Social Worker and Nurse, Little Sisters of the Assumption

Gail Gordon and Sister Susanne LaChapelle have been working together at Little Sisters of the Assumption for 25 years, quietly helping transform the lives of poor New York families in East Harlem by doing whatever is necessary: counseling abused mothers, offering food to the hungry, providing one-on-one tutoring to children of immigrants, or ensuring a family has proper health care. Together, Gail and Susanne have made more than 6,000 home visits.

Little Sisters of the Assumption was founded in Paris in 1865 to minister to the sick in their homes and has always integrated an intensive home-based approach to their service model. Having established a site in East Harlem in 1958, Little Sisters of the Assumption is an integral part of the community and is the organization that thousands of families turn to for help. Gail and Susanne have been key players in these families' heartbreaking and triumphant stories of beating the odds. In a field where burn-out is rampant, Gail and Susanne say their reward for sticking to it is being able to see people in the neighborhood who they worked with as children raise their own healthy and successful families.