While seeking spiritual guidance several years ago, Susan Federman, an occupational therapist, was introduced by her parish priest to current IVC Milwaukee Director Monica Meagher, who at the time was obtaining her credentials for administering the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola at Loyola University Chicago. Monica, seeking volunteers for her practicum semester administering the Spiritual Exercises, encouraged Susan to participate. Susan, very excitedly, agreed to participate. When recalling her experience of the Spiritual Exercises, Susan remarks: “I was delighted it worked out well because I was fascinated by the Spiritual Exercises, which I didn’t know a whole lot about at that point in time. But the more I read about them and the more I thought about them, I thought, well this seems like something great to go through”.
During the duration of the Spiritual Exercises, Susan talked to Monica about wanting to take part in meaningful volunteer work. Monica shared her knowledge of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, which she had learned about during her studies, and asked if she was willing to try and establish an IVC region in Milwaukee. Susan agreed that it was a positive idea and so they started to lay the foundations for what would eventually become IVC Milwaukee. After taking some time off from participating, Susan sought to become more involved again with IVC Milwaukee.
For the past year and a half, Susan has been working with Dismas Ministry, a ministry which aids the incarcerated who wish to strengthen their relationship with God by providing them with Catholic materials, like the Bible and rosaries. She assists the Dismas Ministry with their order fulfillment department by receiving orders from ministers and prisoners, managing the organization’s inventory, and helping organize their fulfillment systems. Recalling her experiences working in the order fulfillment department, Susan expressed her delight volunteering at the ministry and with the volunteer work she has undertaken. Further elaborating on her positive experiences while volunteering at Dismas Ministry, Susan said:
“I was delighted because in all the corporal works of mercy, I always looked at them and I thought, feed the hungry, I can do that. I can do all these different things but when I would always get to visit the imprisoned, I thought that’s just never one that would come naturally for me to be in direct prison ministry. And so, I was delighted to have some kind of connection with that particular work of mercy because, like I said, most of us don’t get an opportunity to be in that role.”
Susan says that volunteering at Dismas Ministry made her realize how important it is to serve those who are incarcerated and the positive impact it can have on them. Reflecting on her experiences both as a member of IVC Milwaukee and as a volunteer at Dismas Ministry, Susan highlights the importance of realizing that, partaking in the Spiritual Exercises and the volunteer work through IVC does in the end benefit someone in some way. When speaking about the value of service and what might call some to it, Susan said: “I think if you feel like there’s a tug somehow in your life, either you feel directly like God’s calling you to do something or you just feel open I think it’s very worth a person’s time to see if this is what might be calling to you”.