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Community celebrates Jubilarians (page 2)
Now retired, Sister Vivienne ministered in occupational therapy at Northampton State Hospital and as the Chief Occupational Therapist at Monson State Hospital. Her ministries in her specialized field also included service in the Providence Mother House Infirmary, and consultant work at Mount Saint Vincent Nursing Home and Sunshine Village in Chicopee. Earlier, she ministered as Director of Budgets in the Accounting Departments of Providence Hospital and Mercy Hospital, respectively. She also served in the Accounting Department at Providence Mother House, as Assistant Treasurer General for the Congregation and as Controller at St. Joseph of the Pines Hospital in Southern Pines, NC. Additional ministries include service as Secretary to the Administrator of Beaven Kelly Home and a volunteer ministry at Broderick House.
The daughter of the late James and Stella (Lebeau) Mullen, she was known earlier in religious life as Sister Mary Joan of Arc. Sister Joan entered the SPs from her native town of Easthampton, where she was a member of the Notre Dame du Bon Conseil Parish. Currently serving in her second four-year term as SP President, Sister Joan serves on the Board of Trustees of the Sisters of Providence Health System and the Board and Sponsors’ Council of Catholic Health East as well. Earlier, she served two four-year terms as the Congregation’s Vice President. In that role, she oversaw the transition of the former Providence Mother House into Providence Place at Ingleside, an independent living community for senior religious and the laity. Immediately prior to her leadership posts, Sister Joan was in private practice ministering as a registered physical therapist at Montague Physical Therapy in Turners Falls. She earlier served at the former Farren Memorial Hospital where she set up and directed the Hospital’s Physical Therapy Department. An RN as well as a Registered Physical Therapist, her ministries also included service as the Hospital’s Vice President and Director of Nursing. Reflecting on her life as a Sister of Providence, Sister Joan says: “The years have come and gone without being counted. As I reflect on the years, what comes to me is a sea of faces: my family and friends, and quite literally almost every person to whom and with whom I have ministered. Then comes a tremendous sense of gratitude…for God’s love and providential presence; for the gift of each person and for what I have learned about life and about myself in relationship to each of them; and, for life in Community, and for the opportunities afforded me to become professionally competent and to use these skills in service. As I look back there is a distinct pattern of being led on a journey I could never have envisioned. My prayer now is to be faithful in the present moment and to be open to whatever ‘remains to be accomplished’ on the journey.”
A native of Scotland, Sister Senga is the daughter of the late David and Mary (McNair) Fulton of Paisley Renfrewshire, Scotland. A Licensed Certified Social Worker, she currently directs Annie’s House, a program of the Massachusetts Career Development Institute in Springfield. She designed and developed the program which offers supportive transitional housing for women who are single and homeless. Earlier, she established and directed Queen of Peace Centennial House in Greenfield. That congregate living program offered single women living on low and/or fixed incomes permanent housing in rental apartments. Sister Senga’s ministry contributions include working as the program planner for the mental health services component of the SP-sponsored Healthcare for the Homeless program and overseeing the Congregation’s Service, Empowerment and Transformation (S.E.T.), an umbrella program of ministries designed to provide volunteer community outreach to poor and marginalized persons. Her earliest ministry as an SP includes service as a Group Life Educational Assistant at Brightside for Children and Families in West Springfield. Later, she volunteered in The Women’s Place, a program of Open Pantry Community Services, Inc., in Springfield. In 1985, with a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Welfare, Sister Senga founded and directed the Open Door program under the auspices of Open Pantry Community Services, Inc. Open Door provides advocacy and outreach services to poor and homeless persons in the Greater Springfield area. Reflecting on the past 25 years, Sister Senga said, “No matter where I minister I meet someone whose life has been touched by a Sister of Providence. I am grateful to these Sisters, some of whom are now deceased, for their witness and commitment to the words of our Foundress, Mother Mary of Providence, ‘We must never forget that we are servants of the poor!’ These words and the support of the Community and Associates continue to inspire and challenge me to work toward the creation of a world where all of God’s people can live with dignity.” |
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Sister Vivienne Viens’ gentle demeanor and quiet compassion enabled her to excel in her profession as a Registered Occupational Therapist. The daughter of the late Omer and Rose De Lima (Gagnon) Viens, she was born in Fall River and entered the SPs from East Providence, RI, where she was a member of Sacred Heart Parish.
Sister Joan Mullen’s understanding and pastoral compassion for people, in general, and her sisters-in-religion, in particular, hallmarks her life as a woman religious.
Sister Senga Fulton’s sincere and tenacious focus on the needs of women, the poor and the mentally challenged has resulted in more than one successful social service program to meet these populations’ housing and employment needs. |
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