Archdiocesan news briefs
Rural Parish Clinic third location
The Rural Parish Clinic will open its third mobile medical clinic site in the Archdiocese of St. Louis on April 5 at Sonrise Baptist Church, 454 Berry Road in Bonne Terre. The clinic will be open to patients on the first Monday of each month, starting April 5, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
The Rural Parish Clinic offers primary medical care free of charge to uninsured patients in underserved communities. The opening of the Bonne Terre clinic is a collaborative initiative between the Rural Parish Clinic and the parishes of St. Francois County, as well as the Bonne Terre Ministerial Alliance, a Christian, interfaith organization offering assistance to families in need of supplies or financial aid to cover essential expenses. The clinic also has locations at St. Joachim Parish in Old Mines on Mondays from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and at the former St. Clare School in St. Clair on Thursdays from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
To schedule an appointment, call (1) 888-870-9610. Walk-in patients are accepted as availability allows. Rural Parish Clinic is a separately incorporated ministry, not operated or controlled by the Archdiocese of St. Louis. More information is available at archstl.org/rpc.
Fitness fundraiser for clean water
St. Mary’s High School alum Tommie Le recently organized a fitness fundraiser, a 13.1-mile bear crawl in Forest Park, to benefit the Thirst Project, which works with young people to address the global water crisis by building freshwater wells in developing communities in need of safe, clean drinking water. Le developed a fitness program last spring at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The push to stay healthy physically and mentally turned into an effort to help others.
Screening of “Unplanned”
A showing of the movie “Unplanned,” which details the story of pro-life activist Abby Johnson, will take place at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 14, at the Knights of Columbus hall, 316 N. Adams Street in Festus. For more information, call (314) 808-4404.
Fontbonne’s new nursing program
Fontbonne University has appointed Peter Smith as director of its new bachelor’s degree program in nursing. He leaves the VA St. Louis Health Care System where he was the Patient Aligned Care Team coordinator. Smith has held teaching positions at Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College, Lutheran School of Nursing and Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences. As a critical care nurse, he provided direct patient care at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and he currently reviews and contributes to nursing textbooks and other nursing education materials. Smith will design and implement the curriculum and provide oversight of the university’s new program in nursing, which will begin in fall 2021 pending approval from the Missouri State Board of Nursing.
Catholic Women for Christ
Catholic Women for Christ 2021 is being offered as a part of the National Catholic Women’s Conference, hosted by Virtual Catholic Conference the weekend of March 12-14. The partnership enables this year’s conference to be offered free of charge. The National Catholic Women’s Conference will feature a dedicated landing page with St. Louis-specific talks, and messages directly for the women of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. For information or to register, visit https://bit.ly/3bdSRYN.
Heaven-sent
Divine Providence Press published a new children’s book written by Maurice Prater and illustrated by Jason Koltuniak, “What Color is Heaven?” that is a good fit for the upcoming Easter season. The scriptural picture book reveals brilliant colors found in the Bible. While learning their colors from this book, children also will learn about their Catholic faith. Prater, who is advancement director for the Missionaries of the Holy Family and a member of St. Wenceslaus Parish in St. Louis, also wrote Counting on Faith and Saved by the Alphabet, scriptural counting and alphabet books also available from Divine Providence Press. For information or to purchase the book, visit Amazon or www.divineprovidencepress.com.