By Celine Pineda Just five years after the San José Clinic was established in 1922, the National Council of Catholic Women (now the Charity Guild of Catholic Women) began hosting a Christmas celebration for patients and community members, many of whom went without during the holidays. Approximately 300 children attended the first gathering, with infants receiving clothing and toiletries and other children visiting Santa Claus, who gave them toys and bags filled with candy, […]
Tag Archives | volunteerism
The Women Behind the San José Clinic
By Houston History Magazine on November 21, 2021 in Arts & Culture, Communities, Health and Medicine, Houstonians, Women
By Sarah Chikhani In the early 1990s, Sister Annette McDonagh and Sister Pauline Troncale carpooled to work at San José Clinic in Houston’s Second Ward. Every morning, Sister Annette, a pharmacist in her seventies, would bless the clinic with a splash of holy water and pray that she would not make any mistakes. Recalling the story with a laugh, Sister Pauline, who was CEO of the clinic at […]