Kansas City nun reflects on life spent caring for kids

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+ LEARN MORE --> Kansas City nun reflects on life spent caring for kids March 27, 20264:41 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Esther Honig Kansas City nun reflects on life spent caring for kids Listen &middot; 2:46 2:46 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5757413/nx-s1-9705541" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript For StoryCorps, a nun in Kansas City reminisces about helping families in need of low-cost childcare. Sponsor Message (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: It's time now for StoryCorps and two young nuns in Kansas City, Missouri. It was 1968, and Sisters Berta Sailer and Corita Bussanmas were teaching at a Catholic elementary school. They realized low-income working moms needed their help outside the classroom. Sister Berta came to StoryCorps to remember.

+ BERTA SAILER: One day, a mom said to us, we need a place for our small kids. And we were young and stupid and said, well, small kids can't be a problem. We had this big, old house. We used to open the door in our pajamas and take the kids in, and we'd fix them breakfast, and it was very informal. We made every mistake known to man. One day, a lady arrived and she told me she was from licensing. And I said, licensing what? And she said, child care centers. And we said, you got to be licensed? Which we didn't know 'cause we didn't ask anybody. And there wasn't any money for a very long time. We just kind of squeaked by. We started with just four or six kids, and we've grown a little bit. Presently, there are 670 children a day. We have kids that are homeless. Some live in shelters. Some live in cars.

+ I drove a kid to school one day. He was about 10-year-old kid, and I was giving him the old routine about school's very important. You got to get to school on time. And he looked at me and said, it's very hard to get up this morning because there were so many rats on me last night. And then you kind of feel like a heel for fussing at a kid for that. And, you know, we've had moms living in abandoned houses, and they look really scary with no doors and no windows and no lights. And one day, a mother said to me, you know what? The scariest thing about an abandoned house is during the night, strangers come in the house and lay down next to you. And I remember thinking, how do you get up and go to work in the morning, or how are you even sane in the morning? JENNIFER HEINEMANN: Do you ever feel like quitting? SAILER: No. No. HEINEMANN: Why? SAILER: In fact, a good fight gives me energy, and we got to keep fighting for these families. I've seen stuff that I never thought I'd see. But the respect I have for these mothers knows no bounds. MARTÍNEZ: The voice of the late Sister Berta Sailer. She died in 2024 at the age of 87. Operation Breakthrough, the center she helped found, continues to serve hundreds of families. She was speaking with her colleagues, Jennifer Heinemann and Kimberley Davis, in Kansas City, Missouri. Their interview is archived at the Library of Congress. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor MessageBecome an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1167:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(323)},323:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(84)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1140),c(116),c(94),c(52),c(493),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1141),c(143),c(1142),c(238),c(48),c(1143)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1167,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();