JVC's values
Our program encourages self-reflection and the development of the whole person, while promoting a strong focus of time, attention, and care towards accompany those who live on the margins of society.
Participating in JVC is about the service and the work. Along the way, Jesuit Volunteers find they discover who they want to be in this world and how they will choose to direct their futures.
The Presence of God
JVs are open to finding God in all things; they commit to serving the Church and the world. JVs incorporate their own sense of spirituality into their day-to-day experiences at home and at work.
When you and your community members respect each other's beliefs and faith, learn from one another, and allow for growth and understanding, you support your relationships with God and strengthen your desire to accompany God's people in their daily struggles and share in their joy.
A Simplified Life
Living a simple lifestyle is not about the things you give up, it's about all the things you gain.
JVs commit to a simple lifestyle, living within a modest monthly budget, to shift focus from material possessions to people and relationships. Centering yourself around the simple pleasures of life and connecting with the people around you is very freeing. Living within your means shapes the decisions you make about how to spend your time, resources, talents, and money, both during your JV time and well after.
Simple living also is a concrete way to live in solidarity with the people that you will serve during your JV experience.
The Community at Work
When JVs share their experiences with each other in their community, they learn about the challenges faced by people at other organizations and begin to see the bigger picture of how the people of their city are connected through their common experiences.
A JV community may have a teacher, community organizer, medical assistant, and a case manager with very different daily tasks. At the end of the day, they find they have similar interactions with the people they meet and can work to create resolutions together.
The Desire for Justice
Social Justice is a lived experience and a movement to action. JVs walk with those who have been marginalized and seek justice for them. Through their work, they make a tangible difference in the lives of the people they serve.
Many of the organizations that utilize JVs for essential programs are able to free funding for critical supplies or hire an additional staff person. Without JVC, these agencies would have to reduce their capacity or cut some programs completely.
The work for justice is a slow process, but there has been much progress in the decades since JVC was first founded. Every moment of your time as a JV makes a very small impact on the greater good for our world. As a caseworker for persons with AIDS in Mobile, a parish youth group leader in Belize, or a paralegal for battered women in Los Angeles, the goal of the work done by JVs is to strive for social justice.
