Fordham Alumni Serve as Jesuit Volunteers

BALTIMORE – Recent graduates of Fordham University answered the call to serve through Jesuit Volunteer Corps:

• Brittney Cavaliere – The Alliance of AIDS Services—Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.
• Mariel de la Cruz – United Community Housing Coalition, Detroit
• John Donahue – Chrysalis, Los Angeles
• Lauren Foley (2nd year volunteer) – St. Aloysius School, New York
• Christine Gosney – Central Arizona Shelter Services, Phoenix
• Margaret Hannigan – Miriam’s Kitchen, Washington, D.C.
• Shannon Hirrel – Disability Rights Legal Center, Los Angeles
• Tara Nadeau – MAAC Project, Chula Vista, Calif.
• Elizabeth Wing (2nd year volunteer) - St. Mary Goretti Secondary School, Moshi Tanzania
• David Yusavitz – Hands on Hartford, Hartford, Conn.

During their time as Jesuit Volunteers, they will be dedicated to living simply and working for social justice in a spiritually supportive community of other volunteers who are working with people who live on the margins of society.

These alumni are among the 340 JVs living in 48 communities in the U.S. and six other countries across the globe. Volunteers work at hundreds of schools, health clinics, legal clinics, parishes, and nonprofit organizations to provide essential services, saving them a combined estimate of $6 million each year, in comparison to the cost of a salaried employee.

“Jesuit Volunteers allow local organizations to provide more services and have a greater impact within their communities,” said Kevin O’Brien, president of JVC. “As a former JV myself, I know the transformative effect of full-time service. This experience will open their hearts and minds and change their perceptions of the world around them. It’s inspiring to welcome a new generation of women and men who want to work for justice and peace.”

In 2009, five of the six Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC East, JVC Midwest, JVC Southwest, JVC South, and JV International) organizations merged to form JVC. With shared resources directed toward one common mission, JVC is building upon its grassroots history and strives to strengthen and improve the organization. With a 16 percent increase over last year’s volunteer count, Jesuit Volunteers can be found in inner-city neighborhoods like Brooklyn, NY, rural communities like the Rosebud Indian Reservation of South Dakota, and many other places throughout the U.S. They also serve in developing countries in South America, Africa, and Oceania.

Based in four core values—social justice, simple living, community, and spirituality—Jesuit Volunteer Corps offers women and men an opportunity to work full-time for justice and peace. Jesuit Volunteers are called to the mission of serving the poor directly, working for structural change in the United States, and accompanying people in developing countries. For decades, Jesuit Volunteer Corps has worked in collaboration with Jesuits, whose spirituality the volunteers incorporate in their work, community, and prayer life. More than 250 grassroots organizations across the world count on Jesuit Volunteers to provide essential services. During their one to two years of service, volunteers integrate Christian faith by working and living among the poor and marginalized examining the causes of social injustice. JVC offers volunteers an experience that will open their minds and hearts to live always conscious of the poor and committed to the Church’s mission of promoting justice in the service of faith.

Learn more at www.jesuitvolunteers.org or www.facebook.com/jesuitvolunteers.