A message from our CEO

As we continue to battle the impacts of the pandemic, I am mindful of how much I appreciate your support. You have stood by the communities we work with through thick and thin – ensuring vulnerable people are not forgotten. I can’t thank you enough!

For this edition of Mary’s News Today, we have chosen one of our core values as our theme to focus on: ‘Dignity through self-determination’. This is key to all our learning programs at Mary MacKillop Today. We strive for all people to have the opportunity to live a full and healthy life. And we know having choices is vital to achieve this.

Saint Mary saw children and families facing barriers to an essential right – access to education. This was impacting their ability to make decisions in their lives and realise their inherent worth. Mary and the Sisters of St Joseph set out to be present with people and give them the support they needed to overcome disadvantage.

Thanks to you, our work can take a grassroots approach, like Mary did, to support communities. We can listen to the voices that so often go unheard – women, children, people living in poverty. I share more about how our programs are driven by the solutions communities decide for themselves in the article The uplifting power of self-determination.

You can read about how you’re supporting women to overcome inequality and pursue leadership in Peru and Fiji in our article Supporting women as community leaders.

Or see how you’re helping people here in Australia to break free from disadvantage and achieve financial wellbeing in the article Taking steps towards financial wellbeing.

You can also hear about the parents you are supporting in the remote parts of Timor-Leste with our article Empowering parents to support children’s education.

Every one of our Learning for Life programs is made possible by the support of kind people like you.

Every day I see inspirational changes occurring for the individuals, families, and communities we work with – and this is only made possible because of you. Your compassionate generosity is giving people the opportunities they need to make their own choices and achieve their aspirations. Thank you!

With gratitude,

Jane Woolford
Chief Executive Officer, Mary MacKillop Today