Sister Debbie Blow

Sister Debbie Blow, OP, a Dominican Sister of Hope, has exemplified the virtues of community service throughout her life and has made lasting contributions to organizations and institutions on behalf of the public good.

In response to Hurricane Mitch, which killed more than 22,000 people in Central America, Sister Debbie co-founded North Country Mission of Hope in 1998. Under her leadership, the mission has provided healthcare for more than 60,000 people and sponsorships to educate more than 600 students. It has built more than 500 homes, as well as classrooms, a library, and a community development center. Thousands of malnourished children have been fed through a collaborative program, Children Feeding Children. To date, more than 1,300 volunteers have made numerous mission trips to Nicaragua. In fact, plans for a 50th mission trip are underway.

A devoted volunteer, Sister Debbie continues to stay involved with her community by serving as a lector and Eucharistic minister at St. Peter’s Parish in Plattsburgh. A former finance board member of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, she was a member of the Teacher Trainer and Religion Curriculum committees of the Diocese of Ogdensburg and is a founding member of the Dominican Sisters of Hope.

Sister Debbie is truly an inspirational woman who lives by her “Transforming” quote: “My college education prepared me spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally for ministry committed to transforming the world by changing one heart at a time. My commitment to justice is lived by standing in my truth as a Dominican Sister, and in reaching out to the global community, especially those most marginalized by poverty, hunger and lack of education and healthcare. I believe my mission is to live HOPE--to be HOPE--in a world desperately in need of HOPE, and that my life as a Dominican has prepared me incredibly well for that mission.”