Sister Judy Vaughan on How the Pandemic is Affecting the Homeless

Hosted by Paul Holdengräber, The Quarantine Tapes chronicles shifting paradigms in the age of social distancing. Each day, Paul calls a guest for a brief discussion about how they are experiencing the global pandemic.

On today’s episode, Paul talks to Sister Judy Vaughan about the difficulties of running an organization that seeks to welcome people with open arms in this era and how her faith has allowed her to maintain hope in the face of challenge.

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For over 40 years, Judy Vaughan has worked at the national, state, and city levels to promote social change, improve economic justice and enhance human rights. She has dedicated her personal and professional life towards addressing the systemic injustices that keep women and children homeless and living in poverty. She has worked tirelessly on welfare, childcare, immigration, affordable housing, and issues related to prejudice and discrimination. Her efforts to restore the inherent dignity and provide hope to homeless women is evident in her work as previous Director of House of Ruth, an East L.A. emergency shelter, and as the Founding Director of Alexandria House, a transitional residence and neighborhood center for women and children in need. She has co-facilitated over 100 “Multicultural Look at Racism” anti-racism workshops and was an adjunct faculty member for the “Socio-Economic and Cultural Diversity” class at Mount St. Mary’s College.