Our Mission
The Mission of the RSHM LIFE Center is to welcome the needy, especially women and children, and to create with them a culture that nurtures human development.
The Center is a special place where people of all faiths and cultural traditions are welcome. Our goal is to empower individuals and families to work effectively for their own development and liberation. The LIFE Center fosters a sense of community, uniting neighbor with neighbor, providing opportunities for connection, education, enrichment, and empowerment.
Our History and RSHM Connection
The RSHM LIFE Center was founded in 1995 by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM), an international congregation of women religious who have served in the Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown area for over 100 years. The mission of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary is “to know and love God, to make God known and loved, to proclaim that Jesus Christ has come that all may have life.” Inspired by this call, the empowerment of women and children is a focus that unites us in fourteen countries: Brazil, East Timor, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Mozambique, Portugal, Scotland, USA, Wales, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Since our founding in 1849, this faith vision of Father Gailhac, our founder, has been implemented in different ways, according to the needs of the times in various cultures. The spirit of faith and zeal which marked our founder, and our founding sisters, urges us to respond to the needs of our time and to work with others in action for evangelical justice. We place ourselves and our resources at the service of those who are most in need of justice, especially women and children, enabling the powerless, the deprived, the marginalized, the voiceless to work effectively for their own development and liberation.
Our early days…Planning Committee…Opening Blessing…New Friends….
Here at the Center we believe that Learning Is For Everyone!
With the belief that Learning Is For Everyone (LIFE), the Center takes a whole family approach in our programs. We focus on the learning needs of the entire family, from toddlers to adults. Getting to know the families and involving them in the LIFE Center programs helps build stronger community relationships. We believe that community, the witness of unity among people of diverse ages, backgrounds, cultures, and racial origins, is at the heart of our mission in a fragmented and divided world. Together we can make the world a better place.
