Sister Chero Chuma (right) enjoys a laugh with a visitor to the Eastside Women's Center.

Second year Novice Sister Chero Chuma is ministering for three months at the Eastside Women's Center, a YWCA program in Bellevue, WA.  The Women's Center offers warmth, food, showers, laundry, companionship and assistance in finding resources to homeless women. 

Sr. Chero's ministry as a full-time volunteer expresses our Congregational concern for the needs and hungers of women, particularly for women living in poverty.  It is also a ministry of hospitality, one of the enduring traditions of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace.

The Eastside Women's Center, only two years in existence, uses a large room at Bellevue's First Congregational Church, located on 108th Ave. NE in downtown Bellevue.  The program recognizes the presence of substantial numbers of homeless women in this wealthy suburban city.  Community volunteers provide lunch for the women Monday through Friday; toiletries, laundry supplies and clothing are also offered. 

During her months in Bellevue, Sr. Chero is living in the Clare House community with Sisters Amalia Camacho and Carmel Little, and is reconnecting with her many friends in the Province and in the Greater Seattle area.

Sister Chero with Elizabeth Westburg, Director of the Eastside YWCA, which runs the Women's Center.

Food is an important part of the hospitality offered at the Eastside Women's Center. Sister Chero gets a plate of muffins ready.