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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Marsha Rivas
Director of Equal Access Ministry
419-244-6711, ext 528
mrivas@toledodiocese.org
BISHOP BLAIR TO PRESENT 2009 OPEN ARMS AWARDS
February 12, 2008 – Toledo, Ohio - The Diocese of Toledo’s Office of Equal Access Ministry will honor Catholics with disabilities at its 11th annual Open Door Liturgy on Saturday, February 28 at the 4:30 pm Mass at St. Mary of the Redeemer Church, located at 38 West League Street, Norwalk, Ohio. Bishop Leonard P. Blair will serve as Principal Celebrant for the liturgy, and will also present the 2009 Open Arms Awards, honoring people with disabilities who model Gospel values by serving within their parishes and communities.
The following individuals were nominated by their home parish and selected by the Equal Access Ministry Advisory Council for the 2009 Open Arms Award:
Bill Blackwell is a member of St. Martin de Porres parish in Toledo. He retired after 40 years as a teacher and administrator in the Toledo Public School system. Bill recently facilitated the approval of an alternative suspension program at the PaduaCenter, an inner city outreach of his parish. Now Bill counsels parents of suspended students with his expertise in problem solving techniques. He is also organizing a Saturday tutoring program for students with academic emergency status. In the summer months Bill can be found getting his hands dirty working in the gardens on the parish grounds or teaching children at the Padua Center about composting. Bill also volunteers as a dishwasher at the parish soup kitchen and as a literacy tutor. Bill lives with paralysis from a stroke and has a below-knee amputation.
Benita Nowowiejski is the first posthumous honoree for the Open Arms Award. Benita died last year at age 80 after living with quadriplegia, double leg amputation, paralysis, cancer, heart disease, and loss of vision and the ability to speak. Since the auto accident which caused her spinal cord injury when she was 18, Benita continued to live an active life. She worked as a receptionist and participated in wheelchair bowling and square dancing. She liked to travel and lived independently, receiving the title, “Handicapped Person of the Year” in the 1960’s. Later in life Benita traveled to Sunday mass every week at Little Flower Church in Toledo on paratransit vans accommodating her electric wheelchair. Parishioners were drawn to Benita’s cheerful personality; she was greeted and visited by many at church and at her home. At times when she needed nursing care away from home, she vowed to pray the rosary twice daily, not for her own intentions, but for others. In the last months of her life, Benita gave a gift to the young members of the YES Christian service program by accepting their offer to do house and yard work for her. Through this, Benita taught the next generation her life’s lesson of the inner peace and courage derived from complete resignation to the will of God.
Lois Perito is a member of St. Joseph parish in Crestline. Her pastor, Father Michael Geiger, describes Lois as a respected elder who continues to be a wonderful disciple of Jesus. She is very active in parish activities, giving witness talks for RCIA candidates, praying for those on the parish prayer network, and calling on recently widowed parishioners. Lois studies the Scriptures by listening to the Bible on audiotape. Lois also ministers to children and seniors in the community as “Go Go and Giggles,” clowning with her sidekick toy monkey, using humor and her personal life experience to carry the message of accepting God’s will. For the past 10 years, Lois has lived with vision loss. She participated in a medical trial that was unsuccessful for her, but has proved helpful to others with vision loss to this day.
Diana Pilcher is from Immaculate Conception parish in Toledo. She lives with her mother, Mary, and attends two masses each weekend, singing in the choir, distributing children’s bulletins, helping with hospitality after Sunday Mass, and visiting homebound parishioners on Communion calls. She is known for being the first person to welcome a visitor to the parish. She has helped prepare children for Eucharist, Reconciliation and Confirmation and volunteered at Vacation BibleSchool. Diana works in supported community employment in downtown Toledo, archiving Lucas County court records. She lives with an intellectual disability caused by Williams Syndrome.
For more information on the Open Door Liturgy and the 2009 Open Arms Awards, please contact Marsha Rivas at 419-244-6711 x.528. |
