The 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. The challenge to Jesuit Volunteers is to integrate Christian faith by working and living among the poor and marginalized, by living simply and in community with other Jesuit Volunteers, and by examining the causes of social injustice.

Description:
Since 1956, over 12,000 women and men have made a commitment to serve where the need is greatest through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. JVs commit themselves to working with people who are marginalized by society and to living in apostolic community with other JVs.

In all, about 350 JVs each year work in the United States and in six countries around the world. Hundreds of grassroots organizations across the country count on JVs to provide essential services to low-income people and those who live on the margins of our society.

History:
In 1956 the first Jesuit volunteers began their service to the native people of Alaska in Copper Valley. The small nucleus of volunteers grew under the sponsorship of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), eventually reaching out to remote areas of Alaska, to Native American communities in the Northwest, and to inner-city placements in Washington and Oregon.

Communities of Jesuit Volunteers still venture forth to new frontiers, including all the major cities in the United States, the Rio Grande Valley, and California. As described in the Where JVs serve section, Jesuit volunteers are needed today in virtually every kind of social justice work. JVC has been able to respond to current social justice issues because volunteers offer a spirit of generosity and willingness to go where they are needed. Jesuit volunteers also work in developing countries, often alongside Jesuits, in places as diverse as the coastal desert of Peru; the Pacific Islands of Micronesia; Africa; and throughout Belize.

Contact people:

JVC National Projects Office, (410) 244-1733, (email) Maggie Conley, Project Manager, (410) 244-1733, (email)

Address:

801 St. Paul St. Baltimore, MD 21202 (See a map)