Mission & History

Rooted in a love of God and neighbor without distinction, the Sisters of Saint Joseph Neighborhood Center fosters a sense of community, uniting neighbor to neighbor and neighborhood to neighborhood, in the Cramer Hill section of Camden, NJ, and beyond by providing opportunities for connection, enrichment, and empowerment.

The result of a congregational commitment to “those who are poor and marginalized” in 2014, the SSJ Neighborhood Center is modeled on the work of the first Sisters of Saint Joseph in 1650 France, who set out to assess and serve the needs of their neighbors by becoming one with them.

Statement from the SSJ Leadership Team

As Sisters of Saint Joseph, we live and work to bring all people into union with God and with one another. We strive to love and serve every neighbor without distinction; as we reflect on the events of the past several months, we affirm the following statement from our Congregational Leadership Team.

September 12, 2020

As we reflect on the events of the past several months, we feel compelled to address our complicity with the sin of racism. Our Mission as Sisters of Saint Joseph flows from the purpose for which our Congregation exists. We live and work so that all people may be united with God and with one another.

As Sisters of Saint Joseph, we humbly acknowledge that we have long been beneficiaries of white privilege. We own the sad fact that we lack an adequate understanding of the devastation of racism on the lives of our sisters and brothers of color. We are truly sorry for any negative impact our actions, or failure to act, have had on those to whom and with whom we have been called to serve. In failing to live fully our mission of unity, we have failed you.

We acknowledge that racism exists in us and in our ministries. We ask your forgiveness for the many ways we have contributed to it. In the words of Pope Francis, “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form.” And in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
We are committed to the work of bringing about positive change in our own hearts and in our world. To that end, we will listen with care, respond with openness and transparency, and pray and act deliberately to make racial justice a reality.

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

Mount Saint Joseph Convent
9701 Germantown Avenue. Philadelphia, PA 19118
215- 248-7200 www.ssjphila.org