Sister Mary Bader, a Daughter of Charity who served as the CEO of St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families in Hyattsville, Maryland, from 2005 to 2023 before taking a leadership position in her religious community, will be coming home to Washington to be honored at St. Ann’s Hope Blossoms fundraising event on May 8.
At the Hope Blossoms fundraiser at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Sister Mary – who now serves on the Daughter of Charity’s Provincial Council in St. Louis – will be receiving St. Ann’s Mary McGrory Advocacy Award, named after the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington columnist who supported St. Ann’s Center for more than five decades as a volunteer and advocate.
“We’re so glad for this chance to honor Sister Mary, in person, for all she has done for this mission and this region,” said Sister Nancy Downing of the Congregation of Notre Dame who began serving as the new CEO of St. Ann’s in January after recently serving as the executive director of Covenant House New York, which provides outreach to youth experiencing homelessness and trafficking.
During Sister Mary’s leadership at St. Ann’s, the agency transitioned a long-time residential program for young foster children into supportive, transitional housing for mothers and their children experiencing homelessness. St. Ann’s kept its doors open for families during the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing to operate its residential programs and support services for women and children.
Also during her leadership there, the early Head Start program at St. Ann’s Child Care Center began helping low-income residents and local families to access comprehensive child development and family support services. The St. Ann’s Community Outreach Program was established to improve access to baby formula, baby food, clothing and other critical staples for resident mothers and families. Another program established during that time, the St. Ann’s Education & Employment Program, helps resident mothers set and reach their academic and professional goals.
In an interview, Sister Mary said serving at St. Ann’s was “a great joy and privilege.” Sister Mary – a native of the Washington area who is a graduate of Little Flower School in Bethesda and Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington – added that, “I always wanted to serve children and people in need for as long as I can remember.”
When it was announced last fall that Sister Mary would be leaving St. Ann’s after leading the center for 18 years, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory said, “Sister Mary has enabled countless families in our region to heal, thrive and grow toward bright new futures. Sister Mary, thank you for all you have done for the mothers and their children who have called and continue to call St. Ann’s Center home.”
St. Ann’s Center – which was founded in 1860 by the Daughters of Charity and chartered by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 – originally served women who were widowed and children who were orphaned during the Civil War. To meet changing needs in the past century, St. Ann’s modified its outreach to emphasize foster care for children, and then in recent decades, the center evolved to offer supportive housing programs for mothers and their children, including Grace House that offers residential care for pregnant adolescents and young mothers and their babies, and Hope House and Faith House that offer transitional and supporting housing programs for pregnant and parenting women experiencing homelessness and instability.
St. Ann’s wraparound support services for mothers and children include an education and employment program, clinical and social work services, and a licensed child care center.
In 2023, 77 women and children were served in St. Ann’s three on-site housing programs; five families successfully transitioned from St. Ann’s programs to stable, independent housing; and 83 children were served in St. Ann’s Child Care Center, including its Early Head Start classrooms.
The Hope Blossoms event is the major fundraising event of the year for St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families. At the Hope Blossoms gathering, Sister Mary Bader will be presented with the Mary McGrory Advocacy Award by Sister Nancy Downing, St. Ann’s new CEO; by Michael Steele, an MSNBC commentator and former Maryland lieutenant governor who will be the maser of ceremonies; and by Pam and Dennis Lucey, the event’s co-chairs.
“We get to celebrate Sister Mary’s job well done, and celebrate the future she has helped prepare us for,” said Sister Nancy.
For information on tickets to the Hope Blossoms event or for donation and sponsorship opportunities, go to https://apps.stanns.org/upcoming-events .
