2012 honorees

 

Ascension Health
St. Louis, Missouri
Advocate for quality Catholic health care, especially for the poor and vulnerable.

Ascension Health provides health care that works, health care that is safe and health care that leaves no one behind. As the largest Catholic and non-profit health system in the United States, Ascension advocates for a compassionate and just society through its mission-focused health ministries.

In the spirit of the religious communities that brought their health systems together in 1999 to form Ascension, it remains rooted in the loving ministry of Jesus as healer, committed to serving all persons with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. Dedicated to the heart of its mission, Ascension provided $1.2 billion in care of persons living in poverty and community benefit in 2011, reaching those in need at its 1,400 locations in 21 states.

The focus on the spirituality that underlies the mission and values is paramount in the workplace, nurtured in Ascension’s 121,000 associates through education, such as the lay leader formation program. In 2002, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet became the sixth sponsor of Ascension Health and today, we take pride in continuing the mission of supporting health care that leaves no one behind through our historical sponsorship of the system.

 

 

Dr. Thomas and Mrs. Virginia Coppinger
Kansas City, Missouri
Advocates for affordable Catholic education and service to the poor

When Tom and Virginia aren't helping at-risk inner city youth, providing basic essential services to the needy, or participating in their parish Habitat building, they are serving on boards and committees at Avila University and

St. Teresa's Academy to help raise awareness and funds so that Catholic secondary and higher education is affordable and accessible to all. Then again, they may be helping ensure that the mission and ministries of the

Sisters of St. Joseph in the Kansas City Metro Area are known and remain viable. Quietly, and motivated by their deep faith, they spend themselves giving their time, talents and resources, because this is what it means to be people of God

 

Jane Corbett
St. Louis, Missouri
Advocate for the children of Haiti and thos in need in St. Louis

At 76, Jane is not even close to retiring from serving the dear neighbor in Haiti. Whether she is working with the organization Healing the Children or organizing a huge three-day garage sale, her relentless commitment is contagious.

An advocate for all who are sick, homeless, hungry or in need of someone to care, Jane serves her parish, St. Michael's in Shrewsbury, Mo. and her St. Louis community with the zeal of Jesus. She selflessly spends all her energies helping others because she knows God is calling us to take action, joining with others to make a positive difference in our neighborhoods and our world.