Domestic Alternative Break Immersions
About Domestic Alternative Break Immersions
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 6-14, 2010. Summer immersions to Bethlehem Farm and South Dakota will take place from May 17-23, 2010.How can I apply?
Applications for spring break and summer domestic immersions have been extended to Friday, October 23, 2009. Apply here.
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. Financial assistance is available and fundraising ideas are given for each participant or ABI group to pursue on their own.
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
Instructor: Marilyn Krogh (Sociology)
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 please contact Patrick Eccles at peccles@luc.edu or 773-508-2205.
Can faculty, staff and graduate students participate in immersions?
Faculty, staff, and graduate interns may participate as university advisors with a role in leading a trip. Please contact Patrick Eccles (see contact info above) if you are interested in co-leading an immersion. Please also be aware that the Office of Mission & Identity now offers service immersion trips for faculty and staff; please contact Megan Barry at mbarry1@luc.edu or 773-508-8592 for more information.
Current Domestic Alternative Break Immersion Destinations
Spring Break
Poder Learning Center/St. Procopuis Parish
Pilsen (Chicago)Learn about social change in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, an area of the city undergoing transition in the process of merging its unique culture and history with varying experiences of gentrification. Participants will explore the history of community organizing in Pilsen; gain insight on the immigrantion issue and other concerns important to this predominantly Latino area. Opportunities to share work at after- school tutoring programs, soup kitchens and clothes/food pantries through interactions with ESL students, community organizers and invested members of the community.
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.
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.
Bethlehem Farm
Appalachia (Pence Springs, WV)
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)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.
Big Creek People in Action
Caretta, WVBig Creek People In Action, Inc. was founded in 1990 by citizens of McDowell County, West Virginia. Since that time, this nonprofit organization has been serving the community of McDowell County in the realms of early childhood development, education and literacy, leadership development, volunteer service, arts and culture, housing, recreation, and collaborative partnerships. The mission of BCPIA is to foster a community in which people learn, work, play, and grow together and prepare themselves for success in the 21st century. BCPIA's vision of McDowell County is one of empowered and self-sufficient people living in communities that are economically vibrant, democratic, and socially just.
Glenmary Farm
Appalachia (Vanceburg, KY)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.
Tantre Organic Farm
Chelsea, MITantre 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).
Jonah House
Baltimore, MDJonah 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.
Operation Helping Hands/Catholic Charities
New Orleans, LAParticipate 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,
Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ)
Chicago, ILCombine social justice action and an overview of Catholic Social Teaching in one week's experience. During this action-oriented week you will interact with low-wage and immigrant workers who are struggling to make ends meet in Chicago, IL. Students will reach out to immigrant workers about the new Employment Classification Act, in effect since Jan. 1, 2008, participate in actions and public events, visit labor history sites, learn how Catholic Social Teaching supports workers, and meet with totally awesome organizers, priests and activists from around the city. The week will include sessions to learn more about what Catholic Social Teaching says about justice for workers and reflect on what your faith calls you to do. The Worker Justice Immersion program partners with Interfaith Worker Justice, Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, Dominican University, and Loyola University. Be prepared to be shocked at the underbelly of the economy and energized by the courage of those fighting for changes!
(Issues: worker justice, wage theft, labor history)Romero Center
Camden, N.J./Philadelphia areaThe Romero Center is a retreat and social justice education center in the heart of East Camden, NJ., a ministry of St. Joseph's Pro-Cathedral Catholic Church. mission is to build bridges of understanding between people of faith in urban and suburban churches, leading people to a deeper awareness of our prophetic vocation, as we respond to our sisters and brothers in remarkable need. Participants on this immersion trip will take part in the Romero Center's Urban Challenge. Urban Challenge is the cornerstone program sponsored by the Romero Center. The Urban Challenge experience gives Catholics and other people of faith the opportunity to build bridges of understanding. We help to confront issues which divide us - poverty, race, class - in a prayerful and constructive environment. Through the Urban Challenge experience, we combine volunteer service in the city with work, study and prayer. During the day, we work at a variety of work sites: in schools, with hot meals programs, at drop-in centers for persons infected and affected with HIV and AIDS, at housing construction, with the South Jersey Food Bank and with several other agencies in Camden and the Philadelphia area. In the evening, we discuss urban poverty, social and economic justice and reflect on our call, as disciples, to embrace a "preferential option for the poor". We also tour the city and listen to people from the community tell their stories about living in Camden.
(Issues: homelessness, urban poverty, social outreach/services)Freedom Ride
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).
Summer
Do Justice · Build Community · Keep Faith · Live SimplyHabitat for Humanity
Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation (Eagle Butte, SD)Okiciyapi Tipi Habitat for Humanity began in 1994 when Jimmy Carter and 1200 volunteers came to Eagle Butte to build thirty homes. The project has completed forty-five homes across the reservation and plans to build an additional homes every year. This ABI consists of labor-intensive service, typical of any Habitat for Humanity trip, with opportunities for learning and cultural immersion through community interaction and activities.
(Issues: rural poverty, racism, Native American spirituality/cultural movements)