Around her neck, not far from her heart, Sister Nancy Downing wore two things that reflected special milestones in her life that unfolded in January. One was a necklace connected to a simple metal cross that she wears as a religious sister in the Congregation of Notre Dame. January 30 marked the 25th anniversary of her first vows as a Notre Dame sister. Hanging from a blue lanyard was a badge that she wears as the new CEO of St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families in Hyattsville, Maryland, which she began leading on Jan. 8.
“(In) the life I’ve chosen, and the life God has given me, I feel very blessed,” Sister Nancy said in an interview. “I feel like this is the start of the next chapter of my life, my religious life. I feel very blessed to be here.”
Sister Nancy recently served as the executive director of Covenant House New York, which provides outreach to youth experiencing homelessness and trafficking. She worked 15 years in various roles for Covenant House.
St. Ann’s Center was founded in 1860 by the Daughters of Charity, and 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.
As the new CEO of St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families, Sister Nancy succeeds Sister Mary Bader, who served in that role for 18 years before taking a new leadership position in late 2023 as a member of the Daughter of Charity’s Provincial Council in St. Louis.
“It’s an incredible legacy,” Sister Nancy said, adding, “I have really big shoes to fill (following) Sister Mary Bader. I have very strong shoulders to stand on, the Daughters of Charity who have built this ministry and lived this ministry for 160 years.”
Reflecting on her first weeks at St. Ann’s, Sister Nancy commented on the happy atmosphere there and said, “The people here are just so very loving and caring and welcoming.”
Sister Nancy said she doesn’t think she has ever been welcomed as warmly before as she has been at St. Ann’s, by the people who work there, by the young moms and their children living there, by the children in childcare and their families, and by donors, colleagues, volunteers, board members and the Daughters of Charity, and by Cardinal Wilton Gregory and officials in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.
When Sister Nancy’s appointment was announced in December, Cardinal Gregory in a statement welcomed her and said, “We are tremendously grateful that Sister Nancy has accepted this position to lead St. Ann’s critical mission in our archdiocese with her exceptional leadership style and heart for accompanying young people experiencing crisis. Sister Nancy will help to write the next chapter in St. Ann’s 163-year story!”
The letter to friends and supporters of St. Ann’s Center announcing Sister Nancy’s appointment noted that as the executive director of Covenant House New York, she expanded its programs to provide housing and support to more than 350 vulnerable youth each day, and oversaw the completion of an $82 million renovation of Covenant House’s headquarters during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sister Nancy, who earned an undergraduate degree in criminal justice from the University of Southern Maine and her law degree from Western New England College, served as the general counsel to both Covenant House New York and Covenant House International, and as the agency’s director of legal services and advocacy before serving as its executive director from 2016 to 2022. Under her leadership, Covenant House New York opened four new locations serving youth, and its new headquarters also provided shelter for 120 youth and included a health center and education, employment and legal services for youth.
Before joining Covenant House, Sister Nancy served as the executive director of the Maura Clarke-Ita Ford Center for immigrant women in Brooklyn and the Connecticut Fair Housing Center in Harford.
After earning her undergraduate degree, she worked for the The Hartford insurance company, later attending law school at night and earning her law degree in four years.
Sister Nancy was inspired to enter the Congregation of Notre Dame by the example of Sister Julia Ryan, who taught her religious education classes during her junior high school years at her home parish in Manchester, Connecticut.
“She had a wonderful sense of humor… She was a very caring and loving person,” said St. Ann’s new CEO, who as an adult working in the insurance industry became reacquainted with Sister Julia. “The first thing she said to me was, ‘You should consider becoming a religious sister.’”
A year later, she visited Sister Julia, who was then teaching in a school in the mountains of Guatemala. “I just saw a very different way of living and loving,” Sister Nancy said.
Later after earning her law degree, passing the bar exam and continuing to work at the insurance company, where she oversaw complex litigation involving civil and constitutional rights violations, serious personal injury and other matters, she decided to enter religious life.
The lessons she learned about Catholic social teaching as a child, and after witnessing that teaching in action from Sister Julia, changed her life. Sister Nancy said that in her last years working at Covenant House, she spoke less about the outreach’s programs and statistics, and more about the love and support that youth received there, because that is what has a deeper impact on their lives.
Reflecting on the words and actions that eventually drew her to religious life and the Catholic outreach programs that she has led, Sister Nancy said, “We learned a lot about Catholic social teaching and love and care of others. “I experienced that at Covenant House, and I experience that at a greater depth than I ever have here at St. Ann’s.”
As she began working at St. Ann’s, Sister Nancy met a young mother there who had just finished her associate’s degree and had bought a home to move into with her child. She had come to St. Ann’s as a teen mom and lived in Hope House for a few years as she earned her degree, worked at a job to support herself and her child, and saved money for a home of their own.
“She did all the right things to secure a good future for herself and her child,” Sister Nancy said. She added, “The love and support St. Ann’s provides gives moms the opportunity to take a breath, step back, and say, ‘I can do this.’ They get a chance to see themselves as we see them, as very gifted, talented, loving and caring people.”
St. Ann’s new CEO noted that in recent weeks, another mother at St. Ann’s got an apartment for herself and her two young children. And she also witnessed another St. Ann’s success story. “A young woman came back to visit, to tell us how well she and her child are doing. (She was) a young woman who had struggled and found a way out of the struggle. That big, beautiful smile on her face, I still have it in my mind.”
Sister Nancy said she feels “extremely blessed to be here, to be part of an organization that for 160 years has lifted up the most vulnerable among us.” The women helped at St. Ann’s, she said, “use all the gifts God has given them not only to support themselves and their child, but to be members of the community and give back to the community.”
As she stood in front of St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families, Sister Nancy explained that the simple metal cross she wears was handed down to her after being worn by a Notre Dame sister who had died.
“When a sister passes away, the cross is kept and passed on to another generation,” Sister Nancy said. “Every day when I put it on, I kiss the cross, and I thank God for the opportunity to serve, the opportunity to serve as a CND (a member of the Congregation of Notre Dame), to be a servant of God, and I’m grateful to carry this cross and whatever it means for that day. Some days it’s good, and some days it’s challenging. It’s always out of love and brings that love back to me.”
