Welcoming the new year!We are very excited to be launching a number of new ministries, programs, and resources in the new year! More information will be available in the coming weeks.
Children’s Youth Group (1st-3rd Grade) LGBTQIA+ Youth Group Hispanic/Latinx Youth Group Interfaith Youth Group Youth Service Club Parent Group – Spanish Parent Group - English College Outreach Ministry 20s &30s Young Adult Group In-Person Quinceañera Formation Mobile App We hope in your new year's resolutions you will consider getting involved with UCYM! We are happy to introduce two new members of the UCYM Team: Andrea Martinez (left) and Katia Silva (right)!
Andrea will be assisting the young adult ministry team with bilingual communications, events, and projects. Andrea has been part of youth and young adult ministry for a long time as a youth minister and mentor, leader of the young adult council, and part of the UCYM Board. She brings a passion for the Evanston Catholic community, especially its young adults. Andrea is the assistant director of Puerta Abierta, which is a full Spanish immersion preschool in Evanston. She is also the office support specialist at St. Nicholas Parish. Katia will be co-leading the social media team with Mirka Gallo and focusing on communication strategies. Katia has been part of UCYM retreat teams for the last couple of years and is a graduate of DePaul University. Katia is the program manager at Junior Achievement of Chicago. We want to wish all of our youth and young adults from our communities a great school year!! We believe in you and see your efforts. You got this and we are behind you in whatever you need!
¡Queremos desearles a todos nuestros jóvenes y jóvenes adultos de nuestras comunidades un gran año escolar! Creemos en ti y vemos tus esfuerzos. ¡Tienes esto y te apoyamos en todo lo que necesites!
Sam Carlson and Shannon Ambroise joined the Catholic Chicago radio program on Thursday morning and talked about our Theology on Tap program, which is a collaborative effort with UCYM and Sheil Catholic Center. We hope you enjoy listening/watching!
Please join us in welcoming our new Director of Young Adult Ministry, Shannon Ambroise! Shannon will begin her ministry with us on July 1st. Shannon's email is shannon@ucym.org and you can call her at 847-719-9071 x3.
_______________________________________________________________________________ My name is Shannon Ambroise. I was born and raised in Evanston, where I attended Evanston public schools and graduated from Evanston Township High School. I went on to attend college at National-Louis University, where I received a B.A. in Psychology. I later dived deeper into the Catholic faith, and made the decision to complete the RCIA program at St. Mary Parish in the early 2000's. After inquiring about volunteering for ministerial programs at St. Mary's, my inquiry progressed into me working as an office assistant at St. Mary's for several years. While attending St. Mary 's young adult Catholic ministry, I was encouraged to apply for the Augustus Tolton full ministerial scholarship program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. I was accepted into the program and I completed my M.A. degree in pastoral studies in 2019. I currently facilitate the St. Mary Evanston Black Catholics group and I am a devoted volunteer of St. Mary's SPRED program. During my free time I enjoy cooking, singing, traveling, art and spending quality time with my friends and family! Dear UCYM Community,
It is with great sadness that we announce that Sam Carlson, Associate Director of Young Adult Life and Engagement will be leaving United Catholic Youth Ministries to pursue a new exciting teaching position in Seattle. Sam first started his work with young adult ministry four years ago, bringing vision and passion to working with young adults in our Evanston parishes. Three years ago, a grant led to UCYM's hiring of Sam as Coordinator of Young Adult Ministry. Sam has been invaluable in establishing a solid base for young adult ministry. We will miss Sam dearly, but wish him the best in his new endeavor! If you wish to send Sam best wishes, you can send an email to sam@ucym.org or send mail to his attention at 806 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, IL 60202. Peace, Your UCYM Directors Mirka Gallo, MSW James Holzhauer-Chuckas, ObSB |