ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A historic St. Augustine schoolhouse that a group of nuns have been working to restore is finally complete.
The nuns were determined to save the building, one that was originally built for black students in the 1800’s, and turn it into a neighborhood center.
Rain fell as guests huddled onto the porch of the newly restored St. Benedict the Moor school in St. Augustine this fall. The Sisters of St. Joseph were on the porch to welcome them all to the new St. Joseph Neighborhood Center. The bishop was there to bless the building and its people.
In 2022, the schoolhouse was barely standing on its own. Braces propped up the exterior walls. Trees grew through it. There was no floor and no roof. The stairwell hardly had steps.
The Sisters admit, they were surprised when they first peered into the interior of the building and saw the job in front of them.
"I said, 'OMG. What have we done!'" Sister Stephanie Flynn recalled.
After two-and-a-half years of restoration work, the doors opened to the community again this autumn. The guests that had filled the porch for the bishop's blessing streamed in through the front door, oohing in awe.
"It's the first time we have let lots of people into the building," Carr said. "And most of them have not see it at all."
The building has a large room upstairs that can be used for meetings and events. There is a children's room with toys and tables. A full-sized training kitchen will be used for culinary skills training and neighborhood cooking programs. Offices and meeting rooms are downstairs as well.
"This is wonderful, absolutely wonderful," Sister Susan Foster said. "We had a couple of naysayers but we are proving them wrong. God is proving them wrong."
Margaret Ann Ward Forbes grew up in St. Augustine. She attended the blessing to see the finished building and said, "I am so elated to be in the presence of all the events that took place today because I can remember what it was before and what it is now. Wow!"
Frank Castillo is the Chief Financial Officer for the St. Joseph Neighborhood Center. He said, "It is a gift back to that history. One that will no longer be lost."
The Sisters of St. Joseph built the school in 1898 to teach black students. Then in 1964, it was closed when desegregation took place. And it crumbled apart for decades after that.
Former students such as Donna Hughes, tried to save it. "But we could never raise enough," she said.
Then, after meetings with the community, the Sisters of St. Joseph started restoring the building in 2022. The goal was to turn it into a neighborhood center with a program to teach single mothers skills so they can get better paying jobs.
The Sisters of St. Joseph started the program before the building was complete. Chloe Narciso was one of the first students. She has now graduated from the program. She focuses on culinary skills. Narciso now has a better paying job, and she credits the nuns and the program for helping her become stable enough to buy a car and get an apartment for her and her young son.
"I just learned about credit and saving money and being patient and letting God do his work," Narciso said.
The Neighborhood Center will also have community programs and gathering.
The building soon filled with people, laugher, and conversation.
"It gives me life," Sister Kathleen Carr said, smiling. "The building has come alive. Not just with saws and hammers and the noise that goes with construction. It’s now filled with humanity."
Filled again with hope and with people who don’t give up.