Eileen McNerney

Alum 2001

Sister Eileen McNerney, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, founded Taller San Jose Hope Builders in 1995. By bringing together sponsors representing local government, churches, corporations, foundations, and private individuals, Sister Eileen opened an educational and job-training center in downtown Santa Ana for high-risk youth ages 18 – 28. She named the center Taller San Jose—St. Joseph’s Workshop—after St. Joseph, the patron saint of workers.

Sister Eileen is innately interested in young people and she wants to know what isn’t working for them and why. From the beginning, Sister Eileen identified poverty itself as the biggest barrier to advancement and became an expert in creating programs that specifically address these barriers.

In 2006, she received the James Irvine Foundation’s Leadership Award for her innovative and effective solutions in addressing significant issues in the state of California.

A talented painter, writer, and public speaker, Sister Eileen has also focused on giving a voice to a forgotten population. See Me. Hear Me. is a compilation of poetry written by Hope Builders students that was born out of Sister Eileen’s persistent efforts to help students capture their lives through words. Her belief is that writing is a tool that will help students climb from despair to hope and claim victory over the chronic, crushing poverty that threatens to overwhelm them. Sister Eileen authored her own book, A Story of Suffering and Hope: Lessons from Latino Youth, which chronicles her dogged determination to find what it takes to walk wounded young people out of poverty.

Sister Eileen served as Hope Builders’ Executive Director for 13 years. She currently serves on Hope Builders’ board of directors.