Client Spotlight: CHMIowa.org
The Congregation of the Humility of Mary
The Congregation of the Humility of Mary is a membership of progressive Sisters and Associates ministering to the needs of the poor, justice for the human family and care of the earth itself. These independent and progressive women seek to help others in the spirit of Mary. The Center is headquartered in Davenport, Iowa with several ministries within Davenport as well as a Retreat Center near Wheatland, Iowa. Their website serves to educate and provide resources to others looking for inspiration and ways to give within the community. The website also serves as a resource for the 200+ Sisters and CHM Associates to disseminate documents and information through the member portal.
Needs
CHM has been a long time client of Terrostar’s. We created their original website in 2005 and throughout the years, we helped them keep it up to date. But, eventually technology surpassed the website’s usability. Plus, with no content management system behind the website, making updates became cumbersome. After 11 years, they had finally squeezed all the functionality out of it! In the summer of 2016, we started from scratch.
Recommendations
The sisters came to us with a list of needs and open minds. Together we created a plan and recommended:
- A responsive website.
- Integration of their blog, “A Nun’s Pocket,” with the website. We wrote a script to import all of its content from Blogger into our CMS.
- Seamless integration with their third-party ecommerce system.
- Streamlined navigation structure and completely reorganized content.
- Custom web application to handle “Sister Stories;” an area to honor those sisters still serving as well as those who have passed.
Results
The outcome of the project is stunning, informative website that highlights their mission and services. The content is highlighted by beautiful photography and visual cues that drive visitors to key areas of the website’s interior. It’s integrated with Pyro CMS that allows their staff to access and update almost every aspect of the new website.
By Stephanie Ganzer