BELMONT — On the Sisters of Mercy campus, just minutes away from downtown Belmont and behind some trimmed bushes that spell out H-O-L-Y A-N-G-E-L-S, there is a different kind of place called Holy Angels.
“People say they pass our bushes all the time and they have absolutely no idea what goes on behind them,” smiles Sister Nancy Nance, vice president of community relations of Holy Angels.
Pictured: For eight weeks this summer, from June through August, hundreds of excited blue-shirted “volunteens” aged 13-18 visited the Belmont campus to experience the joy at Holy Angels for themselves.
(Photos by Lisa Geraci | Catholic News Herald)
Holy Angels has been around since 1955, and is a “heaven-like place on Earth,” according to CEO Regina Moody. It is a place filled with people who are full of joy: 88 residents, ranging from infant to 80 years old, who have intellectual developmental disabilities and delicate medical conditions. They are cared for by medical professionals 24 hours a day. Holy Angels provides a higher quality of life to the residents by supporting them physically, educationally, socially, spiritually and emotionally. In return, the residents inspire love, faith, persistence, friendship and trust in everyone they encounter.
For eight weeks this summer, from June through August, hundreds of excited blue-shirted “volunteens” aged 13-18 visited the Belmont campus to experience the joy at Holy Angels for themselves. They met residents and formed new relationships with people known to be “different” than themselves. The teens from local high schools and middle schools played games with residents, read them stories, helped them work at Cherub business localities – basically helping out wherever they could lend a hand, two to three days a week for three-hour shifts.
“The thing I love about this place – it is about respect, it is about awareness, it is about helping students connect with someone that is different. How do you connect with someone who may not be verbal? Maybe they are not verbal but they are able to speak to you in different ways. The difference we are seeing in these young people is incredible because they are able to go to the real world and deal with people that may be different than us,” says Volunteer Services Manager Donnie Thurman. “At Holy Angels, culture here is about loving, living and learning. You got a different level of kid here. The kids that are coming here have a servant’s mind and a servant’s heart. This is a generation of change, and if we just keep influencing them they are going to make a difference.”
Holy Angels’ motto is “loving, living and learning for the differently able” and for teens like Molly Sly, Jack O’Gorman and Maggie Ferguson, this message was heartfelt once they began interacting with residents.
Sly, who is 16 and has been volunteering for the past three years, explains, “The residents show you that if you want to do something you can do it. These residents go through challenges every single day and they’re still smiling and having a good time. There are people like this in special classes, and I have become closer friends with them at school because of coming here. I love being here. I actually want to be an orthodontist when I grow up, and when I get my own practice I want to come here and do free dental work.”
O’Gorman, who is 15 and volunteening since the seventh grade, says, “I like hanging out with the residents and being able to play games with them and basic stuff you do with your friends. It’s cool getting to meet new people and getting new experiences.”
Ferguson adds, “I am 15. I started the summer after seventh grade when I was 13. My mom had told me about it and in the beginning I was a little reluctant because it was out of the ordinary. But, on the other hand, I had cousins with special needs so it was something I was already interested in. So I came, and now I just come here all the time! I fell in love with it. They just can’t get rid of me. I come two days a week and I am either in the office, at a Cherub location, or at Life Choices. Honestly, this place just teaches you to be a better person. It is just so eye-opening. Being around the residents, it is like the best feeling ever.”
Moody encourages the interactions to help more people understand that being different is beautiful. She suggests using the term “differently abled” when describing the residents because what they may lack in one area they make up in another.
“What we are really trying to do here is to change a generation and that starts one person at a time, one experience at a time, where it is positive and where people who are differently abled can do more than whatever was expected,” she explains. “The community has embraced us and they understand the residents. Volunteens, who are involved in our program, take what they learn from our folks and bring it back into their own communities. The customers that come to our cotton candy factory, come to our café, come to our gallery, are all learning about the population that was for so many years shunned and hidden. So we feel we are educating the public about people that may be different or be seen as different.”
The Volunteen Summer program has been a win-win for residents and teens alike. This new “transparent” and “open” way of visiting the residents helps the community respect and love every person. “Differently abled” angels give back in ways others may not be able by helping employees, volunteers, community members and students feel Christ’s love through their own perspectives.
Fifteen-year-old Volunteen Maggie Ferguson calls the residents of Holy Angels living examples of Christ’s love for us, describing Holy Angels as “the best place ever” where just being around the joyful residents rejuvenates her.
— Lisa Geraci, Correspondent
More online
At www.holyangelsnc.org: Learn more about Holy Angels and how you can volunteer or support their work