Our missions
New Jerusalem Laura
Feeling called to share her life with the poor, Sr Margaret McKenna settled in a very poor area of Philadelphia in 1989. Immersed in a neighbourhood where 70% of the adult population had addiction problems, she founded the New Jerusalem Laura (NJL) treatment and housing centre for recovering drug and alcohol addicts. The programme is named from the Biblical vision of a "New Jerusalem" in which need and violence give way to a life of creativity, abundance, and love. "Laura" is the Greek word for hermitage.
Photograph - visiting MMS from Germany, USA and India with Sr Margaret (3rd from left) outside New Jerusalem Laura.
NJL’s recovery programme attempts to meet the growing need for effective and affordable recovery programmes for the poor. New Jerusalem offers both residential and out-patient services to those in need of them, without regard for one’s ability to pay. For a nominal monthly rent, residents in the community live surrounded by the support of other recovering addicts. NJL has a holistic emphasis - seeking to integrate the physical, psychological, spiritual, political, and social dimensions of recovery into daily life. Residents attend Scripture study, group therapy, and 'Alternatives to Violence' workshops. The average length of stay is 8-9 months.
"With God's gracious help, we have grown to be a strong community of recovering addicts with 50 current residents, 5 houses, and an active alumni," Sr Margaret says. Over 70% of those who have completed the programme in the past 5 years have stayed clean and sober.
Sr Margaret and NJL have received a number of awards for excellence, most recently from the Philadelphia Mayor's Drug and Alcohol Executive Commission.
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