UPCOMING SPRING SJES
Via International
Justice for immigrants does not end at the border. This Experience asks, what does immigration justice look like on 奶糖直播鈥檚 campus, and how are we called to be a community of justice on campus? Participants will work together to develop skills for community leadership and engagement with a focus on immigration justice. Then, over Spring break students will spend a week with VIA International in San Diego, CA. They will share knowledge and resources with grassroots groups working to increase awareness and engagement in their own local communities.鈥�
Bethel AME Victory Gardens
While many Americans have easy access to grocery stores and farmers markets where they can buy fresh fruits and vegetables and other goods in order to meet their nutritional needs, this is not true for everybody. For this SJE, participants will explore concepts such as environmental racism, food deserts, and how this ties into faith. They will work on creating the seed beds for the spring planting at Bethel AME Victory Gardens in Ardmore. Participants will also be spending a week experiencing ongoing work to combat these inequalities through various missions and nonprofit organizations in both Baltimore, MD and Ardmore, PA.
Bethlehem Farm
Bethlehem Farm is a Catholic community in rural West Virginia that transforms lives through a service retreat experience. Members of the community at Bethlehem Farm are devoted to living out the Gospel message through the cornerstones of community, simplicity, prayer and service. Participants will serve alongside the neighbors at Bethlehem Farm to address substandard housing by providing home repair. They will learn about the richness of Appalachia and experience God by building relationships between volunteers and the local community.鈥�
Habitat for Humanity of Marion-Dillon County, SC
Giving and receiving mutual acts of hospitality removes the distance that separates people whose life experiences are very different. This SJE allows participants to both offer and receive the healing experience of being received as guest and partnering with others to provide a home for the displaced.
Participants spend a week with Marion-Dillon County Habitat for Humanity in Mullins, SC. Marion County has the highest unemployment rate in the state and safe affordable housing is scarce. Participants will have plenty of work to do and will be welcomed by the local Marion community.鈥��
First Year SJE: Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County
In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 5% of the housing does not meet the minimum housing code, and 2.5% of the population live in overcrowded conditions. The need for new houses and neighborhood revitalization projects is huge.鈥��
Students will partner with Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County, which is working to remedy this situation. Participants will stay in dormitory-style housing near the Habitat headquarters. They will engage many community partners who provide lunch and dinner.鈥疶his SJE is for First Year Students only and is a great way to meet service-minded peers.
Winter 2025: Plenitud Puerto Rico
has three important pillars: Service, sustainaibilty, and community. Come spend a week learning about the sustainable living practices that they are enacting in the local community of Las Marias, Puerto Rico. Plenitud is an educational farm and teaching center dedicated to instilling people with the tools to reflect, grow, and work for change. They collaborate with a number of community partners in the local community of Las Marias, through efforts in agriculture, senior care, and youth activities. Their mission is rooted in love for one another and the Earth.