Founder of St. Peter’s Adult Learning Center, Sr. Katherine Nueslein, moved to Southwest Baltimore from Savannah, Georgia to live and work among the City’s poor. The Sisters of Mercy were known as “The Walking Nuns” as they spent their days out and about meeting and serving their neighbors. In the early 1980’s, Sr. Katherine Nueslein- the ultimate “Walking Nun” and a great advocate for those with disabilities soon learned that many of her neighbors had intellectual disabilities and were living unfulfilled lives. With a penchant for this unserved population, she opened the doors to the Convent on Poppleton Street one evening each week to welcome these neighbors for dinner and prayers – and evening she called “Faith and Sharing”. As she came to know these neighbors, she learned that most were sitting home each day with no place to go and no meaningful activities in their lives. In 1982, she applied for and received funding from Catholic Charities to establish St. Peter’s Adult Learning Center; a Day Program for 10 adults; a virtual “one room schoolhouse” located in the Convent. From these beginnings, her vision was set. In 1987, our agency became licensed and funded by the Developmental Disabilities Administration of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, State of Maryland. Also in 1987, the agency expanded to include a Supported Employment Program which is now housed at the Sr. Katherine Nueslein Center on Poppleton and Hollins Streets. Because of Sr. Katherine’s vision and her belief in equality and the fullness of life, St. Peter’s Adult Learning Center now provides life enhancing services to 90+ individuals with intellectual disabilities.
