Going to the People
Going to the people. Feeding the hungry. Visiting the sick. Meeting people where they are in life. Listening with a caring heart. Treating people with mercy, reverence, respect, and dignity. Working alongside them to help improve their circumstances in life. Being a compassionate and transforming, healing presence. Connecting those who are most vulnerable with the services they need the most – body, mind, and spirit – before needs become emergent.
Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, dedicated her life in service to others, especially the sick, poor, and uneducated.
Catherine’s legacy and the Sisters of Mercy tradition of service continue to inspire the work of the 1,700+ colleagues who work across the many communities that Pittsburgh Mercy serves today. A member of Trinity Health and serving in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy, Pittsburgh Mercy is a person-centered, population-based, trauma-informed community health and wellness provider and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic.
As a legacy ministry of the Pittsburgh Sisters of Mercy, we continue to “walk the walk” of the Sisters, who were affectionately known in the community as “The Walking Nuns.” We reach out to help those in our community who are most vulnerable, including those with mental health challenges, addiction, intellectual disabilities, as well as persons who are experiencing homelessness, abuse, and other forms of trauma. We are their community, their safe haven, their safety net. We are mercy.
Whether it’s on street rounds, in one of our outpatient service locations, on our mobile medical unit, or in one of our many residential, employment, or day programs, we proudly honor our legacy and carry forward the Sisters of Mercy tradition of service in our work.
Linda K. Ross is the director of Communications at Pittsburgh Mercy, a member of Trinity Health, serving in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy. She has worked in Sisters of Mercy legacy ministries for 25 years.