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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  Vista Maria marks 125 years of helping young women in crisis

by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published September 19, 2008

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Charla stands in front of Donna Maria Hall, where she found refuge from difficult life circumstances.

Detroit — "There was a point in time when I was down, and I couldn't trust anyone because of what's happened in my life."

The words came from a 16-year-old named Charla, a young lady who suffered from abuse. She stood at a microphone in the gymnasium of Vista Maria, where she came through the doors for help 10 months ago.

Those 10 months, she said, gave her the opportunity she needed to change her life.

"There's no violence in here," she said. "The school is more calm and peaceful here."

Charla, who will continue attending school at Vista Maria this fall, is in the middle of an experience similar to those echoed by several generations of alumna at Vista Maria, a place of refuge for young women who have been abused and neglected. For more than a century, the institution has given thousands of young women a safe place to stay, attend school, receive counseling and medical care, and be reassured that they are valued in life.

Now celebrating its 125th anniversary, Vista Maria is taking steps to further help young women in need create "personal roadmaps" to stable and safe lives.

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Anita Glun, a Vista Maria alumna from 1947, shares her experience at a press conference, standing next to Vista Maria president and CEO Cameron Hosner.

"Vista Maria has helped many women and families through difficult circumstances," said Cameron Hosner, president and CEO of Vista Maria, at an Aug. 28 media event to mark the one-and-a-quarter centuries of its mission. "We're not only celebrating the contributions of Vista Maria, but the accomplishments of the girls who walked through our doors, applied themselves to treatment and triumphed over adversity."

Alongside Charla at the event were Vista Maria alumna from other generations.

Angela Madias, 26, who came to Vista Maria in the mid 1990s with abuse and substance abuse issues, told of how the institution helped her "to believe in myself and trust myself."

Anita Glun was a resident at Vista Maria in 1946 and '47. She came to Vista Maria as a 14-year-old when her mother died. Now living in Ecorse, she went on to become an active volunteer, mentor and a mother of four.

The stories of those helped by Vista Maria start all the way back in 1883. That's when five sisters from the Religious of the Good Shepherd order arrived in Detroit and established a house on Fort Street. Before the turn of the century, that house was packed with more than 200 girls and young women who sought refuge from poverty and abuse.

The need for Vista Maria's mission became more evident over the next few decades. In 1910, the sisters built a school for their residents. They relocated in 1943 to a 50-acre site — their current site — donated to them by Henry and Clara Ford. And by 1953, the sisters had served more than 12,000 young women.

Today, Vista Maria's board of directors can look back on the more than 50,000 girls and young women the institution has served since it was first begun. The agency provides services for trauma recovery, substance abuse, foster care, basic medical and dental care, conflict resolution and education.

Its campus includes: • Six residence halls, which house eight separate residency programs for young women in various situations.

• Two charter schools: the Clara B. Ford Academy for residents, and the Vista Meadows Academy, which opened this fall to the broader community.

• Recreation facilities including a gymnasium, pool, basketball courts and picnic areas.

• A chapel.

• And the convent of the Religious of the Good Shepherd.

And even though the home is a place that serves the needy of all faiths and denominations, Hosner says, its leaders still adhere to the philosophy set forth by the Religious of the Good Shepherd.

After all, they're still present at Vista Maria.

Sr. Anna Jo Wallette, RGS, for example, lives adjacent to the campus chapel and spends time mentoring the young women in Vista Maria's care.

"Just think of the effect that one person has on so many people in their lifetime," Sr. Wallette says, recalling stories of the Religious of the Good Shepherd, who are known for being amid God's children in streets and bars as opposed to distant convents. "That's part of our training. We do everything we can, wherever we can."

Hosner adds that the philosophy of St. Mary of Frasier — the founder of the Religious of the Good Shepherd — is at the heart of the institution.

"Her phrase was, 'A person is of greater value than the world,'" Hosner says. "She didn't want us to be so social-cause driven that we didn't manifest ourselves as Christ would today in terms of reaching out."

To that end, the institution is amid a $10 million campaign to upgrade its facilities and expand its services. Hosner says the long-term goals are to reach out to more families off-campus via community services such as counseling, health care, day care and affordable housing.

Current plans for the campus include building a new community services center, multimedia center, and affordable apartments.

Though the economy has slowed fundraising the vision remains in place, Hosner says.

"We feel very good that we're on a core path," he says. "This is the path of the future for the sisters and this organization to make a bigger impact."

Already, Vista Maria has made use of government funds for some of its programs. Although the use of state money necessitates the separation of the Catholic faith with Vista Maria's basic services — e.g., they can't openly evangelize or put crucifixes on the walls of state-funded classrooms or offices — they do offer the option of Catholic sacraments to clientele, just as they honor the faith of those who are non-Catholic Christian, Jewish or Muslim.

"Christ, of course, is our compass as an organization because that's our sponsor and where we come from," Hosner says, "but at the same time we're open to all faiths."

And that openness, say some of its alumnae helped them understand that God loves them and supports them.

"I got to actually realizing how I'm supposed to work with God and be on God's side," said Charla. "And after that, it's been going straight how I want it to."