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Alecia Westmorland

Alecia Westmorland is a freelance correspondent for Global Sisters Report. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and hails from over 15 years of experience as a reporter and public relations professional. She lives with her husband, son and two cats in the Las Vegas area.

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The Catholic Sisters Initiative hosted an anti-human trafficking webinar on April 16, featuring Catholic sisters and representatives of key organizations battling human trafficking across several continents. The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation sponsored the event. (GSR screenshot/Alecia Westmorland)

Catholic Sisters Initiative webinar highlights support for human-trafficking survivors

The event featured Catholic sisters and representatives of key organizations battling human trafficking, who discussed pivotal partnerships, technology and programs helping to prevent trafficking and to aid survivors.

Sr. Milagros Federico assists a student in a sewing class at Give Me a Chance, a nonprofit operated by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul that empowers low-income women and children. (Courtesy of Give Me a Chance/Marissa Konkol)

Sisters' nonprofit empowers low-income women and youths in Ogden, Utah

Operated by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul for more than 10 years, Give Me a Chance addresses a wide spectrum of needs in Ogden, a town with a 12% poverty rate where many struggle to afford essentials.

The March 6 "Catholic Sisters Working to Eradicate Human Trafficking" online panel was co-hosted by the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University. Top row, from left: Mary Immaculate of Nyeri Sr. Licia Puthuparambil, moderator Kimberly Mazyck and Katie Boller Gosewisch. Bottom row: Maryknoll Sr. Abby Avelino, left, and St. Louis Sr. Patricia Ebegbulem. (GSR screenshot)

Panel discusses sisters' efforts to eliminate human trafficking worldwide

"It's happening everywhere. It can happen to anyone," Maryknoll Sr. Abby Avelino, international coordinator of Talitha Kum, said during an online panel. "Everybody has a role to play to combat human trafficking."

Sr. Veronica Fajardo, who provides counseling services at no cost to clients of Holy Cross Ministries, speaks with a client. (Courtesy of Lauren Fields/Holy Cross Ministries)

Sisters relieve hardships for immigrants in Utah resort town

Working with Holy Cross Ministries — a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit created by the Sisters of the Holy Cross to aid Utah's marginalized community members — these sisters dedicate their very full days to helping this underserved population.

Moema Miranda, a member of the Secular Franciscan Order, speaks at a Dec. 14 webinar "Unpacking the Illusions of the Green Economy in the Energy Transition," hosted by the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Commission. (GSR screenshot)

Experts weigh harmful impacts of green transition

 A webinar hosted by the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission,  addressed some troubling consequences of the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, especially in regard to mining efforts.

Franciscan Sr. Ilia Delio gives a lecture on Thomas Merton and his epiphany in 1958 at a street corner in Louisville, Kentucky, Nov. 14 at the Center for the Study of Spirituality at St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana. (Alecia Westmorland)

Sr. Ilia Delio examines the reach of Merton's Fourth-and-Walnut breakthrough

While running errands in Louisville, Trappist monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton experienced a sublime epiphany. The impact of Merton's discovery still reverberates today, said Sr. Ilia Delio during a Nov. 14 lecture.