“Do you know the way to San Jose?”
It is hard to imagine that somewhere in Chelsea, tucked away between fashionable bars, world renown galleries and millionaire's town houses, there's a unique institution that is in itself a piece of living history. Run by nuns belonging to the rather obscure order of San Jose de la Montana (or more exactly the Mothers of the Helpless of San Joseph of the Mounta
in, founded in Malaga, Spain, in the early 19th century) this place has offered a safe haven for New York children for 90 years, unchanged and unfailing in an ever-changing city. The story begins in 1918, when Sister Emilia and Sister Francisca fled their Mission in Mexico as a result of the Christians persecutions of the time and debarked in New York City, determined to carry on their good work aiding the many immigrants pouring into the city. After a few years lodging and working on the Lower East Side in 1921 the Sisters settled in the present house at 420 west 20th street - thanks to the gift of a generous benefactor. Its inhabitants were mostly immigrants, who had to work long hours and often didn't have the time to take care of their offspring; frequently children were just left on the streets to fend for themselves. The Sisters of San Jose truly had their work cut out: they took in these children and provided them with education and care, and for the orphaned and abandoned ones a loving and safe home. But their work didn't stop there, as the Sisters also had to constantly plead with local businesses and uptown stores to gather food, clothing and other necessities for their little charges. Take for example Margaret B, now 88 years old and still living in NY. She was left on the School doorstep when only a few months old. She left thirty years later - when she married, in the school's chapel, a local man who had himself been tutored at San Jose – and has always regarded the Sisters as her “many” mothers. Eventually, increasingly strict Health & Safety regulations made it too difficult for the Sisters to board children, but even as a day school San Jose's doors were always open for poor and needy children from Chelsea and beyond. Luckily nowadays San Jose' children all have a family to go back to (and that can afford the moderate monthly fee) while Chelsea has become one of the most affluent neighborhood on the planet. Long serving Sister Trinidad, now the director, or teacher Elvia – 37 years on the job and still going strong – can barely believe the changes they have seen taking place outside the school. But inside, their love and commitment to children is still the same - not to mention the fixtures and furniture! Today, San Jose' Nursery is part of a network of Orphanages and Schools run by the Sisters of San Jose' De la Montana and located in some of the poorest parts of Latin America. To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the school here in New York, the Sisters and teachers have decided that the time has come to ask the community they have served for so many years to help them raise 90.000 dollars, to carry out much needed repairs in their School as well as help out their poorer South American counterparts.
