Individuals
Though financial support is distributed to religious communities, gifts to the Retirement Fund for Religious have a very real impact on the day-to-day lives of individual senior religious—providing funding for necessities such as prescription medications and nursing care.
Below, meet some of the senior religious who benefit from the Retirement Fund for Religious. Click on a photo to read their stories.
Sister Reginald Gerdes, 79
Oblate Sisters of Providence
Sister Reginald Gerdes, 79, a member of the Oblate Sisters of Providence of Baltimore, Maryland, has always been fascinated by history. But when the time came for her to teach, her religious community needed science teachers, not history teachers. So Sister Reginald obtained a master's degree in science and spent numerous years teaching biology at the high school and college levels. Often, she served in underprivileged areas and recalls fondly being involved with the neighborhood children. "We'd take the kids to Bible school," she says. "And when our van didn't work, we'd walk to the nearby prison, and they'd let us borrow theirs."
Sister Reginald's teaching ministry was followed by years as a principal and service in her community's development office. Yet her love for history never waned. Eventually, she became the community archivist. Today, she continues to deliver lectures on the history of her congregation, the first religious institute in the United States founded for women of African descent. A native of New Orleans, she also writes articles on the history of African American Catholics.