Holy Spirit Center welcomes a new director

Michelle Waclawski began her role as Executive Director of Holy Spirit Center in Anchorage on July 14. Over the course of eight weeks, from mid-June to mid-August, she oversaw operations as over 1000 volunteer hours contributed to clearing weeds, putting new coats of paint on walls, and unveiling the years of love and care that have gone and continue to go into Holy Spirit Center. 

Waclawski said Holy Spirit Center “is a place where people take the space to encounter God in the beauty of Alaska. That can make for highly personal experiences that are dear to people’s hearts.” 

As a former attendee, Waclawski said, “I am coming here with completely different eyes. Hospitality is one of my major goals.” Her experience with Holy Spirit Center goes back many years when she and her husband took part in a Marriage Encounter retreat. She has attended a number of retreats there since and fallen in love with the center. Waclawski continues the center’s tradition of hospitality for retreats. She recalled how she collected art supplies, puzzles, and Bananagrams for a recent retreatant at the center, Sr. Laura McGowan, F.S.P. Sr. McGowan attended a retreat 50 years ago at Holy Spirit Center with her future order and decided to join. This year, Sr. McGowan returned to Holy Spirit Center for an eight-day silent retreat.

The Holy Spirit Center is a tranquil place. People stop in the driveway for a perfect view of Denali, and retreatants can glimpse wildlife walking the grounds. Waclawski once saw a lynx dart past the library windows. Holy Spirit Center demonstrates the harmony between faith and stewardship of the natural world. This relationship is evident in the Stations of the Cross Trail, and the patio and rock wall on the grounds, recently unveiled by volunteers pulling back years of overgrown foliage. 

Volunteers work at Holy Spirit Center. (Levi Livengood / North Star Catholic)

In every corner and every room of Holy Spirit Center, there are signs of love and care. The gift shop sells handmade items from different vendors, including from the President of the Board of Directors, Bill Gee, who makes small wooden objects for the center. Similarly, the hearts of those walking the grounds treasure memories made manifest in their generous service to the Holy Spirit Center’s upkeep. Each room is carefully reset for guests. Some of the large stones formerly on the wide grass lawns were placed onto the rock wall by volunteers.

Waclawski is very capable at recruiting the assistance of volunteers, due to her previous experience as the Community Engagement Manager at Catholic Social Services. Her ability has proven invaluable as she cares for the center. Volunteers mow the lawns, fold linens, weed, paint, repair various facilities, and more. 

Through various mission groups, young men and women helped with repairs and maintenance this summer. Board Member Owen Carey recalled the dedication of one group. When they were disposing of cleared brush, a delay meant volunteers reached the end of their allotted time. When the rest of their group came to pick them up, they stayed to help. 

“They said this was their biggest effort on their mission and they were going to finish the job,” Carey said. Soon all the volunteers got out of the van and followed through before leaving. 

Waclawski calls for more volunteers in the Holy Spirit Center bulletin and on Facebook. Some assistance has been going on for years, such as a local organizaton washing linens for 10 years in exchange for the ability to use meeting space. And there is one volunteer‘s six-year dedication to mowing the lawns regularly. 

The Holy Spirit Center has impacted the spiritual lives of many volunteers. A number regularly attend Mass at the Center, Waclawski among them, where she serves as a reader. Likewise, volunteer Bill Bredar, who helped on a recent “Adult Volunteer Day,” has been affiliated with Holy Spirit Center shortly after moving to Alaska in 1988. What began with a Jesuit-hosted event turned into becoming a regular at the chapel as a reader and attendee of the wintertime men’s group. 

Bredar said, “Holy Spirit Center has been a foundational resource in my faith life.”

Waclawski expressed how, as the only staff member, she can only do so much to keep Holy Spirit Center maintained. “I love this place. It’s been a huge part of my life,” Waclawski said. “Volunteers add so much. Some work cannot be done alone.” It is only with volunteers and support that Holy Spirit Center can continue to be a place to foster love and devotion in the archdiocese. Please contact Michelle Waclawski at (907) 346-2343 for space reservations, donations, or to volunteer.