May 15, 2009
Sisters of Providence launch new Web site network
The Sisters of Providence have launched a revised Web site with up-to-date design and revised content that can be viewed at www.sistersofprovidence.org.
The Web site is now open after more than a year of planning and implementation with Website developer Galvin Creative Technologies of Indianapolis and numerous Sisters of Providence staff members.
“Anyone with a Web site knows it’s a process of constant change and we’ve been part of that process ourselves since the first Sisters of Providence site launched in 1997, but this is a full-scale overhaul of our site,” said Rosie Blankenship, Sisters of Providence Web site manager.
“We actually are going from three sites (the Sisters of Providence site, WoodsUp and Woods Day Care/Pre-School) to 14 different sites. We believe this will accommodate our friends, companions, sisters, staff and donors with better information that is more easily accessible,” Rosie said.
“Essentially, we had an extensive site of more than 1,000 pages of incredibly valuable and useful information. Now that information will be easier to locate in our new network of sites,” she added.
WoodsUp.com is a children’s Web site that is created to meet educational needs primarily for fourth- through eighth-grade students, but is helpful to students older and younger as well. It is mostly a non-denominational site that is suitable for classroom use, and it has a significant focus on historical information.
The new network of sites is devoted to Sisters of Providence ministries, education, prayer and more. The network offers information about the Congregation on its main site including information about becoming a sister and joining Providence Associates, plus additional material from Archives, Green Projects, Guerin Outreach Ministries, Peace and Justice, Providence Self Sufficiency Ministries, Providence Center, Providence Volunteer Ministry, Spirituality and Prayer, Taiwan Mission, Volunteer Services and White Violet Center for Eco-Justice, in addition to WoodsUp.com and Woods Day Care/Pre-School.
“It has taken in excess of 20 people to build this site and dozens more have assisted in the process. I think the size and number of network sites, as well as the number of people it took to work on this project, speaks to the activity level of the Sisters of Providence, and the viability of their ministries,” Rosie said.
“In the last year, people from other parts of my life are shocked to hear that ‘nuns’ have a web site. When I tell them about the scope of this site, they practically fall out of their chairs,” Rosie added.
Sister Denise Wilkinson, the Congregation’s general superior, said she is grateful for the work that has been done and is excited about the possibilities for the future.
“The amount of work that has been put into this project is quite impressive and we are most grateful for the dedication to task of those who have been involved,” Sister Denise said. “Our goal from the beginning was to provide a high-quality Web site with significant amounts of information about who we are and what we do. We also wanted to make it easier for people to find us and to partner with us, either in spirit, or by their actual presence in any of our ministries that they find suitable for their personal needs.”
“We are also confident that people of all faith traditions will find something of interest if they choose to visit one of the sites in our network. We believe this project speaks to the viability of our sisters in the Congregation and their commitment to service in the communities and ministries in which they are involved,” Sister Denise said.