The Ignatian Volunteer Corps announces the appointment of Curran Gaughan as Director for its San Diego Region. The Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) harnesses the expertise of individuals over 50 who have the passion and commitment to direct their attention to issues impacting our world while offering opportunities to reflect and pray in the Ignatian tradition.
Service Corps Members use their time and experience to give back and make a difference. They are leaders of change, offering vital resources to organizations, churches, and schools that are at the heart of these struggling communities. Through their direct service among the materially poor, members enter the lived experience of others, showing respect for the dignity and equality of those they serve and serve with. Members are sustained through their commitment to Ignatian Spirituality and the community they create with one another. Seeking the presence of God in each person, they bring their stories back to one another in community to reflect, enrich, teach, and learn.
Before joining IVC, Curran was a Case Manager at Aurora Behavioral Health Care for 3 ½ years. Prior to that he worked for 9 years at St. Paul’s PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) where he was the Social Work Supervisor. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and earned a B.A. in History from Boston College, and a Master’s in Social Work from San Diego State University. In between receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Curran served for two years with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
IVC currently has 600 members in service in 21 locales including Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Washington DC. Corps members serve two days a week in social service agencies, schools, nursing homes and prisons. The inspiration of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), guides a unique spiritual facet of the program: spiritual reflectors are assigned to corps members to help them deepen their spiritual lives as they serve the poor. Most members of the corps find the program so meaningful that they stay year after year. Directors of organizations partnering with IVC value the mature, steady contribution made by its members, and rely on them as part-time employees.
In the United States, the Jesuits are well known for their educational leadership and are associated with 27 Jesuit colleges and universities and 60 Jesuit high schools. The two Jesuit founders of IVC began their search for corps members among the alumni of these schools. These Jesuits were aware of the new generation of older Americans who are redefining “retirement” as they enter these years in greater numbers, healthier and younger than prior generations.
Currently, there are over 40 million Americans of retirement age and by 2030 there will be 70 million. “IVC is unique in that it provides the service corps members with the opportunity to offer direct service with those in need, but it also provides a support community – a faith community where people can come together and share the experiences they have when they serve, their concerns that come up through service, as well as the assurance that their fellow corps members are there for them through their service,” said Barbara J. Menard, member of the IVC San Diego Regional Advisory Council.
For more information on the IVC, contact 410-752-4686 or visit www.ivcusa.org.
Curran Gaughan, Director
2020-21 Regional Council
Stephanie Alvarez
Greg Evans
Adrienne Finley
Mary Meissner
Barbara Menard
Neil Quinn
Anne Wente, RSCJ
Emil Wick
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