Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest
Encyclopedia
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and Washington.
History
Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest started in 1956 with just a few committed volunteers who built and taught in the newly formed Copper Valley School for Alaska Native and non-Native children. Under the sponsorship of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
(Jesuits), the Jesuit Volunteers expanded out of Alaska in the 1960s. They began living and working with Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
communities throughout the Northwest region, as well as serving in inner city placements in Washington and Oregon and beyond. From its roots in the Northwest, the Jesuit Volunteer Corps has spread throughout the United States and abroad. Over the past 50 years over 12,000 individuals have served as Jesuit Volunteers through JVC and JVC Northwest, with more than 6,000 of those serving in the Northwest.
In 2009, five of the six Jesuit Volunteer Corps organizations merged to form JVC to share resources for one common mission. JVC Northwest made a decision in to remain an independent region when the East, Midwest, South and Southwest regions, along with Jesuit Volunteers International, made a decision to unite. Both continue to collaborate, united in shared foundational values. JVC Northwest is committed to providing well-supported volunteers to address the most urgent needs in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
.
Values
Over the years, the experience of volunteers and their reflection on that experience have been distilled into four values: community, simple living, social justice and spirituality. JVs make a commitment to the JVC Northwest program and to their service placements to strive to live these four interconnected values.
COMMUNITY: JVs live with one another in a community setting. The process of building community offers an opportunity to share experience, faith and hope. Women and men come to JVC Northwest with diverse backgrounds and expectations. The challenge for each person is to respect and learn from these differences while building on common values. Community requires time, effort and sacrifice, while giving back many wonderful, unexpected gifts. Volunteer communities are places to share and grow collectively and individually. Living in community often marks the beginning of lasting friendships.
SIMPLE LIVING: JVC Northwest challenges each volunteer to live a simple and reflective lifestyle, an alternative way to living in a consumer society. JVC Northwest stresses spiritual values over material possessions and invites volunteers to integrate their faith by working and living among those who experience poverty and oppression. This helps volunteers to experience the lives of those with whom they interact on a daily basis and to raise their consciousness to the human needs surrounding them. Often, volunteers find that living simply opens them up to a more joyful way of life, appreciating small wonders that often go unnoticed in everyday life.
SOCIAL JUSTICE: JVC Northwest is committed to working for social and ecological justice and structural change through faith. Volunteers work with others dedicated to serving people's basic physical, emotional and spiritual needs. JVC Northwest encourages and nurtures the empowerment of people who live on the margins of society by supporting programs allowing people to help themselves. Through work and reflection on lived experiences, JVs examine the causes of oppression and look for ways to bring about justice in our world.
SPIRITUALITY: A vital aspect of the JVC Northwest year is the opportunity for the volunteers to explore and deepen their spiritual lives. Their journey is part of a life-long process that can be both comforting and unsettling, joyous and painful. The volunteers are "contemplatives in action" - women and men who are committed to the Gospel, integrating faith and working for justice. Because the volunteers live in community, they have the opportunity to reflect and pray with other committed Christians and people of faith, and to participate in liturgical celebrations. The expression of spirituality, which grows out of work for justice and living Gospel values, makes volunteers part of an active and prophetic church.
External links
Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest Official website www.jvcnorthwest.org
Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest blog http://www.jvcnorthwest.wordpress.com