ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — On a chilly January morning, a bus full of nuns pulled up to one of the tallest buildings in the Lincolnville neighborhood in St. Augustine.
They sat in rows of chairs next to the historic building, built in the late 1800s.
It used to be the St. Benedict the Moor School. The Sisters of St. Joseph in St. Augustine taught Black children here until the 1960s.
The building has been crumbling for decades since the school closed.
On this morning, sisters, clergy, young mothers, and neighbors gathered for the blessing of the building. And for the first time in decades, the public was able to get a glimpse of the inside.
The Sisters of St. Joseph – that same congregation which ran the school in this building -- have been on a new mission.
"It’s been a couple of years that we've been working on it, with paperwork and fundraising," Sister Ann Kuhn said.
They are restoring the building, turning it into a neighborhood center that will be focused on helping single mothers gain education and job skills.
Monday's presentation included prayer and a little history lesson about the site. Bishop Erik Pohlmeier sprinkled holy water and blessed the building on the outside and inside. And then, the sisters broke out in song.
Some single mothers have already started in the Sisters of St. Joseph's new neighborhood program, even though the building is not ready for them yet.
Some of them were there at the blessing ceremony with their children.
Sister Carol Stovall said, "This is a respect for life type of ministry because these women said 'yes' to their children, and we’re not abandoning them."
And the Sisters aren’t abandoning this building either. They see these young lives and these old walls as a way to move forward.
