The Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor, an international institute, was founded in France in 1839, when Blessed Jeanne Jugan opened her home to Jesus Christ in the person of an elderly, poor, blind woman.

Today Little Sisters care for the aged poor in homes in thirty-one countries around the world, with thirty-one homes located in North America. The care of the elderly, the congregation's sole apostolate, is sealed by a special fourth vow of hospitality. The spirit of the congregation is the evangelical spirit expressed by Jesus in the Beatitudes. Mindful of the words of their foundress, "Never forget that the poor are Our Lord," the Little Sisters continue her charism and desire that their hospitaller mission of humble service, exercised in the name of the Church, be a sign of the compassionate love and mercy of God. Sisters to the elderly who are journeying towards the Kingdom, the Little Sisters witness to the primacy of eternal values and to respect for life, of which God alone is the master.

Catholic women aged 18-40, who seek a life of prayer, fraternal sharing and humble service, may seek entrance. The formation program includes an initial two-year novitiate and an international second novitiate, spent at the Motherhouse in France, in preparation for perpetual profession. The American novitiate is located in Queens Village, NY.