Lorraine Latraille had been doing the works of Mercy and attending retreats at Mercy Center in Auburn for 15 years, but she felt a real calling to be an associate four years ago. She’s been in parish ministry for 30 years, most recently as chair of the Immigration Support Network from St. Paul’s Parish.

But one of her consistent ministries has been using her washing machine. She does laundry for a clothes closet in Elk Grove, making sure that everything that is given away is clean and fresh. Recently, she was on her way to Sacramento’s Quinn Cottages in the rain, bringing basics like can openers and wash clothes for people moving in. She noticed that a group of homeless people were huddled on a street corner. She stopped the car “in the middle of the road” according to another startled associate riding with her. Lorraine asked, “Does anyone need a blanket?” The laundered blankets she pulled out of her trunk were quickly snapped up. “I want to see if the associates can get into a blanket ministry,” she said.

She also carries on the Cans of Love ministry, collecting canned food for those who knock on the door of Sister Redemta Scannell’s Russell House AIDS/HIV ministry in Sacramento. And she organizes a Mother Mary’s Baby Shower in March for mothers-to-be in maternity homes. Her husband has his worries about their washing machine, but she says, “The Lord has been good. It’s still working!”