Sister June Favata – 91��Ƭ

91��Ƭ Hosts A Memorial Tribute To Monsignor Linder

Michelle Lang — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 20:19:12 +0000

91��Ƭ hosted A Memorial Tribute to Monsignor Linder: Visionary, Founder and Leader to honor its late founder, recognize his accomplishments and look toward the future to carry on his mission for many years to come.

Members of the community, NCC employees and friends gathered at St. Joseph Plaza, 233 West Market St., Newark, Oct. 23 for the event. NCC Board President Dr. A. Zachary Yamba welcomed guests and explained that the occasion was a celebration of the life of Monsignor William J. Linder and a call to continue honoring his legacy.

“To carry out the legacy, the board asks that all those who support that vision join us in making that vision continue for the next 50 years,” Yamba said. “Because as you know, for 52 years, Monsignor Linder lived and worked in the city of Newark. He did not want to be anywhere else. This was his calling.”

Looking toward the future to continue Monsignor Linder’s work was a theme throughout the evening.

“Hope for Monsignor is that NCC does not continue on a nostalgic path of preserving what he had already accomplished in his last 50 years,” said Board Member Newton Richards. “Instead, his hope is that we build a bigger and stronger NCC with the capacity to fulfill the vision and transform inner cities into great urban communities.”

Diane Johnson, who served as the event emcee and is a new member of the NCC Board of Directors, said while the event was a tribute to Monsignor Linder and what he accomplished during his life, she also wanted everyone to look ahead and know the organization’s work will continue.

“91��Ƭ is not dead. Not because Monsignor is not here,” Johnson said. “We will carry out the mission of 91��Ƭ in this city, in this state. And when we get tired of doing it in Newark because there’s nothing else to do in Newark, we’ll go to Jersey City, we’ll go to Paterson, we’ll go to Irvington. We’ll go wherever we need to go because Monsignor did not leave us here to forsake us or those of us who need to be able to have hope. We will do what needs to be done.”

91��Ƭ CEO Richard Rohrman discussed the many areas where NCC is working to grow, including renovating housing units, increasing workforce development, increasing security, increasing technology and looking at new developments. He also talked about the partnerships NCC has developed, including Rutgers School of Nursing, which will be opening a nurse practitioner led primary care operation in the NCC Health Care Complex, and the Leaguers, which helps with NCC’s early learning centers.

“We are open for business. And we are launching ourselves into the next 50 years,” Rohrman said.

Rohrman also talked about his personal connection to Monsignor Linder.

“He really opened my eyes to the injustices that existed,” Rohrman said. “He just grabbed ahold of me and he opened up my eyes and I saw what was happening around me that I never would have seen without him. And like everybody else, I joined.”

NCC Board Member and Outreach Coordinator Madge Wilson was a parishioner at Queen of Angels Church when Monsignor Linder was assigned there as pastor. She said he listened to the members of the community.

“He built everything upon the needs of the people,” she said.

From housing to day care centers to a nursing home, Monsignor Linder brought to fruition the needs and wants of those living in the community.

“I thank Monsignor Linder for having the vision to build 91��Ƭ,” Wilson said. “Monsignor Linder, you left your footprint here. And I want you to pray for us while you’re looking down on us and we will always remember you.”

Sister June Favata, administrative director at Saint Vincent Academy, said she admired Monsignor Linder, who she called a force of nature and a man of faith.

“He understood what people needed. And yes, he prayed for them. And yes, he led them spiritually. But the spirituality that he helped see in people was all about service, was all about kindness to your neighbor, was all about doing for your neighbor what your neighbor most needed to the best of your ability,” she said. “So how can you not love and admire him?”

Father Philip Waters, who gave the homily at the funeral mass for Monsignor Linder, reiterated a point he made about Monsignor Linder’s willingness to get involved in difficult situations.

“He was always a priest that was willing to roll up his sleeves and to get his hands dirty,” he said. “And I think that that was something throughout his whole life.”

Father Beatus Kitururu said Monsignor Linder taught him the power of love.

“It was amazing. He had the energy of loving people that was unlimited,” he said.

NCC Human Resources Manager Anna Sing-King shared her personal story of growth that was made possible by Monsignor Linder. As a child, she and her siblings were abused by their mother and put into foster care. At age 19, she gave birth to a daughter. She wasn’t able to adequately care for herself and her daughter and wrote a letter to God asking for help.

“I wanted more out of life but I didn’t know how to get it until I joined 91��Ƭ in 1994 through the Employment Center,” she said.

Sing-King started out as a temporary clerk in the Property Management Department and then got hired as a receptionist with HR. She has since been promoted to her current position.

“My life, my daughter’s and my family, all our lives are better because of the vision of 91��Ƭ,” she said.

NCC Director of Mission Frances Teabout closed out the evening tribute with a story about how hard work, dedication and asking others for help when needed is the way to succeed. She also talked about how the organization is still very much needed.

“The issues that existed at the time that 91��Ƭ was born continue to exist,” she said. “Racism is still a problem, police brutality is still a problem, lack of good jobs and good places to live is still a problem. So what does that mean? That means we still have a whole lot of work to do.”

She then asked who in the audience was willing to join in and help NCC continue doing the work that needs to be done. Everyone rose to their feet.

“91��Ƭ is still alive and strong and vital and making a difference in the lives of the people that God has commissioned us to serve,” Teabout said. “Long live 91��Ƭ. God bless 91��Ƭ. God bless Monsignor William Linder. And God bless America.”

91��Ƭ And Saint Vincent Academy: A Longstanding Partnership

Michelle Lang — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 20:03:15 +0000

NCC CEO Richard Rohrman, NCC Chief of Staff Kathy Spivey, Saint Vincent Academy Administrative Director Sister June Favata, NCC Board President Dr. A. Zachary Yamba and NCC Board Member and Outreach Coordinator Madge Wilson, left to right, at the 33rd Annual Friends in Concert event at SVA Sept. 27.

91��Ƭ and Saint Vincent Academy have long been connected. Both are a part of Newark history and are celebrating milestones. Saint Vincent Academy is entering its 150th year of operation while NCC just celebrated its 50th anniversary.

While Saint Vincent Academy is an all girls Catholic high school and 91��Ƭ is a community development corporation that provides a myriad of services to members of the community, their goals are similar.

“With Saint Vincent Academy’s commitment to empowering individuals, their mission clearly intersects with the mission of NCC. And in particular, not just individuals, but individuals within the urban areas,” said 91��Ƭ Board President Dr. A. Zachary Yamba. “Monsignor’s passion in addition to everything else was for education and therefore I think NCC likewise is committed to that. NCC will also continue the legacy that Monsignor started by supporting some of the young women who go to Saint Vincent’s with scholarships.”

Saint Vincent Academy Administrative Director Sister June Favata came to Newark in 1969 and met NCC Founder Monsignor William J. Linder soon after. She explained that both the school and 91��Ƭ had a vision of what Newark could be, though they took different approaches.

“I think that Father Linder’s vision was to provide the citizens with the skills and the opportunities that they need to live a life that’s worthy of their dignity as human beings,” she said. “We as educators thought there needs to be a total renewal in Newark and that can’t happen without educating citizenry. And so we approach it that way. We really do feel that if you educate a girl, you educate a society. When you educate a girl, you educate a family. And I don’t mean education just in terms of academic things. I’m talking about faith and values clarification and morals and developing in people a moral compass. All those things that contribute to good citizenship.”

Education has always been an important component of 91��Ƭ as well. NCC has two early learning centers, it opened a charter school and it helps send high school students to Catholic high schools through the Monsignor William J. Linder Scholarship Fund.

“Saint Vincent Academy and 91��Ƭ have been working together to support our youth for a long time. Saint Vincent’s has been a part of the Newark fabric for 150 years. We are the new kids on the block at 50 years,” said NCC CEO Richard Rohrman. “Sister June and Monsignor Linder worked tirelessly to see that promising young people got the chance to excel in their lives. One individual’s success will over time change the course of the lives of their children, grandchildren and so on. The multiplier effect of one success is so powerful. Monsignor Linder was and Sister June continues to be two of the most effective and persistent champions of the city. We will continue to be as committed to Newark’s youth as ever.”

91��Ƭ Founder Monsignor William J. Linder and Saint Vincent Academy Administrative Director Sister June Favata at a past Friends in Concert event. Sister June credits Monsignor Linder with starting the partnership between the school and NCC.

Sister June said between five and seven Saint Vincent Academy students per year usually receive assistance from the Monsignor William J. Linder Scholarship Fund. But the partnership between SVA and NCC goes much deeper than that.

SVA has a program called Students-in-Community, which every student participates in annually.

“The idea is to have the students become imbued with a sense of responsibility to other people,” explained Sister June. “That idea of doing to your neighbor what they would do to you. That idea of serving others as Christ served.”

The school frequently sends students to work at Harmony House, NCC’s transitional housing facility for homeless families, and Extended Care, its nursing home, as part of the program. Last year, students hosted a luncheon for senior citizens as part of the Students-in-Community program and invited NCC residents to attend.

SVA also gave Monsignor Linder its Pelican Award in 2014 to honor him and the work he accomplished.

“I think that he was the single most influential person in the city of Newark over these years in terms of real results,” said Sister June. “We’re talking about senior citizens’ housing, we’re talking about housing for homeless, we’re talking about shopping areas, we’re talking about job training. You name it, all of the things that people need to improve their lives.”

She also said she was impressed with how he accomplished his goals.

“Lots of people can have the vision but not too many people can bring that vision to reality. And he had the ability to do that,” she said.

Sister June credits Monsignor Linder with starting the partnership between 91��Ƭ and Saint Vincent Academy.

“While we did very much appreciate everything that NCC was doing under his leadership, we were so desperately trying to keep this place going. It was more his initiative and his generosity and his understanding and appreciation for what we were doing that created the partnership,” she said.

Going forward, Sister June hopes Saint Vincent Academy can incorporate 91��Ƭ even more into the curriculum, perhaps having NCC employees visit the school and tell the students about their work, how they accomplish it and what it means to them.

“I think that their imaginations could be captured by meeting people who are offering their skills and talents and time and energy to building up the kingdom in Newark,” she said.