


When you volunteer for the Sisters of Providence you help continue the mission that Saint Mother Theodore began back in 1840. We help our volunteers find the right opportunity that fits their interests and passions. Some of our volunteers keep a regular schedule while others help out as their time permits. Volunteering is a great way to meet people, gain experience, and boost your confidence. Volunteer opportunities with the Sisters of Providence include visiting patients in health care, leading tour groups, answering phones, maintaining the grounds, working in the organic gardens, helping with alpacas and assisting at special events and more. To learn more about volunteering contact our Volunteer Coordinator Sarah Knoblock at 812-535-2878.

When you give, it can be amazing what you receive in return. This is what three Providence Associates of the Sisters of Providence have found. The three spend a week at a time at least twice a year volunteering at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
Providence Associate Ann Kevin Thesing says volunteering at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods feeds her. “It inspires me. It fills me up. It centers me,” she says. “It’s a chance to soak up the sisters. It inspires me to watch how they live with faith and trust no matter what. You see astounding things in health care,” Ann Kevin said. “It has just been an enormous gift to me.”

“When I think of the challenges facing our Congregation today … it may seem like all appearances are against a vibrant future. I am called to remember what the six founding sisters faced, and that deepens my faith and trust in Providence.”

Do you knit or crochet? Would you like to work with alpaca yarn as a volunteer? We would love to talk with you.

Sister Jean Fuqua's decades-long task of revisioning the area around St. Joseph's Lake at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and calling others forward to help has resulted in restoration of the habitat and a beautiful space for the sisters to enjoy.

"We have forced the planet to supply all our needs and given nothing in return — thus alienating our very life source and now the earth cries out in pain. How can we abandon that cry?"

Tom Balduf enjoys his time volunteering with the Sisters of Providence. Especially working in the Reflection Garden and spending time with the alpacas.

Dr. Will Hine shares how his experience as a volunteer for the Sisters of Providence has blessed him in so many ways.

Mandy Lynch has always felt a need to help others. Last summer she volunteered with the Sisters of Providence and it was during this time that she found her passion for nursing home administration, leading her down a new career path.
Last year, Claudette Nowell-Philipp, of Illinois, was walking on the motherhouse grounds at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., when a gift of giving came to mind. “I was down for the dedication and open house for Providence Hall,” she recalled. “Mary McGillicuddy…

Who would have thought that a connection between the Sisters of Providence and a woodcarver and his wife would have begun with pie? Thinking about it now, Dick Hillier and his wife, Kathryn, of Paris, Ill., simply chuckle. The “pie”…