St. Joe’s Archives Collection is now home to a collection that helps to document the history of Project HOME, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that provides services to people experiencing homelessness.
Project HOME was co-founded in 1989 by St. Joe’s alum Sister Mary Scullion ’76 and Joan McConnon, H ’24. The organization’s mission is “to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty, to alleviate the underlying causes of poverty and to enable all of us to attain our fullest potential as individuals and as members of the broader society,” according to its website.
When Lesley Carey, St. Joe’s archivist, saw Scullion announced her retirement in 2023, she decided to reach out to Scullion and McConnon. Carey had been researching notable alumni to create more collections in the archives.
“An archive is supposed to promote the mission of the institution that it’s in,” Carey said. “I feel like what [Scullion and McConnon] are teaching people and how they’ve shown people that they can do good in the world, we should be promoting them.”
Carey said because Scullion is a member of the Sisters of Mercy, an international community of Roman Catholic women, some of her personal items will likely go to their archive. The St. Joe’s collection will focus on material directly connected to Project HOME, including files and recognitions, among them from the Pennsylvania State Senate and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
McConnon said these awards are reflective of not only the Project HOME community but also Scullion’s vision and leadership.
“I think one of the greatest strengths that Mary has is in delivering and being honest and trustworthy and just very authentic … She has a tremendous gift of tapping into that goodness within each of us, to allow that to flourish in everybody, in every way,” McConnon said.
The collection also includes a big blue binder with years’ worth of monthly newsletters highlighting the goals and successes of Project HOME.
Scullion said she hopes the items in the archive reflect the whole spirit of Project HOME.
“I don’t really feel like anything is about me,” Scullion said. “It’s really about the community of Project HOME and all the various people that have worked there, have lived there, have supported Project HOME.”
McConnon said she also hopes when people read about Project HOME in the archives, the mission statement of the organization is evident.
“The idea that there is dignity in every human being and that it takes all of us from whatever walk of life to be a part of the solution and to really end chronic homelessness in our country, I hope it resonates that there’s something we all can do,” McConnon said.
Carey is currently working on creating a finding aid, an archival search tool that helps researchers locate material in a collection. Carey will continue work with Scullion and McConnon as she organizes and catalogs the collection, which she said will give her an opportunity to learn more about the collection herself.
“I’ll learn from Sister Mary’s stuff,” Carey said. “What is here? What is missing? What else could I have collected? Can I go back and get that? Will it come in, or is that just not going to be part of it?”
Scullion said preserving her particular collection at the university she graduated from is important to her.
“St. Joe’s not only gave me the skills and talents to do this work, and especially the leadership skills, but it also afforded me a rootedness in the Ignatian spirituality about a faith that does justice,” Scullion said. “I think that was very foundational to this work.”
