Sister Patricia Rogers, executive director of The Dominican Center for Women, works in the areas of education, housing, employment and health in the Amani community. (Photo by Allison Steines) Sister Patricia Rogers recalls the time when raccoons scratched away at the interior of walls and roofing inside the Amani home of a woman named Mary. Similar to nails on a chalkboard, the raccoons racked their claws against plaster, desperately trying to break through. The noise was awful, unsettling; the walls cracked open in some places like a fleshy wound. The whole thing scared away the caretaker for Mary’s severely disabled son, Daryl. Mary realized the raccoons had begun to interrupt the safety and comfort of her home, so she called animal control officers to take care of the problem. They refused. She then called Rogers, executive director of The Dominican Center for Women. Rogers answered with action. Daryl was temporarily moved out of the home, and then the walls were patched and a new roof installed. “We had a meeting with Mary and her son afterwards,” said Rogers. “I know it may not seem like a big deal, but it was for her. She expressed such gratitude and that made a lasting impression on me.” Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing! Rogers’ role at The Dominican Center, which is located in the Amani neighborhood, has enabled her to touch the lives of countless people like Mary. “Sister Patricia doesn’t like the word ‘empower’ but that’s exactly what she does. She helps people obtain their dreams and aspirations…She helps people find their strength,” said Octavia Parker, community organizer at The Dominican Center. “She would literally give someone the shirt off her back,” added Parker, “I really believe she would do that.” Rogers, 68, is a woman whose past and present are equally interesting. She was the fifth of nine children who grew up in a poor family in Fort Smith, Arkansas, raised by their mother. Patricia Rogers, executive director of the Dominican Center for Women, chats with Tom Schneider, executive director of COA Youth and Family Centers at the Moody Park opening celebration in August 2015. (Photo by Edgar Mendez) “My mother was like the Rosa Parks in Fort Smith,” said Rogers. “She was far smarter than any of her children, and she was always fighting for our education and the education of other blacks.” When they weren’t busy with activities such as baseball or role-playing games, Rogers and her siblings would help out neighbors or do yard work. Rogers described how her family spent the summer helping one neighbor in particular. “Her sister had died and she was lonely. We used to take turns, two of us at a time, and we would spend the night at her house to keep her company. I remember that we didn’t like the way she cooked eggs,” said Rogers, before swallowing hard and chuckling, seeming to relive the taste of those eggs. Rogers’ pleasant childhood years ended in high school, which she recalled as a harsh time. Racism became very real for her in 1966, when she was heading into the second semester of her senior year and schools were being integrated. She felt her only option was to get involved. Rogers was among the approximately 10 teens who volunteered to leave Lincoln High School, and attend Northside High School, a school in the process of being integrated. “It was nothing like the Little Rock Nine, but you knew people didn’t like it, or you. It was like living in two different worlds, and balancing that as a teenager was tough,” recalled Rogers. “Teachers had no expectations and it was really puzzling,” she added. “I would get up to give a speech in class. I was looking for a critique just like everyone else, but instead the teacher was just surprised I could even stand up and speak.” Despite her negative experiences, Rogers remained deeply interested in education. When she looks back on her life, most of the people she considers heroes were her teachers. Rogers majored in math education, and went on to pursue a master’s in education and social work. After working at Blue Cross Blue Shield and volunteering with teenagers, she became a teacher. Rogers taught at Visitation High School in Chicago, an alternative school for girls with predominantly African-American students and some Latina students. The expectations for the girls at the school were very low, said Rogers. She prayed that an African-American nun would step up and help the young girls. She became that nun, and has spent 36 years as a Dominican sister. Rogers worked at St. Mary’s Academy Middle School in New Orleans, during Hurricane Katrina. She evacuated on Sunday morning, just one day before Katrina hit, and returned long before most.