What to do after retirement...

You may find Sr. Joan Hawkins out on the playground swinging a jump rope with some 'tweens, or inside at a desk helping a third grader with homework.  Such are the varied duties of her work in the After School Program at the Washington Park Community Center in Warwick, RI, where she has been ministering since 1995.  Her previous ministries as teacher and school administrator at St. Francis of Assisi in Warwick made her a perfect fit for this position.

The Center's Executive Director, Francis Murphy has high praise for Joan's work, "Sr. Joan helps to provide a consistent, nurturing, stable environment, teaching the children many things there is often no time to learn in school.  She has been an integral part in hundreds of children's lives and school success over the past 14 years.

The children in the program are from low-income families, mostly Hispanic and with a single working parent, so Joan's help sometimes includes spiritual guidance.  She says people seem happy to know that there is a religious person helping them.  "When a situation arises, I am there to give support."