Executive Director Corinne M. Mohrmann Named Outstanding Bay Area Catholic Woman of the Year

Monsignor McCracken Award recognizes Corinne’s life of service to our community’s most fragile population

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What Colleagues and Friends Have to Say
Corinne’s List of Recognitions

On September 11, 2007, Saint Vincent’s Day Home Executive Director Corinne M. Mohrmann received the Monsignor McCracken Award for Outstanding Bay Area Catholic Woman of the Year. Sponsored by Catholic Charities of the East Bay, the annual award was presented by Monsignor McCracken at the luncheon ceremony held at the Sequoia Country Club and was attended by a number of dignitaries from the East Bay, as well as Corinne’s colleagues and friends, family and supporters from the Day Home.

This award is named for Monsignor John T. McCracken, who became the first director of Catholic Charities of the East Bay after the Diocese of Oakland was created. Each year, this award is given to a Bay Area woman who makes a difference -- by providing help, creating hope, and changing lives.

The list of recipients of the Monsignor McCracken Award reads like a Who’s Who of dedicated and talented Catholic Women who have changed the lives of countless individuals in the Bay Area. The selection of Corinne Mohrmann continues the tradition of outstanding women who have received this prestigious recognition.

Dedicated to Serving the Poorest of the Poor

Corinne has served the poorest of the poor, particularly children and families, since the age of 17 when she entered the community of the Sisters of the Holy Family. As a member of that community for over 30 years, and now as a dedicated laywoman, Corinne has helped thousands of families find hope and freedom from the bonds of poverty through her work at all four Day Homes:  Saint Elizabeth, St. Francis, Holy Family and Saint Vincent’s Day Homes.

Since 1981, Corinne has served as Executive Director for Saint Vincent's Day Home, where she began working in 1976. She has expanded the Day Home’s capacity so that today 230 children come through its welcoming doors every day. Her children include the homeless, victims of abuse and those born drug-exposed. Most of her children are from single parent families and many are immigrants from countries around the world who come to this country seeking a better life. Under Corinne’s leadership, not only do these children receive first-rate early childhood education, they also receive healthy meals that meet their complete daily nutritional needs and attention to health, speech, dental and psychological screening and counseling.

Their parents, many of whom lack sound role models, are given parental skills training and support. The adult computer lab Corinne saw built, complements the Day Home’s children’s computer lab and provides parents with job and English language training to help them improve their place in the workforce. The “Read to Me” program she established teaches parents the importance of reading to their children and helps identify parents who may need literacy assistance themselves. It provides both parents and children a basis on which to build life long learning. Because of these accomplishments and more, Corinne’s counsel is sought both nationally and internationally.  

Corinne’s commitment doesn’t end when children leave the Day Home. She has personally mentored some of these young people, using her own resources. We are grateful to have a woman of Corinne’s talent and grace leading the way for Saint Vincent’s. The McCracken Award is an honor she richly deserves, though of course she would never expect such recognition. Congratulations Corinne, for making a difference for so many needy children and their families and for helping to ensure “that as long as there is a Saint Vincent’s, there will always be a place for a child to call home.”

What Colleagues and Friends Have to Say

Colleagues and friends wrote letters of support for Corinne’s nomination. Here’s what a few of them had to say: 

"When being interviewed by funders, Corinne is adamant that our children at Saint Vincent’s must have everything available to give each of them an equal start in their holistic education and development. It is Corinne who coined the phrase “building the future one family at a time,” and it is her gift of extraordinary compassion and her great skills of clear thinking and collaborative management style that have assisted her in building on the long and successful history of the Day Home."

Sister Ann Maureen Murphy
Development Director, Saint Vincent’s Day Home

"The Valva family has been involved in the Day Home since its inception in 1911. Madeline Valva attended the first graduating class. Her children Bill, Bob and Bernice all attended school there. Bill and his children Patricia and John have been honored to serve on the Board of Directors. Cecil Reeves, of the Valva Realty Company, continues on the Board. All of these individuals have had the honor of working, planning, and celebrating with Corinne in the operation of the Day Home. She has become a member of our family."

"There is a saying that our family learned at the Day Home:  “A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove… but that the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”  Corinne has made the world different by being important to the lives of many children.  She has made not only their own lives different, but the overall community’s as well."

The Valva Family

"Corinne has helped pay Catholic school and college tuitions and bought computers and other supplies for children whose parents could not. She has helped pay for travel when relatives were ill, and for funeral expenses when they passed away. She has done all of this and a great deal more without recognition because she lives the life of Christian charity that lies at the center of our faith." 

Hon. Carol A. Corrigan
President, Board of Directors, Saint Vincent’s Day Home

"In serving the extremely needy of the West Oakland community for more than thirty years, Corinne has been successful in doing something that many others, despite their best efforts, have failed to accomplish. Through her leadership at St. Vincent’s Day Home, she has been instrumental in reversing the cycle of poverty for many of those with whom she has come in contact."

"It is often said that 'it is a miracle every time a poor child finds the door of St. Vincent’s Day Home.'  That miracle is a result of God’s will and fostered by the faith, love and stewardship of Corinne Mohrmann."

Michael P. Canizzaro
Chief Financial Officer, Diocese of Oakland

Corinne’s List of Recognitions

Monsignor McCracken Award Adds to the List of Corinne’s Achievements

The Monsignor McCracken Award tops a long list of recognitions Corinne has received for her work with children:

• Corinne M. Mohrmann Wing named for the Victorian Home that has opened it’s doors in 1911 to so many children and families, Saint Vincent’s Day Home, 2001
• Educator of the Year Award, Alameda County Supervisors, 1996
• Exceptional Service to Children and Families, Children’s Day Homes of San Francisco, 1993
• Child Development Division Advisory Commission, 1990
• Outstanding Program Award, California Child Development Administration Assoc., 1989
• Appointed to the Program Quality Review Commission, CDE/Child Development Division, 1989
• Outstanding Achievement Award, California Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1986
• Outstanding Service to Children and Families, Bay Area Child Development Consortium, 1985
• Educational Mother of the Year Award, The City of Las Vegas, 1976