Holy Cross Ministries personnel win awards

Friday, May. 15, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Holy Cross Ministries Sister Mary Ann Pajakowski was named a Community Champion Winner during Molina Healthcare’s annual award ceremony to celebrate unsung heroes, as well as community, provider and government partners. Corinne Johnson, LCSW, HCM counseling director, received the Clinical Faculty of the Year Award; and Fernanda Martins-Nguyen received the Outstanding First Year Master of Social Work Student Award at the Spring Practicum Awards celebration at the University of Utah.

HCM interns Bryanna Smith and Leslie Jensen also were nominated. 

“HCM is thrilled that Sister Mary Ann Pajakowski was selected,” said Aimee Cunniff, director of finance, development and communications. “Her love of education is apparent in all of her work. She is an advocate for sensitivity to the needs of immigrants, equal access to education for all, strong family education and a holistic approach to learning.” 

HCM is also proud of the school counseling program that Corinne Johnson has built, said Cunniff. “She is a wonderful mentor to MSW students from the University of Utah, like Fernanda Martins-Nguyen.” 

Every year the HCM school counseling program trains student interns from the master of social work program at the University of Utah; these interns work closely with Johnson, to learn about counseling within the Catholic elementary school setting, she said.  

“Currently, our program serves students at St. Vincent de Paul, Our Lady of Lourdes and Saint Andrew Catholic elementary schools,” said Johnson. “Our students provide class presentations on self-esteem, pro-social skills, time management, stress management and body safety.  They also provide small group experiences and individual counseling for students in need. 

This year the interns created a school-wide program to raise students’ self-esteem; they also helped students learn ways to handle unkind comments or behaviors from others, Johnson said.

Holy Cross Ministries has been working with such interns since 2001.

Molina Healthcare is one of Holy Cross Ministries’ four Medicaid providers, and they do a lot of outreach, said Sr. Mary Ann. “The areas they cover include how HCM is responsive to the needs of the people we serve, and how we better prepare low-income minority children for pre-school and kindergarten.” 

HCM offers affordable day care for working parents in Park City: Day care is a challenge when schedules vary and parents work multiple jobs, they don’t have transportation to pick up their children, or when the children are in a half-day program and need a ride or a babysitter, said Sr. Mary Ann, adding that in Park City day care costs can start at $950, which a working family can’t afford.

The HCM School Readiness Program accepts children from infants to 5 years in age. 

“We try to help kids get ready for kindergarten by working with parents so that they can better support the children; they have limited time because they work,” Sr. Mary Ann said. “We advocate on behalf of those needs for the community as well as immigration needs.” 

HCM programs are aimed at first- and second-generation immigrants, who face challenges in raising their families in a very different cultural setting from what they are accustomed to, Sr. Mary Ann said. 

“It’s hard for people to advance and maximize their potential if they don’t have support services so they can earn a little more money,” she said. “They realize college is expensive, but they don’t realize the cost of day care. Neighbors and family sometimes help, but a lot of the immigrants don’t have family members available and end up paying for babysitters or day care during early morning hours, on school breaks and school vacations.” 

Some parents can’t afford the vacation camps set up for kids, which include swimming, sledding, libraries and movies, “that are good for the kids, and parents can’t afford to miss work if they don’t have paid vacation, so we support affordable day care for working families,” Sr. Mary Ann said.