Domestic Alternative Break Immersions
Domestic Immersions place students in a new sociocultural context within the United States, including Catholic volunteer communities in Appalachia, urban ministries in New Orleans and Baltimore, and farms in Michigan. The domestic immersion program is open to all undergraduate students.
Apply Now, Applications for 2012 Domestic Immersions are due November 4th, 2011!
- What is a domestic ABI?
Domestic alternative break immersions provide an opportunity to do justice, build community, keep faith, and live simply with other Loyola students while serving (sharing work) and learning (treading lightly) in communities around the United States.
- Who can apply for a domestic ABI?
The domestic immersion program is open to undergraduate students. Space is limited and a waiting list is typical of each application process.
- When do domestic ABIs take place?
Spring break immersions will take place from March 3-11, 2012. Summer immersions will take place from May 14-20, 2012.
- How can I Apply?
Applications for spring break and summer 2012 domestic immersions are due Friday, November 4, 2011. Click here to submit your application.
- How much does it cost to participate in a domestic ABI?
There is a cost for participation in the program. In recent years, the cost for a domestic immersion has been between $175-$250. This cost covers all transportation, lodging, most meals (except those on the road) and a donation to the host organization. Financial assistance is available and fundraising ideas are given for each participant or ABI group to pursue on their own. All payments are non-refundable.
- Are there any courses offered in conjunction with the ABI program?
Yes. The following optional service learning course is offered in conjunction with participation in a domestic ABI. The class fulfills core value credit in civic engagement and leadership.
- SOC 127: Social Analysis and Social Action
This 2010 spring semester course is open to participants in the domestic Alternative Break Immersion trips and students volunteering with Loyola 4 Chicago. The course prepares students to better understand and engage with the individuals and communities they meet through their service, helps them examine a range of proposals to address poverty and related social problems in the United States, and promotes personal reflection on the implications of their experiences. The course fulfills core requirements in social and cultural knowledge and the civic engagement value. Students may enroll for the course after being selected for a domestic immersion trip or after participating in Loyola 4 Chicago. Permission of instructor is required when registering.
- How can I get more information?
For more details Patrick Eccles can be reached at 773.508.2205 and peccles@luc.edu
- Can faculty, staff and graduate students participate in immersions?
Faculty, staff, and graduate interns may participate as university advisors with a role in co-leading a trip. An information session will be held in mid-September to provide information about the program and responsibilities involved in co-leading a trip. Please contact Patrick Eccles (see contact info above) if you are interested in attending.
Current Domestic ABI Destinations (Spring Break)
| Appalachia | |
|---|---|
| Glenmary Farm | Appalachia (Vanceburg, KY) |
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Glenmary Farm is a project of the Glenmary Home Missioners, a Catholic society of priests and brothers who, along with co-workers and a cooperating community of Glenmary sisters, is dedicated to serving the spiritual and material needs of people throughout Appalachia, the South and Southwest. For over 30 years, the Glenmary Farm and Glenmary Home Missioners have been an intergral part of life in Lewis County, one of the poorest counties in Kentucky. The work of Farm volunteers has had a tremendous impact on this area and has earned the respect and support of the local community where, until recent years, anti-Catholic sentiment still ran high. This retreat-like immersion experience in Eastern Kentucky blends service, education, prayer, reflection and sharing in an environment of simple living. Participants are engaged in manual labor projects, home repair, and activities with developmentally disabled adults gaining insights about solidarity and community with others. | |
| Bethlehem Farm | Appalachia (Pence Springs, WV) |
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Bethlehem Farm volunteers base their lives on the cornerstones of prayer, community, service and simplicity and adopt sustainable practices in response to the Appalachian pastoral "At Home in the Web of Life". Bethlehem Farm, an affiliate of Nazareth Farm, provides volunteers a communal experience of Church, while working to promote social justice through the empowerment of the local community. Bethlehem Farm is a center of reflection and prayer in the service of action, inspired by the Eucharist and open to the Spirit. Join this Catholic community of volunteers (started by and consisting of Loyola graduates) dedicated to living out the Gospel and social teachings of the Church through service in the heart of Appalachia. | |
| Nazareth Farm | Appalachia (Salem, WV) |
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Nazareth Farm is a Catholic community of volunteers inspired by the gospels and Social Teachings of the Church and focused on prayer, community, simplicity, and service. Nazareth Farm is devoted to developing relationships and eliminating sub-standard housing through home repair in rural West Virginia. We provide a communal experience of Church as a center of action and prayer. Participants share work with local residents and other students on housing reconstruction, community outreach, and explore their own personal transformation. | |
| Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest (A-SPI) | Appalachia (Mt. Vernon, KY) |
| A-SPI's primary goal is to make science and technology responsive to the needs of underserved communities in Appalachia. ASPI's focus is to find solutions for the increasing environmental problems through research and advocacy for public policies which favor the environment. ASPI's philosophy involves living simply in ways that are healthy for the earth and for ourselves. Students will learn about sustainable agriculture and assist in ASPI's projects. Students prepare their own meals. (issues: faith and ecology, mountaintop removal mining, environmental health) | |
| Farming Communities | |
| Tantre Organic Farm | Chelsea, MI |
| Tantre Farm is a certified organic farm 20 miles west of Ann Arbor, MI. The farm sells its produce, including various fruit crops, 50 varieties of vegetables and a small variety of herbs and flowers through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares, at local stores and restaurants as well as at area farmer's markets. The farm is situated on 40 acres of wetland, woods, and sandy-loam fields. Richard and Deb, along with their daughter Ariana, live on-site year round. Seasonal workers, interns and volunteers join the family at various parts of the year, living and working together. Besides a great deal of manual farm labor, this ABI focuses on broader issues of sustainability with visits to nearby natural areas, an ecology center and a recycling/re-use project. Participants should be prepared for cold weather (many layers) and physical labor (sturdy boots). The final days of this year's trip will involve a visit to the Jeanie Wyle Community in Detroit for some immersion in the urban farming scene with an intentional community consisting of Loyola alums. (issues: organic farming, faith and ecology, spirituality of nature) | |
| Jeanie Wylie Community | Detroit, MI |
| The Jeanie Wylie Community is an intentional community on the southwest side of Detroit, committed to urban agriculture, hospitality, spirituality, and nonviolent resistance. This ABI will be an opportunity to learn and work with Detroit around food justice and urban farming. In the last few decades, Detroit has become a food desert. Yet, with one third of Detroit as vacant land, gardens are breaking through the concrete. Control of food is being wrested away from corporations; people are feeding one another; space is made beautiful, communities are formed, and local economies are created. The Jeanie Wylie Community currently has a large garden, fruit trees, chickens, beehives, and is working to create a neighborhood garden by next Spring. Five out of the eight community members are graduates of Loyola University Chicago. (issues: food justice, food deserts, urban gardening, urban farming) | |
| Urban Ministries | |
| Jonah House | Baltimore, MD |
| Jonah House is an intentional community devoted to issues of militarism, social justice, and the environment. Jonah House is a spiritual based community. Although it is predominately of the Catholic tradition members of the community and extended community over the years have been of many faith traditions. Members live together sharing prayer, work and resources. Learn about non-violence, disarmament, and faith-based activism while living and participating in intentional community life with members of Jonah House. Activities include: manual labor, faith sharing, bible study, and faith based, non-violent protest. Applicants should be open to these activities and forms of activism; conversion of life values is likely. (issues: nuclear disarmament, Christian resistance) | |
| Dorothy Day Catholic Worker | Washington, D.C. |
| The Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House is a Community of hospitality and resistance focused on hospitality to families, the work of resistance as a seamless garment community. Explore the roots of the American non-violence movement at the D.C. Catholic Worker. This experience will happen centrally through non-violence training, public peace activism and protest, as well as communal prayer and intentional living. (issues: anti-war organizing, hospitality, nonviolence, Christian resistance) | |
| Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program | Houma, LA |
| BTNEP is a partnership of government, business, scientists, conservation organizations, agricultural interests, and individuals for the preservation, protection, and restoration of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary in southeast Louisiana. Participants on this ABI will learn about and assist with work being done to safe-guard Louisiana's precious wetlands from the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Potential activities on this ABI involve volunteer projects with Bayou Grace Community Center, wetland restoration work, tour of a marine lab, an educational canoe tour of the marsh among other efforts to engage and learn about coastal issues. | |
Current Domestic ABI Destinations (Summer Break)
Others Freedom Ride Immersion *Offered in the Summer Offered in partnership with the Department of Student Diversity & Multicultural Affairs, the Freedom Ride immersion offers students the unique opportunity to learn about the Civil Rights Movement, community organizing, nonviolent activism and student mobilization. Participants on the Freedom Ride immersion will retrace the steps of the monumental 1961 Freedom Rides through several historical southern cities, traveling to various landmarks, museums and other educational sites to foster learning and dialogue on nonviolent activism and social change. Participants will explore the dynamics of historical and contemporary race relations, student mobilization, and community organizing. Participants will gain a better understanding of the political and social injustices African Americans were contending with during the Civil Rights Era and also how this community continues to respond to the challenges of a racially-driven society.
(issues: equity in education; environmental justice, hate crimes, and racial justice).Operation Helping Hands/Catholic Charities New Orleans, LA Participate in the continued efforts to help communities recover from Hurricane Katrina with Operation Helping Hands/Catholic Charities. Assist teachers at the Good Shepherd School (a Jesuit Nativity Mission school). Engage in social ministries and reflection with other Jesuit colleges and volunteers. Be prepared for the challenging and phyical work of rebuilding in New Orleans.
(issues: race and poverty, community development, affordable housing)Do Justice · Build Community · Keep Faith · Live Simply