Nail ministry to homeless clips stereotypes one fingernail at a time

Published: 2005-05-11

MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- Three years ago, two Franciscan Sisters wanted to find an outreach project for college students in their campus ministry programs. With the assistance of Repairers of the Breach, a daytime homeless shelter in Milwaukee, they nailed down a unique project. Each month, students from Cardinal Stritch University and Mount Mary College offer nail grooming to homeless men and women who visit Repairers of the Breach. While having fingernails trimmed and polished sounds like frills reserved for movie stars, the two sisters who started the nail ministry see it as an important service on many levels. "The most important thing for our students is to see others as an extension, a reflection of the divine," said Sister Stella DeVenuta, a Sister of St. Francis of Assisi, who is director of campus ministry at Mount Mary College. "I really feel that it gives students the opportunity to see the face of Christ in other people that they wouldn't necessarily come into contact with on a one-to-one basis. It makes a big difference when you're looking in their faces, holding their hands and doing their nails."

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