League of Women Voters announces nominees

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown, a nonpartisan political organization encouraging informed and active participation in government, has announced its 2019 Hall of Fame inductees. Honorees are the Rev. Gayle Catinella, Dorothy Kane, Sister Ann McManamon and Mildred Delgado Pierce.

The Rev. Catinella has been the rector at St. John’s Episcopal Church since 2014. She received her ordination in 2002. Before this, she was a psychotherapist in private practice and ran a homeless shelter. She also is a co-chairwoman for the Greater Youngstown Community Dialogue on Racism and Healthy Community Partnerships Food Access Committee, board member and secretary of the Diocese of Ohio Standing Committee and secretary of the Help Network. Other community organizations she is involved with are the Interdenominational Ministerial Association, ACTION, Mayor’s Committee on Food Policy, Rotary, Dress to Succeed, LitYoungstown and WYSU.

Kane is a SOAR Social Security specialist at Catholic Charities Regional Agency where she assists homeless individuals who have physical or mental disabilities to access Social Security benefits. Before this, she was the coordinator of the Tri County Family Violence Prevention Coalition. She received the Mary Byron Foundation Award in 2012 and Health Path of Ohio Community Connections Award in 2015 for her work with the coalition. Additionally, she has been the secretary of the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown since 2007 and served on the board of the League of Women Voters of Ohio from 2015 to 2018 and has volunteered at the DeYor, Powers Auditorium and Ford Recital Hall.

Sister Ann McManamon is the coordinator of the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality, a national Catholic Worker movement. The local Dorothy Day House in Youngstown is in its 10th year of service, and McManamon has been with it from the beginning. She manages a team of approximately 125 volunteers who provide meals and other necessities for those in need. McManamon joined the Sisters of the Humility of Mary in Villa Maria, Pa., in 1953. She has worked in education as a teacher and administrator. She came to Youngstown to be vice president of mission at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and pastoral associate at St. Christine Church.

She serves on several boards, including Catholic Charities and the H.M. Housing Board. She was an initial founder of the Action movement and the First Friday Club, which brings faith-based speakers to the community.

Delgado Pierce serves as a Central Committee Person for the 2nd Ward 2B and a member of the executive committee of the Mahoning County Democratic Party. She has served as the secretary of the Youngstown Warren Black Caucus for 10 years. For the past 29 years, she has been responsible for registering potential voters, GOTV (Get Out to Vote), voter-rights education and voter advocacy during elections. She has been involved in several other organizations and received the Mayor’s Task Force on Crime and Violence Prevention Award and the Crime Prevention Award from the Northeast District Housing Management Association.

An dinner recently took place at the YWCA to recognize the honorees’ accomplishments.