Holy Family Institute’s Sister Linda Yankoski leads a life of caring for others
When Sister Linda Yankoski was asked what she needed to care for the children who came to stay at Holy Family Institute after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, her answer was “rocking chairs.”
“We had babies we needed to rock to sleep,” said Yankoski, one of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. “The next day, I had more rocking chairs than I knew what to do with. I kept what we needed and donated the rest to daycare centers.”
Having those chairs to soothe a child represents Yankoski’s calming nature. For five decades, she has devoted her life to caring for others as a sister, nearly four decades leading Holy Family Institute.
She retired on July 1. As president emeritus, she will be the director of mission integration. In that role, she will continue to share the mission of the sisters through orientation of new board members and employees. She is also planning a pilgrimage to Poland and Rome in June 2026 to “walk in the footsteps of our founders,” she said.
“Under her leadership, Holy Family Institute has lived the mission of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth by pioneering alternative learning and career training environments, housing homeless children, offering mental health and substance use counseling and continues to help families address debilitating financial limitations,” her successor, Michael Sexauer, said via email. “I pledge to honor her legacy as I continue that mission.”
Sexauer said Yankoski has shown she can adapt to the changing times with “wisdom, courage and originality.”
When asked to take in the Haitian children who were living in a conference room at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, “I said, ‘yes,’” said Yankoski, who has a bachelor’s in social work from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s degree in administration from the University of Notre Dame and a doctorate in education from Duquesne University. “Then I walked out of my office and down the hall thinking, ‘I just said yes.’”
She gathered employees and children currently on campus as well as members of the board.
They made welcome signs, went shopping to buy stuffed animals and essentials. Within 48 hours, the space was ready for 18 children, all under the age of 11, including seven infants. People traveled from all over the world to adopt them.
One of the babies, “little Freddie,” needed extra care, so Yankoski reached out to Diane Hupp at Children’s Hospital.
“I said these kids are in this country for the first time,” Yankoski said. “They’re sick. There is this baby, Freddie. He’s not dying on my watch.”
Hupp sent a nurse.
“Sister Linda Yankoski has been a leader in our community and a beacon of hope for so many children in need,” said Hupp, president of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, via email. “We appreciate her ongoing support and being a role model in improving the lives of kids and families.”
Yankoski grew up in the inner city of Detroit on the west side. She attended Catholic grade school at Saint Christopher’s, where Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth served. Yankoski, 72, first visited the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in Emsworth in 1971. She was engaged to be married but had talked with her mother about an interest in becoming a nun. Her mother suggested that her daughter travel to Pittsburgh.
“I was just fortunate that I have always had people in my life who gave me some opportunities and some good direction, including my parents,” Sister Linda said.
Her connection to Holy Family Institute became a lifelong one. Its mission is to serve children and families through education, utility assistance, family counseling and, like the youngsters in the Haiti earthquake, care for immigrant children.
During her time at the helm, Holy Family has transformed from an orphanage into one of the largest social service agencies in Western Pennsylvania, with a staff of more than 400 and eleven different programs that serve 40,000 people in Western Pennsylvania each year.
At Holy Family Institute, she’s done pretty much every job and she has always had the philosophy of answering the question — what are the changing needs? She worked with the board to get funding for a residential treatment center for abused and neglected kids, opened Nazareth Prep High School in 2014.
Nazareth Prep focuses on college and career readiness by partnering with local corporations and nonprofits for internships with students in all grade levels.
The internships expose students to professional environments and provide them with practical skills, she said.
Funding for the programs at Holy Family Institute comes from county and federal levels, as well as local foundations and private donations and fundraising. Yankoski helped Holy Family Institute navigate after a fire in 1984 and worked with the board of trustees on the most recent project, a new gymnasium to open in 2026. The private Catholic announced an $8.5 million expansion that includes a state-of-the-art facility for athletics and the arts, which will be able to accommodate fans and audiences.
”We have always worked to meet the changing needs and we establish programs that meet the needs of families where they are,” Yankoski said. “If we keep continuing to meet the needs of the community and are willing to make changes and take risks, it will work. I’ve been really blessed with an unbelievable board of trustees, men and women who stepped up to provide governance and guidance, who are not afraid to ask hard questions and to be supportive staff members. In meeting the needs of the kids and the families, sometimes it’s the littlest thing that makes the biggest difference.”
That was evident when taking in the children from Haiti and at other times, those at the border.
“People ask me, ‘Why are you doing this?’” she said about taking in the children. “I tell them that there are children who need a place to stay and we have empty beds.”
She plans to continue her mission of keeping alive the charism of the sisters as well as supporting the new leadership and also working with the college and high school and grade school in Philadelphia.
”So many wise women came before me to create a path,” she said of her fellow sisters. “I’m going to miss a lot of the work. I plan to golf more and ride my bike and relax.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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