Loyola University Chicago

Community Service & Action

Division of Mission Integration

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.

Applications for Fall will open the first week classes Fall semester 2023; check back here for the link. All volunteers (both returners and new folks) need to reapply every semester. Email serve@luc.edu with any questions. 

Students work in service teams at various sites including work with children, immigrants, folks with disabilities, and folks experiencing homelessness, among others. Volunteers commit to serving once a week for one semester, with the option to reapply and return for the following semesters. In addition to each group's weekly service, the students meet once a month for a reflection on their service. Each volunteer team is led by a student leader who coordinates meeting times and facilitates the group's reflections.

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 sites will require background checks and some may require Social Security numbers. If you have any questions regarding this process please contact serve@luc.edu and we will help you make the best choices for you. 

Please also note that all sites will require the use of public transportation. 

  • To give students the opportunity to experience Chicago's diverse populations and needs through an extended urban service experience that provides reliable, consistent assistance 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 others.” Working among the marginalized 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. Any forum that provides opportunity for discussion and fun is welcome and encouraged. A few gatherings each year bring all the Loyola4Chicago groups together and share their experiences through a relaxing, supportive environment that is bound to foster relationships and present continued opportunities to become involved with working for justice through service.

Signing up for Loyola4Chicago means you are committing to serve at the same time and same place every week while classes are in session. 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.

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.

 

LocationDaysTimes (include travel time from LSC)Description
Big Brothers Big Sisters

Monday, Wednesday

3:30-6:00pm

Mentor a student from Jordan Community School or Swift Elementary one-on-one

Centro Romero

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

Friday

2:45-6:15pm (Mon-Thurs)


2:30-5:30 (Fri)

Provide after-school tutoring and activities with Rogers Park children

Envision Unlimited

Tuesday

5:30-8:00pm

Build friendship with residents in a group-living home for adults with disabilities or other special needs

Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America (FORA)

Monday, Tuesday

 

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

6:30-9:30pm
(Mon, Tues)

 

 4:00-7:00pm
(Wed, Thurs, Fri)

Provide one-on-one intensive tutoring to youth who are refugees

Jordan Community School: Loyola Homework Helpers

Tuesday
Wednesday

2:30-5:00pm Provide homework assistance for Rogers Park children
McCutcheon Elementary School

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

3:15-6:30 Assist in after-school tutoring and other enrichment programs
Misericordia

Monday


Thursday

5:45-8:30pm
(Mon)

5:45-8:50pm
(Thurs)

Join residents of this campus for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in evening activities
Sarah's Circle

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

4:00-6:00pm Assist with meal preparation and community building with women residents experiencing homelessness