Ministry Stories

Sisters Maria Joseph Cokely, CSJ, and Rita Shawn McClaskey, CSJ

Catholic Charities Transportation Program for the Sick provides free, comprehensive, transport service five days a week for persons receiving cancer treatment, dialysis, ambulatory surgery and HIV/AIDS treatment. The program is under the services of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany and is staffed by two Sisters of St. Joseph and 30 volunteers. It is independently funded through two annual fund-raisers, small grants and individual donations, and has been functioning since October 1995.

We love our ministry to the sick. Each day is filled with daily opportunities to serve delightful, courageous individuals who inspire us with their brave acceptance of serious illness and their determination to recover.

Our ministry enables us to journey with each person for as long as he/she needs us. It also provides the additional joy of sharing ministry with the compassionate professionals who staff the treatment\medical centers, the dedicated, caring volunteers who assist in all aspects of the program and our generous Sisters of St. Joseph who support us spiritually and materially.

(Sister Rita Shawn is on the left and Sister Maria Joseph is in the center.)