Located in one of the poorest areas of New York City, a Vincentian parish has a Center for the Arts and Culture established for the purpose of fostering an appreciation of the arts and developing the skills of artists in the neighborhood.St. John the Baptist Parish in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, NY. , was the birthplace of St .John’s University well over 100 years ago.
A few years ago, convinced of the need of fostering the development of the arts in populations that normally consider this an unaffordable luxury, it began the Center for the Arts and Culture.
It has recently set up a blog (weblog or website) devoted to its activities..
The parish also houses one of the largest Soup Kitchens in New York City. Bread and Life was found by a Daughter of Charity, Sr. Bernadette Szymczak. When she died the New York Times newspaper ran an almost one page obituary, complete with picture, under the neadline “She Served the Poor”
Many agreed there could hadly be a better way of summing up the life of a Daughter of Charity. She certainly walked in the footsteps of Blessed Roaslie Rendu.
