Service Site: Brother David Darst Center in Chicago, Illinois
College: Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga, CA
What do you do?
We hold urban immersion retreats mostly for high school and college students interested in 
exploring social justice issues. Together we visit local agencies such as shelters, food pantries, soup kitchens, preschool/afterschool programs, and transitional housing for people recovering from addictions or for people formerly incarcerated. Often we just lend an extra hand while other times we get to interact with the people through conversations, board games, or tutoring. The experience is meant to bring about awareness and discussion about the injustices and oppressions that people face. We try to bridge the gap between the “us” and the “them,” or between the stereotypes and the actual human person facing these hardships. This is a chance for the student or participant to take a moment away from their daily life to see another side to their reality. It is also about learning how to acknowledge and validate a person for what they have experienced and not just accepting judgments and assumptions passed on by others.
Why did you choose to become a Lasallian Volunteer? Have your hopes about the Program been realized?
I didn’t want to steer away from the Lasallian mission nor abandon my hopes of working in education or social services, but I felt in either case I needed more training and schooling. I was ready to give school a break and just completely immerse myself in something new and challenging. As an LV I knew I would be serving in a place where I could really be of service and get the experiences outside of the classroom that would prepare me for any future endeavors. Thus far I am happy with my placement and how supportive the LV staff and others involved have been. I am exploring new spheres by getting a chance to see how different organizations around the city address issues of social justice; I get to participate in what seems like a year-long retreat filled with questions which come up during the retreats or even while I am taking public transit. I am no expert in the subject of justice but I find myself drawn to it and anxious to understand and be involved in more of it.
What is the most important “thing,” do you think, that your students/clients
/guests need from you? What do you do to try to provide this?
Those we serve need to see the difference between “community service” or “service hours” and actually being of service. When we volunteer we aren’t really helping to better the circumstance of the people. We may be a fresh face, or all together provide more hands to help, for example, in the distribution of goods at a food pantry or tutoring on days when more students come in for help. But mainly we visit the places to witness, reflect, share aloud, question, and to store away the experience to help guide our actions and choices. Depending on where the groups are after their encounters we determine how to proceed with the discussion. Generally we ask the groups similar questions to set the tone or to get them to think about how they decide who they serve. I think we provide a safe and comfortable space to have conversations and to really process what each person is experiencing after serving for a few hours.
What is the most challenging obstacle that your students/clients/guests face? How do your school/agency and your own outreach try to empower them to overcome this obstacle?
I think it is sometimes difficult to grasp why serving is not just about getting a chance to say, “I think I’ve helped someone today.” It isn’t about the feeling that follows a good deed, but about giving of one’s time and energy without expecting anything in return. This is why the question of how does one determine who one serves is asked sometime during the retreat. We explain how serving is already a part of our daily lives when we practice compassion and love for our friends and families. How we treat a stranger should be no different. All human beings deserve respect and to maintain their human dignity. Another difficulty is that time doesn’t allow for a gradual awareness. The experience may be abrupt, shocking, or awkward because one is suddenly faced with being around a stranger in a new environment. By maintaining a partnership with the sites we visit and by our own actions as facilitators, we hope to lessen the blow or help ease their worries by being the example they can depend upon. By seeing how easily the facilitator falls into conversations or being the first to initiate the interaction, we hope that sends the right message. We try to prepare them for what they might encounter and always have a time to voice aloud what one is or has experienced after visiting the agencies. The conversations must continue even past the duration of the retreat. Our goal is to stay in contact with the participants and to keep them informed of what is happening in the world, or at least to ask them to take a moment to look back to see how what they encountered in the past still applies to where they are in life at present.
Why would you recommend the LV program to a college senior considering 
volunteering?
There were a lot of questions when I was a senior, but mainly the question of, “What now?” Volunteering will give one the opportunity to continue questioning while holding a position that will challenge the core of why we exist, which for me, has become to be of service where help is needed. The LV program gives us a role in a community that becomes our own and asks that we put our heart and soul into educating those we work with. What better way to begin to find one’s place in our society than immediately after college, participating in it and having the support of the LV staff and Christian Brothers to help us through it.