The Catherine McAuley Center proudly recognizes the service of its founders, the Sisters of Mercy, and a key group of volunteers, the Cedar Rapids Rollergirls. Both the Rollergirls and the Sisters were recognized this April for their service to the Center and to the wider Cedar Rapids community.

Sisters of Mercy representatives stand with Governor Terry Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds following the group’s induction into the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame.

On Tuesday, April 14, 2015, the Sisters of Mercy were inducted into the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Des Moines at the State Capitol. The recognition is the most prestigious state-level honor that a volunteer group can receive, and acknowledges people who have forever changed their community, state, nation, and world through volunteer service. Names of those inducted into the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame are engraved on a plaque that is on permanent display in the State Historic Museum.

The Sisters founded the Catherine McAuley Center in 1989 to fill a need for adult education in the Cedar Rapids community. Since then, the Center has grown to serve over 350 clients per year by providing basic education for adults and transitional housing for women.

Read more about the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame 2015 ceremony from the Cedar Rapids Gazette and from Volunteer Iowa.

Representatives of the Cedar Rapids Rollergirls (accompanied by CMC staff) attended the United Way of East Central Iowa’s breakfast where they were honored as one of three finalists for the Outstanding Volunteer Group award.

Also nominated by CMC for their incredible service are the Cedar Rapids Rollergirls for the United Way Outstanding Group Volunteer Award. Paula Land (CMC Executive Director), Jennifer Tibbetts (Housing Program Manager), and Tina Gossman (Volunteer Coordinator) accompanied representatives of the Rollergirls team to a breakfast in honor of all nominees on Thursday, April 23, 2015. The Rollergirls were one of the top three finalists out of nine total nominations. The Center thanks the Rollergirls for serving as strong female role models to the Housing Program residents by giving haircuts, helping to maintain the CMC garden, and planning community and relationship-building activities.

The generosity of the Sisters of Mercy and the Cedar Rapids Rollergirls, along with our wide network of volunteers, helps us accomplish our mission of offering hope and opportunity to individuals throughout our community. You can join us on this journey by volunteering today!

On the afternoon of April 8th the Catherine McAuley Center hosted its annual Volunteer Reception, an event that celebrates the dedication and contribution of all CMC volunteers.

Guests enjoyed cake and refreshments and had the opportunity to peruse scrapbooks filled with 25 years of CMC history. A slideshow in the childcare room featured photos of each tutor & student pair, as well as many of our other volunteers who work at the front desk, do yardwork and maintain facilities, and assist at CMC events.

Over 90 people, including volunteers and their guests, attended the reception. One guest was even inspired to start volunteering herself and filled out a volunteer application that day! Moments like these remind of the great importance of our volunteers, who spread CMC’s vision to see people embrace opportunities to better themselves, their family, and community.

To all of our volunteers, thank you for your work to transform our community. You are appreciated.

If you would like to join CMC and over 600 volunteers in offering hope and opportunity to those in need, call Tina at 319-731-0446 or e-mail tina@cmc-cr.org.