Saint Louis University Graduates Dedicate Year of Service with JVC, JVC Northwest
Saint Louis University alumni have embarked in full-time service with two Jesuit Volunteer organizations: the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and JVC Northwest.
As full-time volunteers with the organizations, these graduates commit to the dignity and well-being of all people, particularly those on the margins of society. Living a life rooted in a faith that does justice, each young person lives and serves within a reflective community alongside other Jesuit Volunteers (JVs).
SLU graduates are some of the 148 JVC Northwest JV/AmeriCorps members serving in 25 Northwest communities, and 283 Jesuit Volunteers from JVC serving in 50 communities across the world.
JVs serve hundreds of thousands of people each year, addressing significant social issues including hunger and homelessness, poverty, domestic violence, end-of-life care, mental health and food justice. These young leaders commit to a faith that does justice while accompanying many communities, including Indigenous communities, schools, health clinics, and advocacy organizations across the country and world.
“On behalf of our entire community, I am excited to welcome another amazing cohort of courageous young women and men, including graduates from Saint Louis University, who are committing one or two years of full-time work with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps,” said Tim Shriver, president of JVC. “Our JVs bring tremendous energy and passion, challenging questions, and a commitment to letting their faith inspire action toward building a more just and hopeful world. They enter humbly and boldly into communities around the world, committed to living intentionally and authentically in relationship with those on the margins of society.”
“Jesuit Volunteers generously share their gifts, enthusiasm and skills to meet the most urgent needs in local communities and generate positive change,” said Jeanne Haster, executive director of JVC Northwest. “For 60 years, JVs have formed strong relationships with those with whom they serve, developing social capital and building up the common good. We are grateful and humbled to welcome this year’s group of passionate and Spirit-filled JVs to this community during our 60th anniversary of JVs in the Northwest. JVs inspire all of us as they embody commitment, empathy, a desire to change the world and the courage to spend one of the most exceptional and challenging years of their lives in service and in intentional community with other JVs.”
SLU’s graduates involved in these two programs are as follows, along with their placement sites and locations:
Jesuit Volunteer Corps
- Erin Canning, Dolores Mission Parish, Los Angeles, CA
Canning was recently selected as one of the six Jesuit Volunteers who will be writing for the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s Jesuit Volunteer Reflects blog this year. - Catherine Larsen, West Side Catholic Center, Cleveland, OH
- Sarah Love, Neighborhood Service Organization, Detroit, MI
- Teal Trujillo, The Eviction Defense Collaborative, San Francisco, CA
View Trujillo's profile on the Jesuit Volunteer Corps website.
JVC Northwest
- Kelsey Arnold, Catholic Family & Child Service, Yakima, WA
- Ellen Curry, St. Andrew Nativity School, Portland, OR
- Jess Foley, New Avenues for Youth, Portland, OR
- Kara Murray, Zach Gordon Youth Center, Juneau, AK
- Tim Pazderka, Volunteers of America, Portland, OR
- Katherine Short, Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, Hood River, OR
- Sophie Varvares, Catholic Charities of Yakima, Wenatchee, OR
- Hannah Vestal, Downtown Emergency Service Center, Seattle, WA
About the Jesuit Volunteer Corps
Based in Baltimore, Maryland, with communities across the country and the world, the Jesuit Volunteer Corps offers young women and men an opportunity to live and work full-time for justice and peace in 37 U.S. cities and six countries abroad. More than 250 organizations across the world partner with JVC to provide vital service with and for the poor and marginalized. JVC offers volunteers an experience, rooted in faith and sustained by community, which opens 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.
About JVC Northwest
Established in 1956 in Copper Valley, Alaska, JVC Northwest connects individuals with one or more years of volunteer service focused on the core values of community, spirituality, simple living, and social and ecological justice. Each year, JVs serve more than 150,000 people living on the margins in urban, rural, and Indigenous communities, as well as fragile ecosystems throughout the Pacific Northwest. When the various JVC regions joined as one organization in 2009, JVC Northwest discerned to remain independent and locally based to best serve local and regional communities in the Northwest. JVC Northwest is a National Direct AmeriCorps program with 142 JV AmeriCorps members.