- April 23, 2019 Association, Mission Advancement
By Barbara Roberts, Director of Mission Advancement, Kansas City
“BJ never points to herself. She's very humble. She does so many things and is such a wonderful human being. I just knew that she needed to be honored,” says Sister Helen Alder, CSJ, fellow parishioner of BJ’s at St. Therese Little Flower and friend for over 20 years.
While those that interact with BJ echo S. Helen’s sentiments, BJ herself was shocked that she was selected as the Sisters of St. Joseph’s Generosity of Joseph recipient, since, as she says, she is “just doing her job.”
BJ Atkinson is the director of emergency assistance at St. Therese Little Flower Parish, located in Kansas City, Missouri’s urban core. A diverse spirit-led community, the parish’s vocation is to “affirm other’s gifts, reach out to the poor, work for justice, and serve their community’s less fortunate.” The parishioners, which include several Sisters of St. Joseph, instill a climate of fellowship not only in their parish but in their neighborhood as well. Their mission is in tandem with the sisters’ charism of serving the dear neighbor without distinction.
The parish serves over 100 families each month—up to 30 families a week— with emergency assistance for food, rent, electric bills and medicine. This need is so profound that BJ is the only full-time employee at St. Therese. She spreads out the recipients’ appointments over a half hour so they have enough time to visit with her about any problems they may be having, whether it’s making sure they have enough food for the week or how to work with the utility company to reestablish power. “A lot of times people just need a helping hand to get through the difficult times,” she says.
But BJ doesn’t just stop at providing emergency assistance. Her caring touch is seen throughout the parish. She leads the Christmas basket program for over 250 families, assists the parish senior center in filling their clients’ monthly commodity boxes, ensures all details are in place for Mass, maintains the splendid church bulletin board, and answers the parish phone. Additionally, she is a founding member of the gospel choir and an active member in the parish book club.
St. Therese’s mission of service equally describes BJ’s unceasing good deeds to serve her dear neighbor—quietly and without distinction. Indeed, it’s the overriding sentiment of parishioners that BJ’s work is not just her job, it’s her passion, and that she “is the church.”
“The CSJs made the perfect choice in selecting BJ as an honoree, as much as she’d would like to remain in the background,” says Estelle Tunley, director of liturgy and music at St. Therese Little Flower, about her friend of over 35 years—a friendship that began at the parish.
“I’ve never seen her get upset. She’s here almost every day. She doesn’t take time off, which I wish she would. There’s nothing she won’t do if we ask,” says Sharon Sanders, director of the parish senior center and friend of over 27 years.
What first drew BJ to the Sisters of St. Joseph (CSJ) were Sister Helen Flemington and other CSJs at St. Therese. “They were just the coolest nuns, because they wanted to go out and change the world. They were working among the people," recalls BJ. Later, when the sisters wanted to start a CSJ associate community, she was intrigued. “It sounded interesting. I liked the sisters and enjoyed being with them, so I thought I’d try it for a minute.” That was 10 years ago. BJ was one of the first members of the CSJ Associate Holy Family community.
So why does BJ go beyond to serve others? She looked to her mother, Helena, a life-long Catholic, who worked as a registered nurse at St. Joseph Hospital for ensuring her strong faith foundation. Helena ensured BJ attended Holy Name Parish and St. Therese elementary schools, then Bishop Hogan High School.
An introvert by nature, BJ credits her high school speech class, and years later, the Kansas City church community, for teaching her how to speak to political and civic leaders about the dire straits of her neighbors. “We have to advocate for God's people who cannot speak for themselves. To walk with people,” BJ says. “You have to be the rock, the anchor to them. I pray for the person who I know is going to be on the streets in a couple of weeks because they don't have rent or enough heat in their home,”
“It's hard to work with people who are very stressed, and at a low point in their lives. And, BJ does that beautifully,” says Sister Helen.
Although BJ works with local agencies and landlords to make sure a family isn’t thrown out because “they missed the rent by five days,” her goal is to lessen this Band-Aid approach of assistance. “To promote justice means we need to stop the systemic harm that's going on,” says BJ.
She does this by advocating to agencies to provide basic needs of her neighbors: affordable housing, daycare so the parents can work, jobs that pay a living wage, good schools, and food stamp programs structured so families may eventually support themselves. “The best thing in the world is when someone drops off my radar that I've been helping for two to three years, and then hear they have a job and things are going well for them. The sad thing is for every one that goes well, many more are still struggling,” says BJ.
Although uncomfortable focusing on her good deeds, BJ does agree that it’s important to highlight the work being done and to bring attention to the work that needs to be done for so many needing a hand up. “To convince people that 'Okay, let's work together.' We don't have to just hand out.”
“In our world today, I feel that serving the dear neighbor is one of the most important things, echoes Sister Helen. “There are many distinctions today, whether it be male or female, different races, different religions, sexual orientation, everything. Basically, love each person as a child of God. Our charism says to love God of all things, and the dear neighbor without distinction. That's what BJ is to me. She truly is kind and loving to everyone.”