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August 25, 2017
Debbie Chadwick, left, and Peggy Bradley stand in front of the Ladies of Charity building in Nashville, alongside a statue of LOC founder St. Vincent de Paul. Chadwick, who is a past president of the Nashville association, will serve as president of the Ladies of Charity USA for the 2019-2020 term. Bradley is the current president of the Nashville chapter of the Ladies of Charity. Photo by Mary McWilliams If a photograph had been taken of six young men leaving the Ladies of Charity welfare office raising their newly acquired steel-toed boots to the heavens and high-fiving, Peggy Bradley, Ladies of Charity Nashville president, is sure it would have become an iconic image to represent the organization’s mission.
“They had just been hired on a construction job but couldn’t start until they had steel-toed boots,” she explained. “They came out of the office lifting the boots in the air, praising God.”
How they knew that Ladies of Charity would have boots for them, she doesn’t know. It could have been through word of mouth or from one of the Ladies of Charity’s many partnerships, such as Soles 4 Souls, Room at the Inn, Operation Stand Down or the Nashville Rescue Mission. Nevertheless, they came to the office and found the help they needed.
It’s one of countless stories any one of the members could tell about the Ladies of Charity carrying out a highly organized effort to respond to the corporal works of mercy.
This is a milestone year for the Nashville office, even in its 117-year history. To honor the founding of Ladies of Charity 400 years ago in France by St. Vincent DePaul and St. Louise de Marillac, a recommitment ceremony was celebrated Aug. 5 at the Ladies of Charity Center, 2216 State St. in Nashville.
The Nashville group is one of the few of the 57 associations in the United States that owns its own facility, according to Debbie Chadwick, Nashville president from 2005 to 2008.
She is a link to yet another milestone this year. Chadwick has the distinction of being only the third Nashville member to become president of the Ladies of Charity USA. Currently president-elect for 2017-2018, Chadwick will be president for the 2019-2020 term.
She will follow in the footsteps of Eleanor McIlwaine, who served as president from 1957-58 and Ann Peffen, who was the Nashville president from 1977-78 and national president from 1964-68.
Chadwick speaks of Peffen, who passed away March 31, with great affection and as her inspiration. She is remembered as a “no-nonsense” person, but Chadwick said, “She’d call me and leave me the sweetest messages. I still have them on my phone.”
“What we do as members is influenced by those who came before us,” she said. “I’m always remembering our roots and just following in the footsteps of the women who built this building and had the foresight and trust in God.”
Chadwick, who also serves as executive director of Rochelle Center, an organization that supports adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, says she’s “just a facilitator.”
As president-elect, her job is to support the current president, Suzanne Johnson, and learn. She is currently finance chair and has held that role before. When she becomes president, Chadwick will have served in every position on the national board.
There are two projects she is working on at the national level that are intended to provide systemic change to help people better their lives. Mission Market offers opportunities for the poor to make goods, then provides outlets in which to sell them. Another, Over the Waterfall, works in conjunction with Ascension Healthcare to train people to be health care providers in their home.
She also would like to see the Junior Ladies of Charity, an association for girls in elementary school through high school, become more widespread.
While the national projects go on, members of the Nashville association continue to serve the needs of the poor in Davidson County. In 2016 alone, the Ladies of Charity recorded 24,000 volunteer hours, donated $8,000 in scholarships to four area high school girls, provided emergency assistance of $135,730 to 1,386 households for rent and utilities, and gave out food to 1,686 families. In addition, 675 families received food from the Christmas basket program, which provides enough food for up to 10 days.
One favorite project of current Nashville President Peggy Bradley is the monthly visits to Bordeaux Hospital where volunteers (131 in 2016) assist patients playing Bingo and award them prizes.
“They love our prizes. Especially the stuffed animals,” Bradley said. Prizes might be toiletries, lap blankets, or any number of items donated.
Funds used for emergencies are raised through several highly anticipated activities, such as the Stuff Galore garage sale in June. In 2016, the Ladies published a 382-page cookbook. But the spring and fall consignment sales held at the center raise a large percentage of funds that allow them to perform their work.
These sales are considered to be the longest continuously running thrift shops for Ladies of Charity associations anywhere. While some are invited to consign items, the Ladies of Charity appreciate outright donations because 100 percent of the proceeds from selling those items go toward the agency’s emergency fund to help those in need.
For the 2017 spring sale, members logged 8,387 volunteer hours during the six weeks of take-in and preparation and eight weeks of the sale.
The fall sale opening weekend is set for Sept. 22 and 23. The hours of the sale will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m Mondays through Saturdays until the closing day of Nov. 4.
One loyal shopper drove by the center recently looking for the date of opening weekend.
“I’ve been shopping here for 54 years,” she proudly said, adding that she bought all her maternity clothes at the sale 53 years ago, as well as her children’s school clothes. “I wouldn’t miss it.”