By Jeni Christoffersen, East District President
Since stepping into the role of East District president in September 2020, I have grown in some unexpected ways. I have connected more deeply to our SVdP mission, receiving a renewed sense of purpose. I am inspired and motivated by the tremendous faith, commitment and altruism I see in the East District members. Our district is comprised of the following conferences: Holy Spirit, Little Flower, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Lawrence, St. Mary, St. Philip Neri, St. Simon, Tri County Good Samaritan and Tonatzin Youth Conference.
What makes the East District special? I think it’s the diversity of the clients that we serve. Our district—which reaches from downtown Indianapolis to Richmond, Indiana—covers many zip codes that are economically challenged and chronically underserved. We support ethnically and racially diverse neighborhoods in bilingual parishes as well as homeless neighbors in need. We are also a resource for many immigrants who do not qualify for government programs. The East District has conferences in communities with greater means, others in densely populated neighborhoods and still others quite rural. Overall, we truly have a wide range of needs to support, and each of our conference presidents actively listens and responds to the needs of their unique local community.
Here are some recent examples of our conference activities:
- St. Mary: Lenten backpack and personal hygiene supply drive for the SVdP homeless ministry
- St. Simon: Changing Lives Forever program with eight more members trained to mentor individuals who seek to break the cycle of poverty
- Tri County Good Samaritan: Investment in a facility to operate several unique programs, including a creative food truck program
- Holy Spirit: Repair and sale of children’s bikes to raise funds for SVdP Distribution Center (Shout-out to Chuck Jackson who devotedly runs this ministry from his home!)
- Little Flower: Additional time at meetings for the spiritual growth, including reviewing sections of the SVdP manual
Interested to learn how you can support the East District? Contact Jeni by email jeni@thechristoffersens.com.
