Realtor receives humanitarian award
SPARTA. Lisa Fraser, a Sparta native and local Realtor, has worked closely with Catholic Charities for more than 30 years.
Sparta /
| 26 Sep 2023 | 08:30
Joanne Mulder, left, and Lisa Fraser with their brother, Frank Pinter. They became his legal guardians after their parents died in a car accident in 1990. (Photos provided)
From left are Bert and Joanne Mulder, Lisa Fraser, Derek Mulder and Frank Pinter.
Lisa Fraser, a Sparta native and local Realtor, has won the Dominick Calabrese Humanitarian of the Year Award from Catholic Charities.
She has worked closely with the organization for more than 30 years alongside her sister and brother-in-law.
In 1990, Fraser’s parents died in a car accident. She and her younger sister, Joanne, became legal guardians of their brother, Frank, who had special needs.
Unsure of what to do, Joanne turned to the church for guidance and was advised to bring Frank to Catholic Charities’ Department for Persons with Disabilities (DPD).
The wait time for the program is about four to five years, but with the help of director Tom Barrett and Julie Tatti, they were able to cut the time for Frank to enter the program.
From then, the relationship between the sisters and Catholic Charities’ DPD grew strong.
“I get teary by just talking about it, but they really saved our family,” Fraser said.
After 20 years of living with roommates at the DPD, Frank was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2010. The organization did everything in its power to help him through that battle, but he died five years later, in 2015.
Lisa and Joanne continued to work with Catholic Charities’ DPD.
Lisa, a Realtor at Keller Williams Integrity in Sparta, has been able to help the DPD find new locations so residents could live closer to one another, which helped with staffing.
She has sponsored events and journals to help promote Catholic Charities and the DPD.
And she stayed involved with Frank’s roommates even after his death.
“When I heard I won this award, it was a total surprise. I never ever feel like this is a payoff for anything,” she said. “I was dumbfounded, flabbergasted, in shock, humbled and grateful when I found out I won this award.”
Fraser shared the award with Joanne and Joanne’s husband, Bert Mulder. They all did a lot to help Frank and Catholic Charities during the past few decades and they equally deserved the award in her eyes.
’In her heart’
Joanna Miller, executive director of the DPD, has worked alongside Fraser for more than two decades, and says she has made a great impact. Fraser not only has been a great help but also a great advocate for the organization, she said.
“She would never do the things that she did thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to get an award for doing this.’ She did it because she loves DPD, she loves the mission, she loves the mission of Catholic Charities and it’s just in her heart.”
Catholic Charities will hold a “Creating Hope Beefsteak” benefiting its Straight and Narrow program at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30 at St. James of the Marches Parish Hall, 32 St. James Place, Totowa.
Straight and Narrow, based in Paterson, is the largest nonprofit treatment center offering a full continuum of care for people in recovery in the country.
To buy tickets or donate, go online to www.ccpaterson.org/beefsteak
To get involved in Catholic Charities, send email to Fraser at fraserlisamarie@gmail.com or info@ccpaterson.org
CORRECTION: Julie Tatti’s last name was misspelled in an earlier version of this article. We regret the error.