Releases

Willa Voss works in prison ministry with Project Return, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee. 

When comparing your life in JVC to your previous experiences, what has been the biggest shift or change?

Living the JV lifestyle has forced me to confront the values I was taught and always told myself I believed in. Before becoming a JV, it was very easy for me to assure myself I was a good person with strong morals and good virtues, but it was not until I had to live in a reality where those values were challenged daily that I have grown in those beliefs.

Before my placement at Project Return, helping released prisoners, it was very easy for me to tell myself I believed in not judging someone by their actions and giving everyone a second chance. It was not until I was confronted with people that made me feel uncomfortable, or committed petty theft against me, before I found how far I am willing to stretch that belief. I found comfort in being able to flush out what I always thought I believed and see how I live those beliefs in real life. It has only cemented who I am and what I stand for, and taught me the beliefs of non-judgment and second chances are much easier said than done.

Who, if anyone, has had the biggest impact on you as a Jesuit Volunteer?

One client who came in the day before Thanksgiving break completely changed my perspective on how to live my life. He spent 28 years of his life in prison for one mistake that hurt no one but himself. Still, despite the loss of those years without freedom, he has completely freed his mind of any hate or resentment.

While incarcerated, he educated himself in law and worked as a clerk for the penitentiary. Upon his release, he came to our office with absolutely nothing. He was living at Nashville’s biggest homeless shelter, which is often criticized by our clients that stay there. He came with no complaints and pure happiness at being free.

According to him, it was just a blessing to smell the fresh air and walk where he wished to walk. His presence was so peaceful and positive it made me reflect on how I have handled my own setbacks in life. It shamed me to think how poorly I have reacted to my own problems a quarter the size of his own.

Since becoming our client and going through our classes, he applied his intelligence, diligence, and optimism towards looking for a job. Despite his ongoing search, he always brightens our office with each visit. I consider it an honor to have met him, let alone have him consider me a support for his success. No matter how long after I leave my placement, I will remember him as an example and always strive to become as grateful and happy for simply living free and healthy as he does.

Has JVC affected your perspective on issues of spirituality, simple living, community, and/or social justice? In what ways?

Of the four values of JVC, I would say the one I was least familiar with was simple living. While I do not consider myself a wasteful person, but I have always been able to afford some luxuries of life. Since coming to JVC, my definition of “luxuries” has expanded.

I used to take internet, gas money, free time, heat, and nice food as givens. Through JVC, the materialism I have experienced most of my life has been challenged and I now see them as special privileges.

During Christmas, this change became the most pronounced as the annual tradition of materialism was spread, as opposed to the values of what I believe that time of the year is about: love, family, and charity. The small gifts I received that I would have seen as inconsequential last year truly touched my heart. I was humbled to know how many people out there truly love me.

What are your post-JVC ambitions?

As many Former JVs have warned, I have been “ruined for life” after this year of service in JVC. Upon my year of completion I plan on moving to Los Angeles where my two siblings reside and working for a non-profit that offers not only ameliorative change, but also transformational support as well.

It is not just my wish to help everyone who is in dire need of services, it is my goal to find solutions to fix the problems that cause poverty, homelessness, and discrimination so there are less people in need of help in the future. Before JVC, I had a very simple outline of my life that would result in a master’s degree or PhD that was sure to earn me a pretty penny helping people that could afford my services. Now I see I will not be happy unless I am able to seek out and help people who cannot, or do not know how to, help themselves.