A’Vant-Deishinni, at St. Martin de Porres, a shining light of Christ to RI seniors – Rhode Island Catholic

Executive Director of St. Martin de Porres Center honored for outstanding contributions to community

By Jennifer Barton, Rhode Island Catholic Correspondent – Photo, top: Laura Kilgus

Linda A’Vant-Deishinni has a deep love for her community, and it shines through in her life’s work.
And she has an impressive biography, currently serving as executive director of the St. Martin de Porres Center in Providence; formerly as executive director and co-founder of the International Gallery for Heritage and Culture; education specialist for the Brown University Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology and executive director for the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society — with many more positions and awards to her credit. For decades, she has given of herself to educate and care for others.
As the oldest of 13 children born to parents who lovingly embraced those they encountered, she learned service early on. Alongside her parents, she volunteered at the senior center — that she now directs — since childhood. It’s clear that she has a passion for the organization that began as “more of a community center” in 1954 and became a senior-focused agency in 1970.

“I always tell my staff, ‘When someone comes through the door, it’s by no accident,’” A’Vant-Deishinni said. “‘You never know if it might be Jesus coming through the door, so treat everybody with love and dignity, no matter what they look like or how they treat you.’”

Ten years prior to her employment with the Diocese of Providence, A’Vant-Deishinni worked in downtown Providence in elder care. She ran a Senior Companions program, a government-sponsored project that connects volunteers over the age of 55 with seniors who need assistance in their daily life. In that work, she supervised 24 senior companions who visited homebound seniors. A’Vant-Deishinni appreciated its multicultural aspect, supervising volunteers fluent in Spanish, Russian and even Japanese.

Each one of her volunteer seniors visited five other seniors, putting the total number of lives touched at more than 100.

“What makes this so special is that they are people who are already doing this in the community. They might have lived in an elderly high rise, taking two or three people to the store or the doctor … They already have that in their heart.”

She continues to enrich the lives of the elderly today. The St. Martin de Porres Multi-Service Center provides exercise and wellness resources, meals and special programs to those who need a little extra help to remain living in their homes. A’vant-Deishinni calls the center “very welcoming” for people from 50 all the way up to those in their nineties who come seeking aid of any sort.

The pandemic changed the way the center operated, as volunteers who brought food to homebound clients learned that these seniors often lived with other family members. “Our pantry went from serving around 25 a week to right now we’re serving about 550 a month,” she stated.

God provided for these needs. Local churches began donating food. The center started hosting shop days, one for seniors and another for the general public. When a senior came in for food, sometimes he or she would ask for a coat or a warm blanket as well. Donations of clothing and other items began pouring in, allowing St. Martin de Porres Center to provide increased assistance. Surrounded as it is by public housing, there are many such needs to be filled.

A’Vant-Deishinni points out that this work is a team effort. “I’ve been blessed with the people I work with, and I give all credit to them because without them, I couldn’t do all this.”

That team includes three diocesan workers, five trainees in the MaturityWorks program, funded by the Department of Labor, and nine volunteers.

Her service in the local area has not gone unnoticed. A’Vant-Deishinni recently earned three citations from community leaders: Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, Providence City Council and the Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos. Additionally, the R.I. Minority Elder Task Force honored the St. Martin de Porres Senior Center in the fall for serving the elderly for more than 75 years.

“I’m in awe … it’s a little overwhelming,” A’Vant-Deishinni said. “It makes you feel like people are watching what you’re doing. We just do what we need to do. I just want to help the community as much as possible, but to see people recognizing it and honoring you for that is so special.”

With about 190 people who come into the senior center on various days, she doesn’t concern herself with awards, however. She simply puts on one of her many hats and goes to work.

Her passion for people and love of history coalesces in her desire to preserve the history of the St. Martin de Porres Center. A’Vant-Deishinni is the fourth director and doesn’t want the efforts of tireless workers like Ann Hill, the first director, and Father Anthony Robinson, who helped found the center, to be lost to history. She spoke about the many elderly people who share stories of the summer camp that used to be held there or memories of Father Robinson.

Another way she has been involved in the diocese is with the Black Catholic Ministry for nearly 15 years, helping arrange events and programs geared toward Black Catholics.

A’Vant-Deishinni identified four churches in Providence with higher concentrations of Black parishioners, including her parish of St. Patrick, with the remainder scattered at other parishes throughout the diocese. Sadly, she noted that many Black Catholics had left the Church in recent years but she hopes to see a shift in that demographic.

“Most Black Catholics will identify churches that they feel most comfortable at, where they can take on leadership roles… They want to be active at whatever church they’re involved in.”

Sometimes involvement comes in the simplest of ways. Her own mother had been invited to be a part of their parish of St. Benedict in Warwick, an option she encourages others to utilize in getting people involved in any ministry. “I’m constantly telling people, ‘Don’t be afraid to ask people to be active, because they want to feel a part of it, otherwise they’ll move on to where they can be active.’”

A’Vant-Deishinni has modeled this active service life with her own, shining the light of Christ to some of the most vulnerable within the Diocese of Providence.

This article is reprinted from the RI Catholic, with their gracious permission.