Sister Ruth Hennessey and the Hospitality of Peterborough’s Casa Maria Homes

Rosemary Ganley
The Peterborough Examiner
October 25, 2018

Refugee families find safe haven and community support at Casa Maria homes located in Peterborough, Ontario. RICHARD LAUTENS/TORONTO STAR

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I thought I had a hospitable home, it being for many years called "Potluck Central," until I recently visited Sister Ruth Hennessey, CSJ over on Downie Street.

Ruth gives new meaning to the word "hospitality," having been the founder and present director of Casa Maria House, a tidy, brick home, where for 25 years, she another Sister and many volunteers have given temporary shelter to some 200 refugees from 45 countries, people fleeing persecution in their homeland. The house has three "apartments," each with a kitchen, but it feels like a family home.

"The work has been fully supported by my religious congregation, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peterborough. We have an advisory board, and many donors, including some who have lived here in the past as refugees themselves," Ruth says.

A highly personal, grassroots welcome awaits the refugees at Casa Maria and two other homes in Peterborough, one in East City (Medaille House) and one on Donegal Street (Joseph House). The day I called, the three houses held 18 refugees.
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