big commitment for a young woman to make, to leave not only her home, but also her family and country. They explain, “Vocations were huge back then.  Missionaries would come to our school to impress us; we were inspired by their stories.”
The Convent of the Sisters of St. Francis in Philadelphia, PA was their first home in the United States; Sister Stella arrived in 1950, Sister Sheila followed a few years later.  After a long and rather complicated process that included attending Villanova University, making their profession, taking their final vows, and being sent to several different missions in various parts of the East Coast, these two Sisters wound up in Morehead City, NC in 1979. Then, in 1987, Bishop Underkoffler in Charleston, expressed a need for Sisters to “Live among the poor on Saint Helena Island and to be present to their needs.” The islanders needs were many, including, among other issues, illiteracy, the elderly, teenage pregnancy and poverty. The Sisters feel that “The crime of our country is that children don’t finish school. We encourage them to go to school, to stay in school. When we first got here we went up and down the dirt roads and talked to people. After about a week, a lady came to us with the card that had the name of a lawyer, Wescoat Sandlin. He came to us every Saturday and taught us to manage immigration papers, he helped people to become resident aliens and part of our ministry has been to help with immigration processing and citizenship classes.
“We started education programs, tutoring after school, English as a second language, literacy in the evenings, and evening tutoring. We ask the children, ‘Do you have homework?’ We help them improve their language skills, reading comprehension and math.” In the summer there is a two week Summer Enrichment Program for 30 – 35 children ages 8 – 16. Sister Sheila remarks, “At the end of the day, you’re just so happy to be able to help the children, or just to be able to listen.”
Education is far from all they do. These remarkable and tireless Sisters have instituted The Home Repair Program. Joining with other agencies such as the Coalition of Aging and Habitat for Humanity, they help people improve their homes by building ramps, installing bathrooms and repairing roofs. The Sisters organizations have helped over a hundred families refurbish their homes each year for the past eight years. Sometimes they partner with the families – they buy the supplies and the families are responsible for providing the labor; the Baptist Church of Beaufort helps build ramps. Funding for the program comes from grants, donations, and fund raisers; eight volunteers assist the Sisters in complying with Christ’s commandment to St. Francis: “Francis, go repair my house, which is falling into ruins.”
There is a food program for the senior citizens – over 400 Christmas food bags are packaged and given to the elderly. At Christmas, Santa comes to the Center and 500 gifts, given by St. Peter’s Church, The Marine Corps Air Station, as well as various clubs and garden groups, are wrapped by volunteers and given to the children. Additionally, in 2010- 2011 financial assistance was given to over 680 families – helping to pay their bills and manage their money.
The Migrant Farm Worker Program and Migrant Food Drive are generously supported by the local community and volunteers. According to their newsletter, “During their early travels up and down the dusty roads of St. Helena, the Sisters discovered agricultural farm workers living in ten different camps under poor conditions. Outreach to the community quickly became an important focus of the Sister’s ministry. Today the farm workers are transported in crowded buses from Central and South America – Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras. They arrive on St. Helena with nothing but temporary US Agriculture visas and the clothes on their backs. Over 100 volunteers from the Franciscan Center prepare and distribute 500 boxes of food and donated bedding, toiletry items and shoes to 1500 workers in 10 agricultural farm camps on St. Helena, to tide them over until their first paycheck.” Last year 700 pairs of tennis shoes were donated to the workers. The Beaufort community is invited to support this program – $30 will fill one box of food, $6 will provide one toiletry kit.
Funding for all these projects comes from different sources – the annual Valentine’s Brunch, the annual yard sale held early in December, individuals who sponsor families, local churches and all the people who donate items along the way. The Thrift Shop on the property at the end of Mattis Road is a gem where all manner of treasures can be found. It is open Tuesday – Friday 10:00 – 4:00 and on Saturday from 9:00 to 12:00. Donations are gratefully accepted any time the shop is open.
Occasionally, dollars come anonymously in envelopes. The Sisters acknowledge that “We have helped improve the lives of those served over the past twenty-five years. The Sisterhood has been good to us; but the blessing of all blessings are the 150 volunteers.” Sisters Sheila and Stella have received several letters of thanks; the Arana family wrote, “My family and I are very lucky and beyond grateful to have Sisters Stella Breen and Sheila Byrne in our lives. Their passion for helping the community surpasses that of any organization. They not only cared about the physical well being of an individual, they cared enough to incorporate the enrichment of the mind and soul. Through the Franciscan Center, the Sisters have helped my family and countless others, realize that we can achieve great things. I’m just so thankful to the Lord for having created such wonderful, strong, passionate women; and somehow having the luck to have had them in our lives.”
Who knew all this was happening in relative quiet at the end of a small street, that all this good was being disbursed, and lives were being changed for the better – one day and one step at a time?  It seems perhaps that the Saint Helena, after whom this island was named, chose wisely and was blessed with two women who started the Penn School in 1862 to educate people; and these two women, Sisters Stella and Sheila, who came here twenty five years ago “To listen, be present, and serve those in need.”