NEWS SIDEBAR: Nuns see signs of life on river’s edge

HOLYOKE, Mass. (RNS) At this year’s annual meeting of the Trustees of Reservations, one of the state’s oldest conservation groups, the award for Conservationist of the Year went to an unlikely recipient — a community of aging nuns from one of the poorest cities in the state. “It was very touching to be in front […]

HOLYOKE, Mass. (RNS) At this year’s annual meeting of the Trustees of Reservations, one of the state’s oldest conservation groups, the award for Conservationist of the Year went to an unlikely recipient — a community of aging nuns from one of the poorest cities in the state.

“It was very touching to be in front of a group of about 300 people who were all so very applauding of our efforts,” said Sister Elizabeth Oleksak, who accepted the award on behalf of the Sisters of Providence. “It was kind of the cream on the cake, if you will.”

The award was based on the sisters donating the “Land of Providence,” a 26-acre parcel on the banks of the Connecticut River in Holyoke, given to the Trustees of Reservations for conservation, farming and recreation.


The river was once the economic lifeblood of Holyoke. During its heyday, the small city, located 90 miles west of Boston, was a center of paper and silk manufacturing. But now a quarter of Holyoke residents live below the poverty line, with a median household income of $30,441, compared with $50,502 for the state as a whole.

Once bustling mills now loom over the river like hulking empty shells. Yet the sisters see revitalization evident at the water’s edge. “It began with our community’s mission of reaching out to women, earth and the poor,” Oleksak explained.

In 2006, the sisters struck an agreement to lease the vacant land to nonprofit organization Nuestras Raices, Spanish for “our roots,” which provides training in sustainable agriculture and farm economics for the city’s immigrant poor.

Farm program manager Kevin Andaluz said the collaboration provided an important resource “for people to eat healthy … and to give some idea to every kid of how to work the land.”

With members of the order getting older, the sisters were faced with the choice of whether to keep their land assets. Since neither Nuestras Raices nor the sisters had any expertise in long-term management, they sought help from the Trustees.

“We saw that the sisters had great interest in long-term conservation and service to community,” said Jocelyn Forbush, the regional director for the Trustees.


It was decided to protect the land in a trust, with one important stipulation: Nuestras Raices would be able to continue farming as long as possible.

Oleksak said the partnership has allowed the sisters to continue a tradition of service in Holyoke that dates to 1873, “but with a particularly important emphasis at this time on nurturing a relationship with the earth as well.”

Forbush said the project has opened her eyes to opportunities for collaboration with religious landholders in the region. It also posed interesting questions for her organization, which makes an effort to carry on the legacy of property donors.

“How do you have the spiritual or religious element come through in the way we do conservation with a sort of secular approach to the world?” she asked.

Forbush said her experience of working with a religious congregation revealed a set of shared beliefs, even if those beliefs weren’t necessarily religious.

“That doesn’t have to be about God and the church,” she said, “but it sort of comes down to this shared real sense of spirit around the earth and taking care of the earth.”


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