News & Blog

From the Executive Director:

Whether you have come to know our organization through Ursuline Senior Services or the Good Grief Center for Bereavement Support, you likely are aware that ever since we merged our two agencies in 2011, we have been in a state of transition as we seek to determine how we might work together to better serve those who come to us for help.

There is no small irony in all of this. For as the leadership of both Ursuline and the Good Grief Center have come together frequently over the past two years to chart our common future, one word has resonated above all others: Transition.

As we studied the reasons for each organization coming into being, it became clear that we exist, first and foremost, to help individuals at the crossroads of life—facing a major transition, if you will—and to arrive on the other side with hope and with a belief in a brighter tomorrow.

We are here to lend support during these transitions, for all people of all ages. So there is no confusion, we have changed the organization’s name to Ursuline Support Services. Rest assured, we are not abandoning those senior citizens for whom we have worked so hard to help maintain their dignity and to allow them to age with grace. Rather, we are extending our compassion, our commitment and our expertise to all who might benefit from them.

Our new Mission Statement leaves no doubt of this. It reads: Ursuline Support Services helps individuals experiencing challenges posed by life’s transitions, inspiring hope through protection, education, and advocacy.

Elsewhere in this newsletter you will find a deeper explanation for these changes along with our new Mission, Vision Statement and Core Values. I hope you will take the time to read them; hopefully, they will fill you with the same new sense of purpose and excitement shared by our board, our staff and our volunteers.

On a personal note, I want to extend my deepest feelings of gratitude to all who worked so diligently over the past many months to help us get to this point where we have charted a brave new course for Ursuline Support Services and those we serve. It would be impossible to list everyone but it would include board members and other volunteers, management and staff, and community members who all came to meetings, answered questionnaires and shared their thoughts—many complimentary, some critical, but all deeply appreciated. Your collective passion for what we do has inspired us to recommit ourselves to the work we do.

Finally, let me also thank every one of you who reads this message and wishes us well as we face this most recent transition. As many of you have done, we face this challenge with some trepidation, but buoyed by the knowledge that we will not go through it alone. With your continued support, we will emerge on the other side stronger, wiser and even better positioned than before to help those who need us.

On behalf of our board, our staff and our volunteers, thank you for being there. The best is yet to come.

Tony Turo