Loyola 4 Chicago
Service - Justice - Community
Loyola4Chicago is a Community Service and Action program in which students provide once-weekly volunteer service in Chicago during the academic year. Join 200 of your peers in this fulfilling Loyola tradition!
We will open applications for Fall in September 2025.
What do volunteers do? Students work in small groups at various sites including work with children, seniors, immigrants and refugees, folks with disabilities, and folks experiencing homelessness, among others. Some tutor, some lead activities, some play games and build community.
What is the commitment? Volunteers commit to serving once a week for one semester, with the option to reapply and return for the following semesters. Most groups last about 3 hours each week, including group travel time. In addition to each group's weekly service, the students meet twice in a semester for a reflection on their service. Please do not apply if you do not intend to uphold the weekly commitment.
How do we get to site? All volunteers are expected to travel with their group using public transportation, so you will need your U-Pass or a way to pay for the train. Each volunteer group is led by a student leader who coordinates meeting times and the route. All volunteers must travel to and from campus with their groups, even if a student lives off campus.
Why serve? Loyola4Chicago volunteers have the unique opportunity to better connect with our neighbors off campus and get to know the Roger's Park and Edgewater neighborhoods. Volunteers also get to meet and build friendships with Loyola students in their small groups who also value service. Volunteers are gifted opportunities to learn about their identities, skills, and deepen their roots in our community.
Please note that some (not all) sites will require proof of vaccination, background checks and fingerprinting, and some may require Social Security numbers to initiate the background check. Some also require a government-issued ID of some kind (driver's license, passport, etc.) If you have any questions regarding this process or any of these requirement present a barrier for you, please contact serve@luc.edu and we will help you make the best choices for you! We hope you will volunteer with us!
Aims of Loyola4Chicago
- To give students the opportunity to connect with Chicago's diverse communities and needs through an extended urban service experience that provides reliable, consistent support from the Loyola community.
- To provide the opportunity for students to reflect on their experience, analyze the social systems impacting the lives of the people they work with, and foster a commitment to creating a more just society.
Service with reflection is the best and most direct way that students begin to fulfill the Jesuit educational goal of becoming “persons for and with others.” Working among marginalized communities raises the universal questions of life's meaning and purpose. More than anything, an openness to grappling with the questions that consistent volunteer service inevitably raises is a must.
Monthly reflections organized by the Student Leaders consist of informal gatherings among individual groups that are an opportunity to build an understanding of the work.
Commitment
Signing up for Loyola4Chicago means you are committing to serve at the same time and same place every week while classes are in session for one semester. This is an important commitment to make to our community partners. Making that commitment and not following through adversely affects the individuals we serve, the community partners we work with, and the relationship between Loyola and those partners. We ask that you only sign up for Loyola4Chicago if you are willing to make that commitment for at least one semester.
Additionally, you commit to monthly reflection sessions with your volunteer team. These conversations help us to learn about our community and ourselves through the lens of our shared service experiences.
Please do not apply if you do not intend to uphold this commitment.
Loyola4Chicago Sites
All times include travel to and from the volunteer site.
Please note that you are committing to ONE instance of volunteering, not all. For example, you can volunteer with Jordan Community School on Tuesday *or* Wednesday. You would not volunteer both days.
| Location | Days | Times (include travel time from LSC) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centro Romero |
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays,
Fridays |
2:45-6:15pm (Mon-Thurs)
|
After school program tutoring and mentoring with students ranging from grades 1-12. Centro Romero serves the Hispanic and Latino refugee and immigrant communities on the northeast side of Chicago. |
| Chicago HOPES for Kids |
Mondays Wednesdays Thursdays |
4:30-7:30pm (Mon and Weds) 3:15-6:15 (Thurs) |
Tutor kids grades 1-8 who are experiencing homelessness on site at a HOPES shelter. Volunteers will work one on one on reading skills. Requires a background check. |
| Aperion Care Wesley Place |
Wednesdays |
1:30-3:30pm |
Support elderly adults on the memory care wing of this nursing home through brain games, activities, and community building. Volunteers will support residents with Alzheimer's and Dementia. Requires a background check and proof of COVID vaccination. |
| Envision Unlimited |
Tuesdays |
5:30-8:00pm |
Facilitate games and activities with residents in a women's group-living home for disabled adults. Requires a background check. |
| Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America (FORA) |
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday |
4:00-7:00pm
|
Provide one-on-one tutoring and support to refugee children in Rogers Park. Requires a background check and proof of COVID vaccination. |
| Jordan Community School: Homework Helpers |
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays |
2:45-5:15pm | Provide homework help for Rogers Park children grades 1-5 in a group setting. Requires a background check. |
| LivingWorks |
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays |
3:30-5:45pm | Support academic enrichment through one on one tutoring for children grades 1-5 in Rogers Park at Kilmer Elementary. |
| Misericordia |
Mondays
Tuesdays
Thursdays |
5:45-8:30pm 2-4:30pm (Tues) 5:45-8:50pm |
Join residents of this campus for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities by supporting their participation in recreational activities such as yoga, group sports, and fiber arts. |
| Sarah's Circle |
Mondays |
4:30-7pm | Support meal prep and activities for women in this shelter setting. Sarah's Circle is working to end homelessness. |
| Syrian Community Network |
Mondays and Wednesdays |
3:30-6:30 | Afterschool program tutoring immigrant and refugee kids grades 1-5. Requires background check. |
Service - Justice - Community
Loyola4Chicago is a Community Service and Action program in which students provide once-weekly volunteer service in Chicago during the academic year. Join 200 of your peers in this fulfilling Loyola tradition!
We will open applications for Fall in September 2025.
What do volunteers do? Students work in small groups at various sites including work with children, seniors, immigrants and refugees, folks with disabilities, and folks experiencing homelessness, among others. Some tutor, some lead activities, some play games and build community.
What is the commitment? Volunteers commit to serving once a week for one semester, with the option to reapply and return for the following semesters. Most groups last about 3 hours each week, including group travel time. In addition to each group's weekly service, the students meet twice in a semester for a reflection on their service. Please do not apply if you do not intend to uphold the weekly commitment.
How do we get to site? All volunteers are expected to travel with their group using public transportation, so you will need your U-Pass or a way to pay for the train. Each volunteer group is led by a student leader who coordinates meeting times and the route. All volunteers must travel to and from campus with their groups, even if a student lives off campus.
Why serve? Loyola4Chicago volunteers have the unique opportunity to better connect with our neighbors off campus and get to know the Roger's Park and Edgewater neighborhoods. Volunteers also get to meet and build friendships with Loyola students in their small groups who also value service. Volunteers are gifted opportunities to learn about their identities, skills, and deepen their roots in our community.
Please note that some (not all) sites will require proof of vaccination, background checks and fingerprinting, and some may require Social Security numbers to initiate the background check. Some also require a government-issued ID of some kind (driver's license, passport, etc.) If you have any questions regarding this process or any of these requirement present a barrier for you, please contact serve@luc.edu and we will help you make the best choices for you! We hope you will volunteer with us!