Amy Novak, president and CEO of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, left, holds the McMullen Award with recipient Ann Schwickerath and Bishop Dennis Walsh at Christ the King Chapel on campus earlier this month.
By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — For her dedication to youth through Project Renewal, St. Ambrose University awarded Ann Schwickerath the Bishop McMullen Award April 9 in Christ the King Chapel on campus. She is executive director of Project Renewal and a 1998 graduate of St. Ambrose University.
Project Renewal provides educational, recreational and social activities during the school year and summer. The staff and volunteers are positive role models for children, reinforce values and provide a stable force in a fragile neighborhood, according to the Project Renewal website.
“We are honored to gather with you as a community of faith to celebrate this Mass and present the Bishop John McMullen Award,” said Amy Novak, president and CEO of St. Ambrose.
Ray Shovlain, SAU’s longtime men’s basketball coach and former athletic director, also earned the McMullen Award. He was unable to attend the ceremony as he recovers from surgery, and will receive his award at a later date, Novak promised.
The evening began with Mass presided over by Bishop Dennis Walsh and concelebrated by Father Dale Mallory, chaplain at St. Ambrose; Fathers John Stecher and Ed Fitzpatrick, both retired priests who knew Schwickerath when she attended Newman Catholic Student Center in Iowa City; and Father Robert McAleer, a retired priest and board member.
Following the homily by Father Mallory, Novak welcomed the children from Project Renewal in attendance for the award presentation.
Novak said Project Renewal is where “young children are surrounded by care and their stability. Love and growth are not simply ideals, but lived realities. And very quickly you understand that this spirit did not happen by accident. It reflects the heart, the faith and the steadfast commitment of Ann.”
“For more than 35 years, she has dedicated herself to Project Renewal — beginning before graduating from St. Ambrose in 1998,” continued Novak. “She offered faithful leadership through the decades of growth and transformation. In 2024 Project Renewal celebrated its 50th anniversary. That milestone says a great deal about the strength and endurance of the organization.”
Novak added, “But friends, it also says something very important that for decades, Ann has helped shape Project Renewal into a trusted and beloved presence in the Quad Cities. At the center of Ann’s work is a simple but powerful belief. Community is built through presence.”
“Project Renewal has become a place of stability and hope for so many. And at the center of that work is Ann, and her vision. Her leadership has never only been about overseeing a program or managing the building. It has always been about relationships,” Novak said.
Members of the Project Renewal community celebrate Ann Schwickerath during the McMullen Award ceremony at St. Ambrose University’s Christ the King Chapel in Davenport earlier this month.
“It has been about meeting each child exactly where they are. It has been about helping families know that they matter. It has been about creating spaces where hope can take root under Ann’s direction. Properties once seen as unsafe or abandoned, have been transformed into welcoming places of life and possibility,” Novak said.
“That kind of renewal is about far more than physical space,” Novak continued. “It is about restoring pride and confidence. It is about restoring trust. It is about restoring the belief that a neighborhood and the people within it deserve beauty, safety.”
“Ann embodies the values that St. Ambrose University holds,” Novak said. “She reflects courage in the way she has given herself to hard and holy work. She reflects witness in the way she lives her faith through action. She reflects justice in her unwavering commitment to the dignity of every person, and she reflects service and mercy in the generous and steadfast way. She honors the people she serves and has devoted her life to others.”
After Bishop Walsh’s blessing of the award, it was presented to Schwickerath by he and Novak.
Following Mass, Novak invited the dozens of children in attendance to come forward to have a picture taken with Schwickerath. Many older youths asked to have their picture taken individually with her as well.
Schwickerath told The Catholic Messenger the honor “has not sunk in yet.”
During the summers of 1992 and 1993, Schwickerath volunteered at Project Renewal while working toward a sociology major and human relations minor at the University of Iowa. That summer job evolved into a full-time executive director position in 1994.
A highlight of her years at Project Renewal is that she has some former youths who are about 45 years old now. “I love hearing from them and what they are doing in their lives.”
