The Margaret Anna Cusack Care Center at St. Joseph’s Home for the Blind recently appointed three new members to its Board of Trustees for 2011 – 2012: Sister Rosemary Coffey, CSJP, Sister Suzanne Golas, CSJP, and Bernadette Hoehl.
Sister Rosemary, CSJP, is the director of St. Joseph’s Home, a division of the York Street Project in Jersey City, another ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. Prior to joining York Street in 2002, she was the director of St. Bridget’s Child Development Center in Jersey City. She has 13 years experience in elementary education, 10 years in early childhood education and 19 years in early childhood administration. She earned her master’s degree in education from Brooklyn College and her bachelor’s degree in education from Brentwood College.
Sister Suzanne, CSJP, is the director and “founding mother” of WATERSPIRIT, a ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace at the Stella Maris Retreat Center in Elberon. She has served in leadership positions in the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, an international, Catholic religious order committed to peace through justice. Sister Suzanne serves as the sister’s non-governmental organization (NGO) representative at the United Nations, where she concentrates on sustainable development and environmental issues, specifically water. She previously served on the Board of Trustees from 1979 – 1988, then known as St. Joseph’s Home for the Blind.
Bernadette Hoehl, a retired microbiologist, is a long-standing member of the Circle of Friends Committee, an ad-hoc committee of the Board of Trustees comprised of family members of former and current residents that undertakes fundraising activities for the center.
Board members are appointed by the Health Care System Board of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, the center’s sponsors, for a renewable three-year term and are responsible for among other things the fiduciary viability and governance of the center.
The three new board of trustee members join current members Chairperson/President John Prout; Vice Chairperson James Caron; Treasurer John LaPilusa; Secretary Thomas Sheehy, and Joy Barry, Gerard Costa, Lloyd Currier, Edward DeFazio, Joseph DiCristo, Rev. James Pagnotta, Curt Philipczak, George Popko, and Catherine Yaxley.