Experience Making a Difference

Experience Making a Difference

Stories from Chicago

Papal Visit Inspires Media’s Interest in IVC

In conjunction with Pope Francis’ visit to the US, IVC invited several media outlets to see for themselves how the words of Pope Francis are being put into action. In the coming weeks, we’ll be inviting more media outlets to take a closer look at the programs that...

Father and Son

“Part of our call to follow Christ is to look around and see what else we can do.  Pope Francis calls us to do more, to serve the materially poor,” says Jim Shea, SJ, a Jesuit in formation of the Chicago-Detroit Province. Jim and his father Dick Shea, an Ignatian...

Discerning Her Role in the Vineyard

Judy Coswell believes the call to join the Ignatian Volunteer Corps was “put in front of her.” In 2014, as she was considering retirement after a long career in horticulture, an announcement in the local church bulletin caught her attention: an invitation to attend an...

Transformed by His Love

Transformed by His Love

“Spiritual retreats ending homelessness” is the tagline of the Ignatian Spirituality Project (ISP), an IVC partner agency. Ignatian Volunteers serve as Retreat Coordinators in three of ISP’s 24 cities: Boston, Chicago, and Cleveland.ISP’s successful retreat model...

Companions on the Journey

This post from Ignatian Volunteer Don Gibel first appeared on IVC Chicago's Footprints Blog.  I am going on my 12th year with IVC, which has been very important in my life, and my 10th year at my current placement, Faith and Fellowship. Faith and Fellowship is a one...

IVC and the Danger of Falling in Love

This post by Ignatian Volunteer Camille Devaney first appeared in IVC Chicago's Footprints Blog. I have been at the same volunteer site for four years. Nursing home ministry is not anything I would have chosen. However, at the time when I interviewed, there were very...

Teenagers

This reflection comes from Ignatian Volunteer Kate Kniest, who finished her second year of service at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan, IL.  It was originally printed in IVC Chicago's Footprints blog. Walking through the halls of Cristo Rey St. Martin...

By the Hand

This week’s blog post by Ignatian Volunteer Marta Hernandez Sayeed was originally published in IVC Chicago's Footprints blog. Sometimes, it is hard to believe that I am finishing my fourth year as an assistant chaplain at Stroger Hospital.  By the end of my third...

I’m Blessed

This blog post by Peggy Scanlan Brown was originally published in the IVC Chicago Footprints Blog. Am I the only impatient volunteer in the bunch?  I ask God for patience every day because I believe that I, and everyone I am working with, could do more to assist those...

Transformed by His Love: Jan’s Story

"Here I am in this middle-class, pretty affluent suburb.  My problems have been what my children and I call 'first-world problems.'  IVC put me into a different place, in community with women who I wouldn't have known otherwise.  It has transformed my life.  Even...