For 50 years, Jubilee Housing has both fostered and benefited from the gifts of many exceptional leaders. This March, we are celebrating Women’s History Month at the same time we are celebrating five decades of mission. Many women leaders have shaped and fueled Jubilee’s work, and we are honored to share stories of three of those leaders this month — Carolyn Banker Cresswell, Patricia Sitar, and Jacqueline Conerly — with more stories to come in the year ahead.
50th Anniversary Stories
Patricia Sitar: Crafting Community Through Creativity
by Shelley Picot
Patricia “Pat” Sitar was a Jubilee Housing staff member, the co-founder of Good Shepherd Ministries, and the namesake of Sitar Arts Center.
Known for her vibrant and inventive nature, Pat dedicated her life to the pursuit of artistic expression and societal improvement. In the late 1970s, she became part of the Church of the Saviour, a small ecumenical church founded in 1947 in Washington, DC. Not long after, she took on the role of secretary for Jubilee Housing, which was formed by the Church in 1973.
Pat was deeply involved with the families in Jubilee Housing. Looking out her office window, she would see kids she recognized coming home after school and realized they did not have a safe, shared space to gather, do homework, and connect with others.
By 1985, Pat felt more needed to be done. With support from church leaders, she and Jubilee’s co-founder Barbara Moore established Good Shepherd Ministries, a welcoming space for kids to spend time after school
“For me, Pat was inspiring — she was the first woman I knew who saw a need and created a solution,” says Rhonda Buckley-Bishop, who came to DC in 1992 with a volunteer program that placed her at Good Shepherd. “She was a single mom raising four daughters who didn’t have previous experience in founding an organization, but she still made sure that the kids in Jubilee Housing were cared for.”
The initiative expanded rapidly, evolving into three facilities that catered to around 100 children daily, supported by ten employees and numerous volunteers who provided educational and recreational programs.
The growth of the program did not stymie Pat’s ability to connect directly with families. Between her work at Jubilee and Good Shepherd, she developed deep relationships with adults and children. Those children often grew up and had their own children, and so Pat knew generations of families.
“It was a rich environment to know the families, to build trust,” says Rhonda. “A commitment to community is so important to building trust, and Pat and Barbara had that with the families.”
The staff and volunteers at Good Shepherd also found freedom under Pat’s direction to learn and try new things. When Rhonda, a musician, expressed interest in providing music lessons, Pat gave her blessing. As a painter, Pat was no stranger to the profound impact of the arts on enhancing the well-being of both individuals and the community.
After the music classes took off, Good Shepherd staff and volunteers conducted a survey asking neighborhood families what other art forms they wanted to learn. Families responded, expressing interest in ballet, piano, violin, painting, and more.
It was clear that a new organization focused on the arts was needed. Pat and Rhonda were sitting at The Potter’s House coffee shop on Columbia Road when Rhonda shared her idea for the new organization’s name.
“I told her ‘You have been such an inspiration to me as the founder of Good Shepherd, as the person who knows the kids, as the artist — I want to name this after you,” says Rhonda. “At first Pat told me she wasn’t sure and would think about it, but finally she said ok!”
In 2000, The Patricia M. Sitar Center for the Arts — later renamed Sitar Arts Center — opened. Pat was the first art teacher.
Upon turning 67, Pat stepped down from leading Good Shepherd due to health concerns and settled into Sarah’s Circle, an affordable housing residence and community center for seniors. She remained active in the community, conducting art classes at Sitar Arts Center and supporting Good Shepherd with proceeds from her painting sales until her passing in 2001.
The impact of her work lives on: Good Shepherd Ministries became the precursor to Jubilee Youth Services, which oversees programs for nearly 100 students in kindergarten through college year-round. Sitar Arts Center hosts more than 800 students per year.
Pat’s ability to break down boundaries between neighborhood residents, artists, and volunteers has also left lasting impressions. Years after Sitar’s founding, Rhonda received a note from a former student who became a program associate at The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. The student shared that he knew the name Cafritz growing up because they were founding funders and he saw it on the wall at Sitar Arts Center.
“Pat opened the door to expose kids to endless possibilities,” says Rhonda. “She saw a need and lived out that call, she lived out her creative and artistic life, and she overcame significant health obstacles in her 60s. She showed us that life is not always easy, but it is beautiful, and we can get back the amount we give.”
