Cross Currents Spring 2015

Dear Friend, Some things just don’t change. This year we celebrate the arrival of the first Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to this country. In the Fall of 1840, eight young Sisters left Belgium and everything behind to come to the New World for one reason: We were needed. We were asked to come to Cincinnati to help educate the city’s new immigrants. Within six weeks of landing here, we opened the doors to the first Notre Dame school in the country, in the heart of the city’s urban basin. The same thing is happening today. In Cincinnati, Phoenix and Chicago we’re teaching the newest generation of immigrants in this country. In this issue of Cross Currents, you’ll read about one high school in Chicago that is named after our Sister Dorothy Stang. It’s where we teach, serve on the board and support a child care program for the children of the students — adults who have come to this country to build a new life for themselves and their families. Why? Because we are needed. While much hasn’t changed during our first 175 years in the US, one thing is very different: We once thought we had to do it alone. But you showed us how wrong that thinking is. We know now our mission of Notre Dame is too big and the need is too large. We can’t possibly do this work by ourselves. You taught us we don’t have to. Our mission continues to be vibrant and growing throughout the world only because friends like you are with us. We are grateful to have you by our side. Touching hearts. Changing lives. Together.