What's Happening

August 23, 2019, Seattle, Washington – Six Adrian Dominican Sisters were among more than 200 attendees at the Mercy Magnuson Place Grand Opening on August 10. The spirit was upbeat as organizers gave recognition to the many people who made this 148-unit facility for low- and middle-income families possible. 

Attending Adrian Dominican Sisters were Mary Sullivan, OP, Janice Holkup, OP, Cele Gorman, OP, Claudia Morgan, OP, Sharon Park, OP, and Judy Byron, OP.

The story goes back to 1992, when Sisters in the Seattle area took the initiative to create Mercy Housing Northwest (MHNW), an organization dedicated to providing homes for low-Income families, senior citizens, the formerly homeless, and people with special needs. Today, MHNW has 54 properties that are home to more than 5,000 residents in Washington State. 

The new apartment complex, located on Lake Washington where the former U.S. Naval barracks had sat vacant for 20 years, will support the residents with early childhood education and day care services, after-school tutoring, adult education classes, a health clinic, and a food bank.

The formal program included comments by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkin, who was educated by the Society of the Sacred Heart; Washington State House Representative Frank Chopp, who had been educated by the Edmonds Dominican Sisters – which since merged with the Adrian Dominican Sisters – in Bremerton, Washington; and Bill Rumpf, President of MHNW. They praised the Sisters for their vision and dedication.

Attending the grand opening are: standing, from left, Sisters Jocie Chism, SNJM, Mary Sullivan, OP, Janice Holkup, OP, and Georgia Yianakulis, SNJM; Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan; and Sisters Linda Haydock, SNJM, Judy Byron, OP, Cele Gorman, OP, and Claudia Morgan, OP; and kneeling, from left, Sisters Linda Riggers, SNJM and Teresa Shields, SNJM. Sister Sharon Park, OP, is not pictured.

October 17, 2018, Seattle, Washington – In an article in The Northwest Catholic, magazine of the Archdiocese of Seattle, Sister Lorene Heck, OP, is portrayed as a minister who works and lives by the philosophy, “Give your best and hope.” She has followed this philosophy in 55 years of ministry, whether as a teacher at Bishop Blanchard High School in Seattle or now as Chapter Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Dominican West Mission Chapter. She will continue that ethic of hard work as, in response to the invitation of Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, she works on the archdiocese’s Called to Serve as Christ, a fund-raising campaign for women religious in the archdiocese. Read the full article by Rich Kaipust.