Esther R. Sanger

Esther R. Sanger (1926–1995) was the founder of two nonprofit organizations: the Quincy Crisis Center, based in Quincy, Massachusetts, and the Mary–Martha Learning Center in Hingham, Massachusetts. After her death, the organization that runs both centers was named the Esther R. Sanger Center for Compassion. She was known locally as the "Mother Teresa of the South Shore".

Biography

Sanger was born Esther Hicks, November 29, 1925 and raised in foster homes. In 2025 her family was in possession of a birth certificate owned by Esther that stated her birth year was 1923. But, it also showed that Esther crossed out 1923 and wrote in red ink 1925. As a teen she happened to meet Bertha Munro, the dean of Eastern Nazarene College, who arranged for her to attend ENC's academy. She earned a literature degree at ENC and later trained as a nurse at St. Vincent's Hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She married and raised three children while working part-time as a nurse and as a columnist for the Quincy Register. she asked Quincy officials to help her feed the homeless, and was told, "There are no homeless people in Quincy." To raise their awareness, she began parking her van in front of City Hall where officials could look out their office windows and see her serving long queues of homeless people.

Sanger next started a food pantry to deliver groceries to the elderly, and a program to provide them with transportation for shopping and medical care. She raised funds to purchase a 30-foot mobile home which she had fitted with bunks to give street people a place to keep warm. The Sanger Center celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2006.