IVC Impact
IVC animates the expertise of individuals over 50 who have the passion and commitment to direct their attention to issues impacting the world. 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 our 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.
IVC’s corps members commit to serve one or two days a week as health care professionals, teachers, social workers, job trainers, teachers, and more, in direct service to the poor. They also work in indirect service, coaching executive directors of community nonprofits, providing financial, human resources, administrative, and fundraising support to organizations to increase efficiency and expand the capacity of organizations serving the poor. Each corps member serves between eight and sixteen hours a week from September through June. Corps members may renew their service year after year with 80% serving for five or more years with the same community partner.
Approximately 600 corps members currently serve in twenty regions throughout the United States. They work in over 300 agencies to
- Address chronic homelessness
- Provide legal services
- Serve persons and families with disabilities
- Integrate refugees and asylees into society
- Care for injured military veterans and their families
- Educate disadvantaged youth
- Facilitate medical care for individuals who are uninsured or underinsured
- Train and equip adults toward employment
- Reduce recidivism for ex-offenders
- Increase capacity of social service agencies in many more ways