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Spring 2005
Dyana Flanigan
When Heather Sattler was 12 years old, she made a promise she would someday work with Mother Teresa in Calcutta.
In October 1997, the petite blond headed to Calcutta to work with orphans. And even though Mother Teresa had passed away just two months earlier, Sattler kept her vow.
A graduate of Georgetown University, with a major in Foreign Service, Sattler originally planned to join the Peace Corps. However, strong family ties, new nieces and nephews and a new love (whom she wed this past October) led to her decision to not make such a long term commitment.
Instead, Sattler and her best friend headed to India, tagging along with a parish priest who was returning for a family wedding. Sattler stayed for three months, alternating her time between two orphanages; one housing mentally and physically handicapped children.
She described the conditions as "impossible." The children were neglected; had little food, clothing, or love. No toys, no medicine, no hope. Nothing. She described how the children were kept in one room for eating, sleeping, playing and going to the bathroom. They were never let outside, so Sattler would hold them up to the windows to give them a glimpse of sky and sunshine. And yet she stayed until unrest in the area and hostility toward Americans forced her to leave. She said it was completely heartbreaking -- and life changing.
Upon her return, Sattler wanted to continue to help young people, specifically, young girls. She spent months researching and interviewing other organizations, but did not find any that met her criteria. With help from the Irving Park YMCA, she founded This Is ME in January 2000.
This Is ME's mission is to bring adolescent and teen girls together, with the guidance of concerned women, to discover and explore who they are and what they are capable of accomplishing in light of their individual strengths. Now with three locations, This Is ME has helped more than 225 young girls between the ages of 11 and 17. The organization is both young and small, but Sattler is committed to growing and offering more services to help a population in need - one girl at a time.