Spokane Housing Advocate Receives Award for Service to Women, Families in

Need

Spokane Housing Advocate is honored for her work by the Sisters of Providence with the 2022
Mother Joseph Award.

Renton, WA July 07, 2022 --(PR.com)-- Edie Rice-Sauer, executive director for mission and services at
Transitions, has been honored by the Sisters of Providence as the 2022 recipient of the Mother Joseph
Award.

The Mother Joseph Award is given annually to a person who exemplifies the values and courage of
Mother Joseph, the first provincial leader of the Sisters of Providence in the western U.S.

In their nomination for the award, Sisters Annette Seubert and Judith Desmarais. compared Rice-Sauer to
Mother Joseph. They described both women as being builders, energized by their faith and God’s
providential care for those in need.

“She has great respect for Board and staff members, works closely with them, heeds their input and
knows when to make hard decisions for the good of all,” said Sr. Annette at the awards ceremony. “She is
a person who leads by careful preparation, discussion, and decision.

“Edie is a strong and compassionate woman, just like Mother Joseph, who has met some daunting
challenges,” said Sr. Annette.

Transitions has six programs in the Spokane area that support women and children in need (see below).
The latest represents a step into more permanent housing compared to the transitional housing programs
for which the organization is known. Home Yard Cottages consists of 24 small houses with support
services, communal meeting areas and other features on two acres of land.

“We really stepped out in faith when we began the Home Yard Cottages,” said Rice-Sauer. “The $6
million cottages are permanent housing for women and children which is a new focus for us.

“We worked with former clients to find out what they would want in each unit,” explained Rice-Sauer.
“That was important because that brought out features that didn’t occur to us at first. For example, some
of the cottages have three bedrooms and the great need for an in-unit washers and dryers for larger
families came from our clients.”

When introducing affordable housing with services into a neighborhood, it is also necessary to address
the concerns of the surrounding community and the city authorities before continuing. Rice-Sauer met
repeatedly with the local neighbors before construction to make sure they understood how the cottages
would work. Sr. Annette cited that consensus building skill in her remarks:
“Edie is not only a builder of facilities,” said Sr. Annette, “but she also builds the relationship needed to
accomplish difficult takes in a diverse community.”

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Rice-Sauer, who is a graduate of the Vanderbilt University Divinity School and an ordained minister of
the Disciples of Christ, has felt a calling to enter ministry since the seventh grade, although she did not
know exactly what type of ministry. Before moving to Spokane in 1996, she was the Associate Executive
of the YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, focusing on domestic violence and housing. Her
husband, Redhawk Rice-Sauer, is also an ordained ministry and is now retired.

“I know that I am privileged and have had opportunities my entire life,” she said. “My faith demanded of
me that I give something back. I found that I had a particular gift for housing ministry.”

She’s also learned over the years that working in ministry requires building consensus.

“You must build partnerships,” she said in accepting the award. “You cannot do it alone. And you must
hold yourself and the others you work with accountable to make a difference.”

Transitions works to end poverty and homelessness for women and children in Spokane through six
programs: Women’s Hearth, Transitional Living Center, EduCare, Miryam’s House, New Leaf Kitchen &
Café, and Home Yard Cottages. (See Transition’s website for details - https://help4women.org.)

The non-profit is led by two boards. One is comprised of community volunteers. The other consists of
one representative from each of the four Catholic Sister’s sponsoring congregations. (St. Francis of
Philadelphia, Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, Sisters of Providence and Sisters of the Holy Names of
Jesus and Mary.)

Background:
Mother Joseph was a distinctive figure of early Northwest history, a woman of extraordinary compassion
and vision. When Mother Joseph first arrived in the Washington Territory in 1856, she encountered a
strange new world of physical hardships, cultural and religious diversity, and rapid change. There were no
hospitals, few schools, and little in the way of charitable services for those suffering the misfortunes of
life on the frontier.

Equipped with simple tools, enormous gifts for creating and building, and deep faith in Divine
Providence, Mother Joseph and her sister companions stepped into the breach to fill these unmet needs.
Under her leadership, more than 30 hospitals, schools and homes were opened for orphans, the elderly
and the sick in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and southern British Columbia.

In May 1977, Washington State Governor Dixie Lee Ray signed into law a bill authorizing the statue of
Mother Joseph to be cast and placed in the nation’s capital. On May 1, 1980, the Mother Joseph Statue
was placed in Statuary Hall, Washington, D.C., as Washington State’s second honoree. Mother Joseph
was cited as an “historic leader of national renown” and “to commemorate her fame and historic services
as a great Washingtonian and as a great American.” April 16th, Mother Joseph’s birthday, has been
declared a state holiday by the Washington State Legislature.

About Us:

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Sisters of Providence are Catholic women of faith who reach out with compassion to people in need,
especially those who are poor and vulnerable. Their lives are defined by ministry, community and
spirituality; guided by humility, simplicity and charity. You will find Sisters of Providence engaged in
education, parish ministry, health care, community service and support, housing, prison ministry, pastoral
care, spiritual direction and foreign missions. Sisters of Providence International serves Argentina,
Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Egypt, El Salvador, the United States, Haiti and the Philippines. Sisters of
Providence, Mother Joseph Province, based in Renton, Wash., serves the western states of Alaska,
Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana and Washington, as well as El Salvador and the Philippines. Learn
more at sistersofprovidence.net.

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Contact Information:
Sisters of Providence
Steve Pehanich
425-525-3730
Contact via Email
sistersofprovidence.net

Online Version of Press Release:

https://www.pr.com/press-release/864820

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