Women Acting Together Against Poverty National Assembly of the Ladies of Charity of the United States of America September 10-14, 2008 San Antonio, TX

The national Assembly of the Ladies of Charity of the United States of America (LCUSA) will take place in San Antonio at the Holiday Inn-Riverwalk September 10-14, 2008. The Ladies of Charity of Austin together with other Texas Associations are working to plan and host this national meeting which will include three days of business sessions as well as additional activities before and after the business meetings.

The theme of this year’s Assembly is “Women Acting Together Against Poverty.” The keynote speaker at the opening session on September 11will be Patricia de Nava of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, a member of the Association of International Charities (AIC). She will discuss Systemic Change and Advocacy.

Some of the other speakers include Rev. Richard Gielow, C.M., director of the Vincentian Parish Mission Center in Kansas City, MO; Cheryl Maxwell, liturgist at St. Thomas More Parish in Austin; and Barbara Budde, director of the office of Social Concerns for the Diocese of Austin. The business sessions will also feature workshops, regional meetings and election of national officers. A Mass concelebrated by San Antonio Archbishop José H. Gomez, S.T.D. at the historic San Fernando Cathedral will be followed by an evening banquet at the hotel and will conclude the Assembly on Saturday, September 13.

Additional activities for Assembly goers include a tour of the San Antonio area on Wednesday, September 10. Members will visit the San Antonio Art Museum, the El Mercado shopping area, Mission San José, Mission Concepción and The Alamo. A second tour on Sunday, September 14 will feature travel by motor coach to four nearby communities—Ammannsville, Dubina, Praha and High Hil—- to see the famous painted churches of South Texas.

The French priest, Vincent de Paul organized the Association of the Ladies of Charity in 1617 in France. Today, the Ladies of Charity of Austin is part of an international Catholic women’s society with membership in LCUSA, and as an affiliated member of the AIC, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The Ladies of Charity has been active in Austin since its organization in 1890 when it was called “St. Vincent’s Aid.” The Ladies were instrumental in getting the Daughters of Charity to come to Austin to open the Seton Infirmary in 1900, as the hospital was first named. Some years later, the Ladies founded Marywood Children and Family Services, originally The Home of the Holy Infancy, for single women and their babies in 1921.

More recently, the Ladies helped to organize the Christmas Bureau in 1964. Members of this non-profit group continue to serve the poor and needy through a variety of programs and projects. In partnership with the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Austin, they operate St. Vincent de Paul’s thrift store in Austin. Members also support the Caritas Community Soup Kitchen, purchase nutritional bags for day laborers, host birthday parties at Walnut Hills Nursing Center and for State Hospital and State School residents, and provide financial assistance to families referred by social service agencies.

Presently, the Ladies of Charity of Austin have regular monthly meetings at Sacred Heart Parish in northeast Austin. Monique Moya Urtado of St. Mary’s in Lago Vista is the group’s president.

For more information on the Ladies of Charity of Austin, contact Catherine Nelson at 476-4110 in Austin or write to: Virginia Dailey, 612 Leisure Lane, Cedar Creek, TX 78612.