Sister Bridget Dickason

Sister Bridget Dickason, while working at Keeler Women’s Center in Kansas City, Kansas started visiting the Wyandotte County Detention Center to minister to incarcerated women alongside Sister Barbara McCracken in 2016. Sister Bridget was training to take over the role for Sister Barbara when she was set to return to Atchison. Her training included attending an orientation workshop, as well as shadowing Sister Barbara on numerous visits to the facility. These visits included meeting with small groups of women, ranging from as few as three up to fifteen individuals, at tables set up in an open recreational area of the pod. Though there were restrictions on what items could enter jail, Sister Bridget would still bring in various materials for her visits. These included resources for mental health, information about the services of Keeler, and also issues of The Monastic Way, a weekly newsletter by Sister Joan Chittester.

The visits would begin with prayer, followed by going over the materials and answering any questions the women had. It was a way to offer support and hope to the women being held in the facility. With the information they were given, some would visit Keeler for further support after their release. Keeler Women’s Center continues to work with various organizations providing assistance to the previously incarcerated. Sister Bridget continued with this ministry up until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which put the jail on lockdown from visitors.

To read Sister Bridget’s current biography, click here.