Imelda Maurer is a Sister of Divine Providence, San Antonio. With experience as a secondary classroom teacher and later a community organizer with sugarcane farmworkers and later with textile workers in Appalachia, she brings this same passion for advocacy to her present ministry, In Service to Our Own, a nonprofit organization of which she is founder and director. Its vision is: "Bringing our rich legacy of ministry to others — competent, compassionate, creative, visionary and prophetic — to the ministry of service to our own." She holds a master's degree in gerontology and licensure as a nursing home administrator.
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The lies of ageism: Who told you that about aging?
The one and only prejudice that every living person is subject to is ageism: judging, characterizing a person or a group based on age. This prejudice — based on false myths — is largely unrecognized in our society.
Sister's time in health care facility warrants 'thick speech'
Sr. Ann Margaret O'Hara's story — living in her congregation's health care facility after a stroke, experiencing a nursing home as a patient — challenges us not to look away from her witness, or others' experiences in different settings.
Countering the curse of ageism
Given the accomplishments of women religious in educating women, founding schools and creating a health care system, what if, now that we ourselves are largely older, sisters across the country started taking a serious look at aging, if we read and discussed and debunked the stereotypes of old age? We could help create a more age-equitable culture.