You Say Good-bye, We Say Hello, Hello Again
Elizabeth O’Connell (Director of Community Development) pictured with then President and current Special Advisor Patrick Moynihan, 2005 Graduate Esaie Paul, and Board Member Patrick Brun.
Elizabeth O’Connell leaves her post as Director of Community Development
The Haitian Project community extends a big “Thank You!” to Elizabeth O’Connell as she hands over THP Community Development to Mary Jo Dunne, a current THP Volunteer from Chicago, IL. After five years with THP dedicated to the advancement of the community spirit of THP/LCS, O’Connell will finally resume her academic studies when she begins her Masters in Social Work in July at Loyola University Chicago. “I have worked with countless mentors at THP who have stretched my abilities and equipped me with vast knowledge and insight,” says O’Connell. “I anticipate returning to the classroom and gaining new experiences through my social work field placement, but I’m convinced that no education will compare to the one I have already received from my much admired Haitian Project community.”
Those who know THP and O’Connell’s dedication to our community know it is never simply good-bye. THP’s history and O’Connell’s own track record suggest she’ll continue to be a pillar in the THP/LCS community long into the future. As THP Special Advisor Deacon Patrick Moynihan puts it: “Elizabeth isn’t leaving, she’s just asking for a new hat, to go with the five or six she has already worn for the good of the community.”
The good of the community is exactly what O’Connell has been about ever since she began her volunteer year in 2002. With a growing passion for the THP mission, she agreed to serve a second volunteer year in 2003, then a third year as Campus Minister—LCS’s first. During this time, she prepared seventeen LCS students to receive Confirmation, eight for First Communion, and two for their baptism. For O’Connell, nothing in her THP experience has made her more proud. From day one she has been a spiritual leader and an inspiration.
In 2005, then THP President Deacon Patrick Moynihan asked O’Connell to extend her Campus Ministry responsibilities to the U.S. She accepted and took on the challenge of being “THP on the road.” Moynihan recalls, “Elizabeth is a stand out in my ten years of working with the Project. She is a joy to work with because she gets it. Full bodied dedication is not always the most glamorous life, but she knows that’s what it takes to propel a community forward.”
Setting aside growing aspirations for grad school, she agreed in 2006 to serve as Director of Community Development / Head of Volunteers. Circumstances soon added a nine-month stint as Director of Development to her already long list of responsibilities. THP President Reese Grondin feels that through her dedication, “Elizabeth has enabled THP to become what it is today. She has the vision of what THP could and should be, and has worked tirelessly to bring us there.”
The Haitian Project community thanks Elizabeth O’Connell for her selfless dedication to not only getting the job done, but getting it done with sincere love. For the last five years she has been an inspiration to the THP community, leaving a very contagious glow of excitement for the Project in her path—a path that is still rolling out. We all look forward to saying hello again to Elizabeth O’Connell.
