Priests for Life Employee Highlights

Israel Horn is the Assistant Director of Development at Priests for Life. He works with the D.C. location as part of the fund raising team along with Jerry Horn and Frank Norris, building relationships with the major donors through meaningful conversations and personal prayer. He also informs current and prospective donors of giving opportunities. Having been immersed in the pro-life battle his entire life, Israel’s sincere love commitment to Jesus, the Lord of Life, continues to push him on as he pursues the eradication of abortion. Israel and his wife Sarah have been blessed with four children.

Oreo is our office mascot, keeping the staff company at the main office and barking at any pro-choice dogs who walk by.

Woof, Woof....

Hi, my name is Sal Manno and I work directly with the Donors of Priests For Life. This work has been extremely rewarding for me because it allows me the opportunity to hear the thoughts and minds of our benefactors who truly carry our work on their shoulders with their generous donations.

Many years ago I was studying to be a priest but eventually left the seminary in pursuit of life as a layman. Over the years I stumbled through several jobs hoping to find something that was truly spiritually rewarding and I have finally found that with Priests For Life. I have found that working for the unborn is truly an act of mercy because these are souls who cannot help themselves and rely completely on us to do something about the danger they face.
 

Hello All!

My name is Anne Ameno and I work in the Correspondence and Public Outreach department. If you ever have a question about the pro-life movement, want to get involved in saving lives, or need support during a pregnancy or after an abortion, I’m here to help you.

I came to Priests for Life in January, 2009. I have always felt pro-life deeply in my heart and when I was in college at Colgate University, I felt compelled to put my beliefs into action. I educated myself thoroughly in the movement and knew that I needed to work in this movement full-time. After positions with Feminists for Life and Students for Life of America, I am fortunate to continue my pro-life work at Priests for Life. Fr. Frank and the staff of Priests for Life save so many lives and I feel honored to join them in that effort. The right to life is the foundation of all of rights in the country and on this earth and if we do not even have that, then all of the other rights supposedly guaranteed to us are meaningless. I thank the Lord for the clarity to see humanity in all stages of life, the opportunity to work to save His children, and the blessing to here at Priests for Life with those who work tirelessly for the unborn.
 

Hello My name is Jean Marie Laurie and I work in the Speakers Bureau as an Executive Scheduler.  I am married to a wonderful man and I have two step children Jennifer and Joseph.  I attend Oasis Christian Center and am very active in my church.  I teach Arts and crafts once a month to the community children at the Life Center.  I also work at the food pantry when my schedule permits me.  I look forward to doing my part in the Pro Life mission and to reach as many people as possible.

Hi, my name is John Fagundes. In 2001, I moved from California to Staten Island, NY to work at Priests for Life headquarters. I work in the Correspondence/ Public Outreach Department. We respond to correspondence and phone calls from people who inquire about our resources and various aspects of abortion, euthanasia, and pro-life political responsibility.

It is encouraging to hear from clergy and lay people who are actively involved in promoting the Culture of Life and assisting parents and babies in need. I am grateful for the opportunities to help parents choose Life through our collaboration with the national pregnancy help networks, Heartbeat International and Care Net, at www.pregnancycenters.org and www.heartbeatinternational.org.

We also reach out to parents who regret their abortions, seeking forgiveness and healing. Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries at www.rachelsvineyard.org has helped many post-abortive parents experience God's love and compassion.
 

My name is Catherine Anderson. I work in the Gift Entry Department. I have known Fr. Frank since he came to St. Charles as a Parochial Vicar and it was because of him and his passion that I became involved in the Pro-Life movement. I attended many marches in Washington, spent time in prayer outside of hospitals and on street corners and outside an abortion clinic in Brooklyn.

I worked in Manhattan for 25 years for an insurance brokerage and then I retired to care of my grandson. He is now in second grade in St. Charles and I felt it was time for me to return to work. I am very proud to be a part of this spiritual family that is working to put an end to abortion.
 

David Clark

Hello my name is David. The pro-life seed was planted in me in 2003 when I went to do a television production internship in Washington, DC. The woman who owned the company was a member of Emily’s List. After leaving that internship, I knew something in my heart was telling me that our culture was not right. Not until the 2004 elections did I start to seriously question my faith and the abortion issue. I prayed before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament exposed and asked “What should I do?” I left the chapel and went straight to the nearest Catholic bookstore to get any information on anything related to pro-life. The rest is history.

I entered into the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life (MEV) in August 2007 with an open heart. By far, it has been the best experience of my life. I’ve been in New York now since January 2008. My duties have been to personally assist Fr. Frank Pavone and Janet Morana with various tasks such as media outreach, updating our audio/video database, make various donor calls to our benefactors, and occasionally assisting on travels. Each day is a challenge and a rewarding one. The fact that I sacrifice my desires for the sake of God and his creation is something I can never turn away from. Human lives are at stake and I know being here each day makes a big difference.

My favorite quote that I use is that of Mother Teresa, who is also an inspiration for the MEV's, “I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness”

Linda Mahoney

Dear Friends,

Hi, my name is Linda Mahoney and I have been with Priests for Life since August of 2004. I have always been pro-life but never more so than I am now. I used to say that yes, I am pro-life but I don’t believe that our government should force such a personal belief on a whole nation. I see now how wrong I was. I have learned so much since being with Priests for Life and grown spiritually. I have been blessed and privileged to have met and worked with some wonderful people. I have even made a few close friends along the way.

I work in the Data Management Department here at Priests for Life. I handle address changes, add/remove people from our mailing list, and process information received from the various road trips our Priests and Pastoral team go on. My work can be very tedious at times but never the less, important. Important because without accurate and up to date data, we couldn’t get vitally important and much needed information to people who really need it.

If ever I get to the point of being bored and wanting to give up, I’m inspired by Fr. Frank’s drive, tenacity and passion. I’m truly proud to be part of something special like this organization and be part of a great spiritual family!

Linda Mahoney
Data Management Department, Priests for Life

I thought I understood what ABORTION is. Now do I know I had been mistaken. I have been a Pro-Life person and have been supportive of a woman’s right to choose. But having worked at Priests For Life about a year, seen graphic images of baby body parts, read and heard stories of Post Abortion Syndrome and its effects on mothers and families, I presently denounce abortion.

I work as a Resource Assistant in the Resources and Orders Department. I work in correlation with Customers in sending them
information materials and resources that assist them in the fight to save children and to end abortion. These various items are a reservoir
of knowledge and tools necessary to compliment customers in the Pro-Life fight.. My satisfaction then comes when a customer calls and tells of how passionately he / she feels about the objective of the mission and his / her desire to keep fighting until there is no more Abortion.

Hi my name is Tonia and I recently started working for Priests for Life in May 2007. Prior to Priests for Life I worked for a title company for 3 years which was a completely different environment than that of Priests for Life. At that time I was looking for a change in occupation in which I would find a job with a place that made a difference and where the staff was passionate about what they did. This is exactly what I found when I joined the team at Priests for Life.

This all came possible through one of my former co-workers who happened to mention that there was a position available in the finance department at her current job, Priests for Life. The rest is history and I now work as a finance associate in the finance department. The people at Priests for Life are so kind and dedicated to the cause and I am grateful that I work for the organization. I have learned so much being here and I intend to keep learning and do my best to help the organization in moving forward.

Christa Childs

I remember as a teenager, saying “those old men in Washington have no right to tell women what to do with their bodies.” But that attitude didn’t last long. I started questioning, “If the Catholic Church says abortion is wrong, maybe it is?” And I prayed to God to show me if abortion was wrong - and boy did he show me! The most profound way I came to the truth about abortion was through the scriptures - especially these two passages.

Jeremiah 1:5: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Psalm 135:13: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.”

I contemplated these scriptures and God gave me the grace to see the truth. “We have no right to take a life that God has created” were words that raced through my mind. And so began my passion to do something about this horrible sin.

In the years following I participated in various pro-life activities within my parish and community in Maryland where I was born and raised. As the years passed, the assurance grew that pro-life work is a vocation - given to me by God. I came across the Job Opportunity page on the Priests for Life Website, www.priestsforlife.org/jobs/index.htm – a website I had referred to often for information to use in my Parish pro-life work. In 2001, I left home and family to work at headquarters in Staten Island, NY where I remained until 2005 when I moved to the Washington, DC headquarters.

Through my work at Priests for Life I have come to see many aspects of this tragedy – from a theological point of view and from the point of view of the baby and the woman. As a result the desire in me has only increased – not just to limit abortion but to END it.

My work as an Administrative Associate includes, but is not limited to, extensive work on the many websites that we maintain, managing Fr. Pavone’s numerous audio recordings and radio spots, creating brochures, flyers and ads, and assisting with the Silent No More Awareness Campaign.

Fr. Pavone has said something to the affect that once you start pro-life work, you can’t go back. I truly understand the meaning of these words.

Susan DeLuca

Hi, my name is Susan DeLuca and I work at Priests For Life as a travel coordinator in the Speaker’s Bureau.  I have been with Priests for Life since April 18, 2006.

I have always been pro-life; however, working at Priests For Life has opened my eyes to the realization of how abortion hurts women.  Even though I am a single woman, my heart goes out to all the babies in this world who were not born and the hurting men and women out there because of the lies they been have told. 

I lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the 1990’s and I moved back to New York in 1998.  A very good friend of mine, who lives in Florida, saw a posting on the Priests For Life website for the ministry needing a travel coordinator.  She e-mailed me the information on the position and told me that I would be perfect for the job.  The rest is history.  I am very happy working here because I finally feel that I am working for an organization where I am trying to make a difference in God’s kingdom.

Marie Elliott

Hi! I’m Mary Jean Hansen (Gift Entry Dept Liaison) and I’ve been working for Priests for Life for over 7 years in the Gift Entry Dept.  My background is totally corporate - advertising – working my way up to Senior Media Planner while achieving an Associate Degree in Marketing from Pace College. After taking 14 years off to raise my children, I decided to look for a meaningful job nearby.  I found a position at Priests for Life as a Gift Entry Associate. Working for Fr Frank in the pro-life movement is quite a challenge, never boring and hopefully I will be around to see a change not only in the law but also with people’s views regarding life. Being at Priests for Life has opened my eyes to the cruelest crime of all time – abortion.

Christine Kessler

Michael Nucciarone

Dear Friends of Life,

My name is Michael Nucciarone. I am the Volunteer Coordinator at Priests for Life. I began my volunteer service with Priests for Life in October of 2000. Each time that I would come to volunteer I would hear of the wonderful work that Priests for Life was doing. I prayed to God and asked him to lead me to full time work in the Pro-Life movement. God answered my prayer and on May 14, 2001 I began work as a full time employee of Priests for Life.  

As the Volunteer Coordinator I coordinate the activities of thirty five volunteers who generously give their free time to assist with the many tasks and projects that Priests for Life undertakes in our effort to end Abortion on demand. Their spirit of giving themselves freely to the cause for life is kindled by the knowledge that each brochure, or booklet that they mail out has the ability to convert hearts, and save lives.  

I have had the privilege for the past six years to watch Priests for Life grow, and touch so many hearts. Recently Fr. Frank started a new Apostolic Society called the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life. It is for members of the Clergy and Laity who want to dedicate themselves full time to the cause for life. In December of 2006, I made my first promises as a Lay Missionary of the Gospel of Life.  

Mother Theresa once said that we must make our society something beautiful for God. Working full time in the Pro-Life movement gives me an opportunity to put Mother Theresa’s words into practice every day. God has been very good to me and has given me many blessings in my lifetime. It is a wonderful feeling at the end of a long day to know that the hours were spent serving God by speaking up for the most defenseless members of our society—our unborn brothers and sisters.  

In Christ, 

Michael Nucciarone MEV
Volunteer Coordinator

Liz Sblendido

My name is Liz Sblendido I’m a single parent and have been working here at Priests for Life for the past 8 years as of July of this year.

I’m in charge of the Resource Dept here at Priests for Life. I am the manager of the resource dept and send Fathers materials out as a result of his speaking engagements or TV or radio shows.

I love working at Priests for Life because first of all, you will never find this type of work ANYWHERE else. I feel for myself that this work is very satisfying because at the end of the day when I rest my head on my pillow, I can truly say that I have helped someone. What ever it might be a piece of literature or a phone call that you might get from a girl who has had an abortion and needs healing or just someone to point them in the right direction or even just to LISTEN.

Margaret Sciarrino

Hi, my name is Margaret.  I started at Priests for Life in the Speakers Bureau and became an Executive Assistant to Fr. Frank Pavone and Janet Morana in 2009.  I hope to be part of this awesome team forever.  I feel truly blessed to be able to assist people like Fr. Pavone and Janet Morana, who are committed with their whole lives to ending abortion and stopping this culture of death.

I have read that Mother Teresa said that in the act of abortion there are 2 deaths – death of a baby and the soul of the mother.  I have always known in my heart that abortion was wrong.  I also know that some women commit this horrific act out of complete desperation, feeling like they have no where to turn, with the abortionists only too happy to “help” them.  Helping in my little way to bring the pro-life movement and all its aspects through our speakers to the public, I hope that one day abortion will be restored to its illegal status and end;  the truth about what those poor babies go through is exposed;  the truth about the contempt and suffering that takes place in the mother afterwards is revealed, the senseless loss of a precious life to our society is realized; and most of all the act so opposite of love and against God, the author of life and love is stopped forever.  Until then, I pray that  God Bless all of us with perseverance and courage in helping to stop the killing, to create programs to support the mothers so they can see hope and that life is worth living for both them and their babies, and  make the “right” choice. 

In my own family we have been faced with teenage pregnancy, and I have seen what love and support and the right choice can do. I’ll admit it sometimes wasn’t easy: lots of tears, fears, and trials, but most of all accomplishment, triumphs, victory, and love.  But isn’t that what life is really all about for everyone?  My granddaughter Megan has turned out to be the wind beneath my wings!

Dan Matejek

My name is Dan Matejek and I work as an Administrative Associate for Fr. Pavone and Janet Morana.    In this capacity I assist Father with our media outreach, especially our television programs like Defending Life on EWTN and Gospel of Life on the Sky Angel satellite network.  I also help Father set up interviews for Catholic radio programs on Relevant Radio and Ave Maria Radio.   

It’s truly an honor to assist in this life-saving work.  I’m daily inspired by a quote from pro-life writer Frederica Mathewes-Green, who wrote, “No one wants an abortion as she wants an ice-cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal, caught in a trap, wants to gnaw off its own leg." No woman should feel that violence is the only available solution to an unexpected pregnancy.  As a Church and a people, we can do much better for women than abortion.

Angela Aspromonte

Hello, my name is Angela and I am the Receptionists at Priests for Life.  Working at Priests For Life Is not a job but a mission. I feel privileged working in an organization with such dedicated people all working to put an end to abortion and help in the healing of the mothers and who have experienced this horrific act. When I go home at night I may be tired but I feel a sense of accomplishment.

 

Tracy Corallo

My name is Tracy Corallo and I am the HR Director for Priests for Life. I have been with Priests for Life since 2001. Working for an organization that exists for the sole purpose of saving lives has truly had an impact on my life. It’s not a job it’s a mission. Here I know that by doing what I do, it actually has an impact on someone’s life. I know that more than ever now that I am a mother of a beautiful little girl.

My name is Danielle Malina-Jones and my journey with Priests for Life began in May 2004.  I was working temporarily as an assistant in the Finance Department and was blessed to be provided with the opportunity to be employed full time with Priests for Life.  Each year that I have been with Priests for Life has proven to be one that has educated and inspired me to continue to excel at my position in order to aid in the Fight to End Abortion.  Working alongside Fr. Frank Pavone, Anthony DeStefano, Janet Morana and Jerry Horn has inspired me to put my all into my work.  What impressed me the most about this organization was that they are not only Fighting to End Abortion but they are available to help aid in the healing of men and women who have suffered through an abortion.  I am looking forward to my future years with Priests for Life.