Sister Faith Marie Woolsey brings healing and hope to the homebound

By Crystal Hayduk

[This is the third story in the Willard H. Johnson Scholarship recipient series. Related story here: https://chelseaupdate.com/pay-it-forward-principle-21-years-and-counting-of-willard-h-johnson-scholarships/]

Sister Faith Marie Woolsey balances two interconnected roles—her career as a physical therapist and her vocation as a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist.

“I knew from a young age that I wanted to be in a healing profession,” said Sister Faith Marie (named Emily by her parents). Her mother, Ellen Woolsey, who currently leads the mammography department at St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea, had worked in diagnostic imaging for about as long as Sister Faith Marie could remember.

Sister Faith Marie (Emily) found clarity on her future career while a student at Jackson’s Lumen Christi High School, where her father, Michael Woolsey, was a teacher who also coached track and field and girls cross-country. “During my junior year of high school, I was a runner and played soccer,” she said. “I had a knee injury and needed physical therapy. When I went into the clinic, something clicked that just felt right. Once I began taking classes at Grand Valley State University (GVSU), it was verified that this was right for me. I never wavered after that point.”

Sister Faith Marie was a two-time recipient of the Willard H. Johnson Scholarship – in 2004 when she graduated from high school, and again in 2008 when she received her bachelor’s in health professions. She graduated from GVSU’s physical therapy doctorate program in 2011.

While on her journey to becoming a physical therapist, a new path emerged. In 2005, Sister Faith Marie encountered two Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist who were teaching in the GVSU undergraduate program, and entered a relationship with the Franciscan community in nearby Lowell. “I had no sense of vocation [calling to the religious life] at first,” she said. “During the next five years of being in the community, volunteering, and going to retreats, it became clear that God was calling me into this life.”

She entered initial formation toward becoming a nun in 2010, while still completing her coursework at GVSU and her student clinical rotations in Connecticut. Upon graduation, she moved to the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist’s Motherhouse in Connecticut.   

Once Emily completed postulancy, she became a novitiate, and was named Faith Marie. “Our naming is a beautiful process of trusting the Holy Spirit through the grace of God working through our Mother General,” said Sister Faith Marie. “To be named after a theological virtue is a really big deal; it was a confirmation of what I had been praying for.”

Now Sister Faith Marie serves God and people as a physical therapist for Franciscan Home Care and Hospice Care, a non-profit, faith-based home health agency. “I fell in love with working in home care—my office is essentially my car and I’m all over the place,” she said.

Sister Faith Marie said the agency provides holistic care. “We’re not just treating a symptom or a person,” she said. “It’s the whole emotional/psychological/spiritual component.”

Since the pandemic, Sister Faith Marie’s home care work has been busier than ever. “Many people who have chronic illness or are elderly who would follow up with doctors on a regular basis are putting off visits or doing telehealth visits,” she said. “Telehealth has benefits, but it’s not the same as having someone look at you. [The pandemic] has exacerbated pre-existing conditions. As one of the only home care therapists in Connecticut with lymphedema therapy certification, I’m especially busy because people with abnormal swelling or venous insufficiency who can’t get out have more needs in the home.  

“With COVID-19, people who can’t get out or have visitors feel isolated, depressed, and hopeless. We bring a spirit of hope into their homes” said Sister Faith Marie.

Sister Faith Marie considers learning and service to be a lifelong trek. In May, she passed comprehensive exams to earn a master’s degree in theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., the culmination of 10 years of work.

Sister Faith Marie plans to make her perpetual profession of vows, a permanent seal of her relationship with God and the Franciscan Sisters community, in August. Due to the pandemic, the ceremony will be unusually small, with just the local Franciscan community and her immediate family, provided COVID-19 cases in either Michigan or Connecticut don’t increase too much. “Everything is different now, but I hold onto the spirit of gratitude that I’m able to make my vows, even in the midst of the pandemic,” she said.

Sister Faith Marie believes living with a spirit of gratitude can make a positive difference. “In our world, it’s easy to hold onto things that aren’t yet perfect. It’s a beautiful drive for people to see the way things are and strive to make it better. But if we get too caught up in the negative, we see only the bad. We can hold onto the things that are good. If we live in a spirit of gratitude, we can give people hope—and that’s healing.”

[A two-minute video of Sister Faith Marie Woolsey sharing the story of her calling can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vRIhGWFTFo.]