We are all familiar with Jesus’ tender call in Matthew 19:14 to “Let the children come to me, for it is to just such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs.”
We often romanticize our picture of these children. We imagine them smiling, well-fed and joyful. But just as likely, these little ones were hungry, neglected and worn-down. These would be the children Jesus most wanted to gather.
And these are just the children that Sister Anne Francioni, SSND, RN, MA, serves in the densely forested Ozarks in southeastern Missouri.
The kids lovingly know her simply as “Sis.”
A statistically proven resilience
Sister Anne began Whole Kids Outreach (WKO) in 1999.
WKO serves 11 counties in southeastern Missouri, covering 8,080 square miles. In WKO’s program participants, the average household income for a family of four is 47% lower than the state of Missouri’s average.
The rural poverty that exists in the vast, Missouri Ozarks differs from that seen in urban areas. As Sister Anne explains, “The biggest thing is the social and geographic isolation. Access to a social service or medical provider is very hard to get to. To get to a pediatrician, that’s 60 miles away and that’s an awful lot of fuel. We have no public transportation. We have one grocery store in this county. There was no licensed childcare until we started one. … If you don’t have childcare, you can’t get a job. If you can’t get a job, you can’t get appropriate housing. You see how poverty is just complex?”
And as a result of the complexities of rural poverty, the families WKO serves are those that experience higher than state averages for food insecurity, substantiated child abuse, inadequate prenatal care, teenage pregnancy, infant mortality rates and preventable child hospitalization.
But despite the harsh realities, Sister Anne always looks to find the strengths that exist within the families she serves. “What I’ve found is that the most resilient and smart people I’ve ever met are people who can navigate a system when they’re living in poverty.”
Sister Anne Francioni, SSND, RN, MA, is a finalist for our Lumen Christi Award, our highest honor given to people who radiate and reveal the light of Christ present in the communities where they serve. Click here to read the stories of our eight finalists this year.
Through Sister Anne’s encouragement, resourcefulness, and the services provided by WKO, the statistics that support the turnaround for many families in WKO’s various programs are incredible. These include the following:
- There’s an astoundingly high rate of infant mortality in the 11 counties served by WKO. Families not served by WKO are eight times more likely to experience infant mortality than those participating in their programs. That means hundreds of children have enjoyed the gift of life, which otherwise would have been cut short, thanks to WKO’s ministry.
- 95% of participating parents demonstrated improved knowledge about child development and were able to access community support, which is known to decrease the risk of child maltreatment and improve adult outcomes.
- And finally, 100% of the parents served in WKO’s home-visiting programs were able to identify and access at least one community resource beyond WKO that addressed their specific family needs.
Sister Anne is a powerful witness to the Catholic Church’s social justice teaching. She is fond of saying,
Dream with me and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t save the world. Just get up every morning and work at it, and then do it again the next day and the next and the next.”
Developing their God-given potential
WKO’s singular mission is to empower families through programs in their homes, at the three WKO campuses and in community outreach service.
During the summers, one way they achieve this with children is through Camp Whole Kids. Located at WKO’s main campus in Ellington, Missouri, the summer camp provides parents an opportunity for childcare so that they can continue to work, and their children can have fun and learn in a trusted, loving environment.
“Out of school time affords a real opportunity to teach incidental learning, or disguised learning,” Sister Anne explained on the significance of the summer camp. “They think they’re playing but they’re actually learning a ton of skills. And it teaches us a way to help kids have a safe place.”
With many children in the program having come from past situations of abuse, it is important for their development to learn how to heal. The horse program at Camp Whole Kids, described by Sister Anne in the video below, teaches children through their relationships with animals that big things don’t have to hurt you and that there can be gentle care for one another.
But the most impactful part of WKO is their flagship program of home visits – which covers the entirety of the previously mentioned 8,000-plus square miles of southeast Missouri. Families experience genuine concern from the staff and are offered tangible support when needed. It is the power of those relationships that fosters families’ knowledge and skills to achieve substantial improvement in their well-being. Now in its 26th year, WKO has served over 20,000 families.
Of course, Sister Anne does not do this alone. Twenty-seven full-time and 20 seasonal employees have joined her in this beautiful mission.
One of these employes is Debbie Williams, who works as a parent educator with WKO. Williams recently visited a mother of five who says of Whole Kids, “Because of them I have my kids today.” Below, the two interact about recent educational developments they’re helping the children to achieve.
And below, another employee, Julie, talks about her full-circle experience with WKO – from being a mother served by the program to now working for WKO as an outreach specialist.
Catholic Extension Society recently created a new partnership with Sister Anne and Whole Kids Outreach so that this statistically and emotionally profound ministry can continue to serve more families.
And thus, the hungry, neglected, and worn-down children and their families will continue to come to Sister Anne’s and WKO’s doors. Sister Anne will continue to do whatever she can to help.
Sister Anne said,
I’m trying to do anything I can and get in any window so that children have every opportunity – despite poverty, despite some hardships that they may experience – to develop and to reach that God-given potential.”
Click here to read the stories behind all eight of our Lumen Christi Award finalists.
