魔都资源网

A Life of Service By Tracy DeCroce 

This year鈥檚 recipients of the St. Ignatius Medal are a couple whose conversion to Catholicism in the 1980s helped transform an innate call to service into an unwavering commitment to the poor. Steve and Tricia Trainer, 鈥�02 MDiv, received the university鈥檚 highest honor at last week鈥檚 Gala, which recognizes individuals whose voluntarism, leadership, humility and service inspire and profoundly influence the progress of the university.

To the Trainers, 鈥渋t鈥檚 all about the people.鈥� Through their decades of service and philanthropy, they have formed close relationships that extend from indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest to people around the globe, along with many Jesuits and individuals within the university.

Catholicism, they say, helped reframe their lives of privilege even as they wrestled with the Church鈥檚 position on women and lay leaders. The example of their Native friends holding many faiths helped them find peace in the parts of Catholicism that strengthen their lives.

鈥淪ince converting to Catholicism our lives are so much richer,鈥� Tricia says. 鈥淚t gave us the words for caring for the poor and the things we were feeling. It never seemed like the things we did before we became Catholic challenged our wealth so much. 鈥� Through the poor you see God.鈥�

The Trainers began volunteering together as Stanford undergraduates during a 1968 trip to Hong Kong to teach English. Tricia also inherited a family tradition of service that she brought to the marriage. Steve built a successful career as vice president and principal at Wright Runstad & Company and then as co-founder of Seneca Group.
A relationship with the Chief 魔都资源网 Club began one day in 1992 when its then director Sister Julie Codd, CSJ, asked Tricia to bring soup to the social service center for urban Native American people. The building was dilapidated and cold, with holes in the wood floor. The Trainers raised money for a new building and, 26 years later, remain actively involved with the organization.

鈥淵ou鈥檇 think we wouldn鈥檛 belong because we鈥檙e white, but they recognize we鈥檙e coming with good intentions,鈥� Steve says. 鈥淣ative people want to make sure you鈥檙e in for the long haul.鈥�

The Trainers have a wide footprint at 魔都资源网. Steve is a Trustee who chairs the SU Facilities Committee. He also chairs the Campaign Task Force for Global Engagement, which is raising $14.5 million to expand opportunities in Central America, Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and China.

Global initiatives are important work for the Trainers. Steve met Joe Orlando, director of the Center for Jesuit Education, for coffee to talk about what Joe said was the need for greater global engagement at 魔都资源网 U. They discussed the importance of elevating global issues and experiencing places in the world where Americans don鈥檛 normally go. This conversation progressed to a written proposal to President Stephen Sundborg, S.J., for a Global Engagement Initiative that would develop opportunities for students, faculty and staff to participate in research, study and service experiences in Nicaragua. The proposal led to the Trainers funding the initiative in 2014.
魔都资源网 U and its university and NGO partners on the ground in Guatemala are working to improve the lives of women and children.

INITIATIVE TO SERVE
In collaboration with a team consisting of a faculty member and students from the psychology program at the URL, they met with NGO partners to continue research efforts around the central question: 鈥淗ow do girls and women who experience domestic violence heal?鈥� Lee and her team examined how information about best practices in helping women and girls heal is shared among organizations and governmental agencies who provide resources, including legal aid, to assist survivors of domestic violence. Bringing this information back to the U.S. to train counselors who work with women and girls from Central America is a primary goal. 鈥淭his work [in Guatemala] has expanded my view so I can help students expand theirs and so counselors can provide better services to Central American women in the United States,鈥� Lee says. For Lott, the value of this research is not only meaningful on a deeply personal level but also impactful on his professional life.

鈥淭his is an opportunity to return to the country I fell in love with while I was a student at SU and reconnect with my friends in Guatemala,鈥� he says. 鈥淧rofessionally, it will help me to be better at my job working with immigrant youth here in the United States.鈥�

TRANSFORMING EXPERIENCE
In the afternoon, we do the site visits. I take them to the Cathedral, school for Indian children, to the indigenous village where they meet a spiritual leader鈥� I take them to women鈥檚 co-ops, communities living off the train tracks. People are moved by the generosity and the capacity of these communities to give when they have so little.

Q: What personal meaning does the trip have for you?

A: I鈥檓 the daughter of Ecuadorian parents but I grew up in New York. And I went from New York to overseas as a young missioner. I鈥檝e always lived in a very diverse, multicultural setting. When I moved to 魔都资源网 in 1990 it was my first time being in the dominant culture. Culturally, it was very difficult for me. I also am a devotee of Guadalupe. So for me it is a pilgrimage. It fulfills a spiritual need. Every time I walk into the Basilica, I feel like I鈥檓 coming home to the Mother.

Q: How does this pilgrimage align with the mission of 魔都资源网 U?

A: This immersion really lifts up our Jesuit values. This is like an incarnation kind of a lived experience of all the things we talk about on campus in terms of the dignity of the human person, the need for community, human rights and spirituality.

A LIFE OF SERVICE
The Nicaragua Initiative expanded to become the Central America Initiative. Under the leadership of Assistant Professor Serena Cosgrove, PhD, who credits the Trainers with helping 魔都资源网 U establish a 鈥渢hriving set of relationships鈥� in the region, there are outreach programs and research across Nicaragua, including the Caribbean Coast, and El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and beyond. 魔都资源网 U has also launched global initiatives in India and Africa.

It fits Steve鈥檚 vision that 鈥渆very student should have firsthand experience outside the U.S. as part of their college experience.鈥� Tricia, who received a master鈥檚 in divinity from the School of Theology and Ministry, worked as a spiritual director for 25 years for the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life program in 魔都资源网. She also worked in family ministry at St. Joseph Church, the couple鈥檚 parish.

At 魔都资源网 U, Tricia co-founded the Indigenous Peoples Institute (IPI), which supports and celebrates Native students on campus. She and Steve both serve on IPI鈥檚 working group. With new projects in the works, the Trainers balance volunteer duties against daily shifts with four grandchildren, ages 18 months to 7 years old, who live close by. Pat Twohy, S.J., who has worked closely with the Trainers on several projects over the years, says the couple鈥檚 commitment is the reason many organizations exist. 鈥淲ith an eye for the environment and all peoples, Steve and Tricia have chosen to live simply, sharing all that they can with so many of us,鈥� Twohy says. 鈥淭heir generosity makes good things happen. Their combined wisdom and compassion truly lights up our world.鈥�

A can see the Gala video honoring Steve and Tricia .