VCU news

By Brooklyn Jones
University News Services

The Rev. Dr. Ann Charles-Craft, manager of Bereavement Services in Virginia Commonwealth University’s Pastoral Care Department, was selected as the 2005 VCU Health System Employee of the Year.

Charles-Craft, who was selected from the 2005 Employee of the Month honorees, said she feels honored not only to receive such an award, but also because she has been given the chance to work with great colleagues.

“It is an honor to be recognized by my colleagues in healthcare. While I was singled out, it is my belief that the good work of patient, family and staff care at the VCU Health System is the organizational value of teamwork, said Charles-Craft.

I serve with talented, gifted and dedicated professionals who seek to offer the best of themselves for the good of others and I am humbled and grateful to receive this recognition and to serve in this place among the best in healthcare.”

In her role with the Department of Pastoral Care, Charles-Craft usually is called upon to minister families in times of critical illness and the death of infants and children. She serves as a resource for emotional and spiritual care, education, policy development and problem solving.

In addition, Charles-Craft takes part in fundraising attempts and ministerial responsibilities to uphold pediatrics and pastoral care. In 2004 she helped to raise $23,000 for a pediatric palliative care comfort room and $5,000 for grieving children support programs.

Charles-Craft was selected as the VCU Health System’s first full-time pediatric chaplain in 1997. Since then, she has worked with patients and families in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Last July, Charles-Craft became manager of bereavement services and continues to provide her expertise in the NICU and also supervises pastoral care in women’s health and transplant.

“My practice of pastoral care is founded on the value and belief that we are called to be servant leaders and to offer to others a depth of hospitality that nurtures body, mind and soul,” said Charles-Craft. “Offering hospitality is more than food, clothing or shelter – it is to offer an inviting space that allows another to be very vulnerable and yet feel safe. I hope I offer this safe space for all whom I encounter.”