Diocesan Leadership Meeting: How do they do it? Disability ministry three ways

Wed, 05/14/2025 - 2:00pm EDT to 3:30pm

Hear from three diocesan leaders about how they manage their time and priorities in three very different disability ministries. One leader has a part time schedule, one is full time within this single ministry, and the third is full time overseeing multiple ministries. Hear about their average day, how their work cycles over a year, how they decide how to spend their time, and more. Breakout sessions will group diocesan leaders with common workloads. Valuable for new and experienced diocesan leaders, this topic directly addresses requests from post-meeting surveys.

Patty Origer

Disability Ministry Coordinator for the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa

Patty Origer serves as the Persons with Disability Ministry Coordinator for the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, a role she’s filled since 2019. She holds a bachelor’s degree in health information management from the College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska. Patty and her husband, Ed, are the parents of four children, the oldest of whom has cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities. For several years, she was a stay-at-home parent to meet her son’s healthcare needs. For the last 13 years, she has been on the faculty of Des Moines Area Community College as a faculty member in health information technology and as a student advisor. Advocating for the needs of her son led Patty to advocate for all persons with disabilities. She became a resource and mentor for other families and caregivers. While continuing her position at the community college, she began a newly created role of Coordinator for Persons With Disabilities with the Diocese. Her ministry role allows her to blend her love of her faith with her passion for advocating on behalf of individuals with disabilities

Maggie Riggins

Executive Director of Evangelization and Formation, Diocese of Allentown

Maggie Riggins is a cradle Catholic from northeastern PA. She received B.A.s in theology and philosophy from DeSales University and her M.A. in Theology from Villanova University. From 2001 – 2020 she served as the Director of Campus Ministry at DeSales University. In 2020, she joined the Diocese of Allentown and was promoted in 2022 to the Executive Director of Evangelization and Formation. Her ministerial oversight is quite vast, and she is currently involved in leading her diocese in various initiatives: Global (Jubilee year), National (Eucharistic Revival) and Local (partnership with Catholic Leadership Institute). She serves her diocese on the Pilgrimage Planning Committee and the Lumen Christi Committee. She assists parishes with their evangelization efforts, including Pro-Life, Bereavement, and Prison Ministry. Throughout her professional career, she served as a consultant for the Secretariat of Catholic Education for the USCCB and as an Executive Board member of CCMA (Catholic Campus Ministry Association). She is a co-author of Hearts Burning Within Us: Answers to Burning Questions from Catholic College Students. She is married to husband, Brett and they have been blessed with a wonderful daughter, Raquelle.

Maggie Rousseau

Director of the Disabilities Ministry for the Archdiocese of Atlanta

Maggie is the Director of the Disabilities Ministry for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Maggie and her husband Scott have three children. Their son Christopher was born with Mucolipidosis II, a very rare, terminal genetic disorder which caused both physical and developmental disabilities. Following his passing at the age of 9 1/2, she earned a Master of Education – Early Childhood Education/Multiple Severe Disabilities from Georgia State University, and worked for over ten years teaching students with multiple/severe disabilities and visual impairments. She is a graduate of Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. The Rousseau family currently resides in Smyrna, Georgia.

Diocesan Leadership Meeting: How do they do it? Disability ministry three ways

Patty Origer

Maggie Riggins

Maggie Rousseau

National Catholic
Partnership on Disability

Advancing the Meaningful Participation
of Persons with Disabilities in Church and Society