“Employee of the Year” at the Donald T. Bergin Correctional Institution, Sister Mary Healy is a sustained witness to the tender mercy of God and to a future filled with hope and joy.
February 18, 2011 -- At a special award ceremony and luncheon on , Sister Mary Healy, DSW, was named “Employee of the Year” at the Donald T. Bergin Correctional Institution (Bergin CI), a minimum security facility in Mansfield, Connecticut, that serves as a pre-release center for approximately 1,000 male inmates.
Sister Mary began her prison ministry at Bergin CI in 2002, after 20 years in the Greater Washington, D.C. area. While there, she was, among other roles, the director of the Washington Office on Haiti and the creator of the Women to Women project, a women’s solidarity program linking groups of women in Haiti with women’s groups in the U.S. She has coordinated numerous delegations to Haiti (including fact-finding, educational, and solidarity delegations) and has been an accredited election observer in Haitian national elections. As chaplain at Bergin CI, her primary work has been to make arrangements for weekly worship services and to prepare spiritually enriching opportunities for the inmates. Since approximately one-third of these men identify themselves as Catholic, Sister Mary works to provide them with an environment that allows them to grow in their faith. She also serves the general spiritual and pastoral needs of all inmates, regardless of religious affiliation, and is part of the four-member Religious Services Unit at Bergin CI which was named “Unit of the Year” for 2010-11. She visits each of the 13 dormitories weekly, offering a gentle, supportive presence, answering questions, and making appointments for spiritual direction or pastoral counseling. She offers an open-ended prayer group twice weekly and facilitates one of two faith-sharing groups. Sister Mary also meets with new inmates weekly and provides opportunities that will encourage participation in educational, vocational, and addiction recovery programs.
One project she has developed is especially dear to her heart—-a spiritual library, now amounting to more than 300 books, that allows inmates the opportunity to re-visit and reflect on the lessons shared in Bible study and daily Christian living. Since it is the chaplain who informs inmates of family
illness, death, or other difficult news, Sister Mary has also initiated a practice of accompanying inmates to deathbed or funeral home visits, each of which must be done only with a correctional officer and without any family presence. She then is ready to provide grief counseling to families, if necessary. She pays similar attention to staff members and their families in times of loss or sadness, visiting hospitals or attending funerals, often on “her own time.”
Sister Mary’s sustained witness to the tender mercy of God and to a future filled with hope and joy earned her this special recognition from her peers (Employee of the Year award recipients are peer-nominated). In the citation, she was commended for her sisterly, personal gifts (including her sense of humor) and was described as being “the most caring, dedicated person” her peers at Bergin knew. The citation spoke of her “selflessness” and availability to inmates and staff alike.
The Northeast Community congratulates Sister Mary on this recognition of her service and dedication to the call to be Mercy in the world.
