Brother Darst Center
The Brother David Darst Center is a social justice education center located on the southside of Chicago in the Bridgeport neighborhood. Founded in 2002 as a ministry of the De LaSalle Christian Brothers, the Darst Center is unique in providing opportunities for youth and young adults to see more clearly the faces pushed to the margins of our society.
In addition to hearing stories from and building relationships with marginalized communities, participating youth and young adults are challenged to respond to the many needs of our world as discussed and explored through Darst Center programs. It is our hope that, through deep experiences, social analysis, and reflection, young people feel inspired to act within their own communities for justice and peace.
Mission: The Br. David Darst Center provides transformative urban immersion experiences and educational programs in the Lasallian tradition. By exploring issues of peace and justice through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching, we seek to inspire an active and engaged faith, a commitment to serve, and a personal passion for social change.
History: The Brother David Darst Center, located in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago, was founded in August, 2002, by Br. Denis Murphy, a De La Salle Christian Brother, in collaboration with Thomas and Claudia Thomas. The Darst Center and its mission were developed in response to the growing need for youth and young adults to be educated on issues of social justice and inspired to be intentional about their own just living.
In the fall of 2002, the Darst Center received recognition as an Illinois non-profit corporation, establishing its 501c3 federal and Illinois state tax-exempt status. At the same time, a Board of Directors was organized, comprised of Christian Brothers, Mercy Sisters and lay members. This Board has served as the consistent support of the Darst Center's development.
Camp Friendship
Camp Friendship is sponsored by St. Christopher Catholic Church in the Dioceses of Jacksonville, Mississippi and serves the children of rural, northeast Mississippi. Camp Friendship is located on a bluff 11 miles north of Aberdeen, MS, about 2 hours south of Memphis, TS.
The 175 acres home to Camp Friendship were developed by the Presbyterians in the 1940s. In the 1970s, Catholics in the area began using the camp for the purpose of bringing local children together to encourage and promote racial harmony.
Volunteers of all ages are still working today to keep that spirit alive. Every summer, volunteers travel from all across the U.S. for the opportunity to serve and work with the children of Mississippi.
Fordham has been working with Camp Friendship for close to three decades and is grateful for their continued partnership! In addition to sending students to Camp, we have recently built out a civil rights centric GO! Project called the Southern US.
Caribbean Social Immersion Program
The Caribbean Social Immersion Program helps to understand the social realities in the Caribbean with social immersion programs for college and high students...The Core of our programs is our partnership with organizations and ministries created and run by the Jesuits and affiliated groups to create specific contextualized and informed experiences.
The Caribbean Social Immersion Program creates “all-inclusive” and customized social immersion and service experiences for groups of 12 to 25 participants in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Guyana, Colombia and Perú. The Caribbean Social Immersion Program offers social immersion programs to college students, and service immersion programs for high school students.
Our programs are coordinated by Centro Montalvo, a social and educational center of the Society of Jesus in the Dominican Republic, with the support of Jesuit organizations in Cuba, Haiti, Guyana, Colombia and Perú.
Centro Montalvo is dedicated to implementing programs of accompaniment and social training, as well as research, communication and advocacy in the Dominican Republic.
Knowing the Caribbean helps to understand an important wave of 3.5 million immigrants in the United States. This region is a convection of many different cultures: French, Spanish, Briton, American, Creole, and Amerindians. We showcase and provide meaningful and informed encounters with leaders and communities across society in every country we visit.
Center for Global Education & Experience - Augsburg University
The Center for Global Education and Experience operates Augsburg University study centers in Central America, Mexico, and Southern Africa. Our programming in each region includes an emphasis on social justice and community engagement. We provide global experiences for students, institutions for higher education, non-profit organizations, businesses, churches, and others.
Mission: CGEE delivers high-impact, experiential programming in Latin America and Southern Africa. CGEE programs are designed to learn from communities and groups working for social change to inform thought and action for personal and societal transformation.
History: Since 1979, the Center for Global Education and Experience (CGEE) at Augsburg University has welcomed students from more than 300 institutions of higher education to our summer and semester study abroad programs in Central America, Mexico, and Southern Africa. We hope you will be one of the newest members of the CGEE community and join us.
CRISPAZ- Christians for Peace in El Salvador
CRISPAZ is an ecumenical faith-based organization dedicated to building bridges of solidarity between the Church of the poor and marginalized communities in El Salvador and communities in the US, Canada, Australia, and other countries through mutual accompaniment. CRISPAZ strives for peace, justice, and human liberation. As an organization, we are politically non-partisan and committed to nonviolence.
El Salvador e-Encounter is a faith-based delegation experience where participants learn from the Salvadoran people about their lives, histories, and hopes for the future.
El Salvador e-Encounter is an in-depth e-learning experience for anyone wanting to learn about El Salvador. e-Encounters are 5 days long and offer the opportunity to have live conversations with grassroots organization leaders, members from rural communities as well as speakers on history, politics, economics, and more importantly current issues affecting El Salvador, The e-Encounter will allow participants to learn about the martyr sites of the Hospitalito, the place where Mons. Romero was shot and the Central American University (UCA). through exclusive videos created by the CRISPAZ staff and daily reflections at the end of each day.
Encuentro Project
The “Encuentro Project”, in Ciudad Juárez (Mexico) and El Paso (United States), offers services for planning and lodging to deal with life experiences, in the area between the two countries, dedicated to migrants. The project includes direct work with applicants for asylum, migrants and refugees. Also, it offers social Catholic education about projects and the lives of migrants on the frontiers, through visits, meditation and spiritual accompaniment.
"Project Encounter" is an inter-congregational, collaborative project which includes the Jesuits, the Marist Brothers, the Sisters of San Francisco of the Holy Family, lay people, and the Instituto Fronterizo Esperanza (Border Institute Hope).
The Marist Brothers, Todd Patenaude (Prov. United States) and Navarrese Eduardo De La Torre (Prov. Western Mexico) who work for the Project form a Marist community in the border area in El Paso, United States.
Mission: The Encuentro Project, rooted in the tradition of Faith that does Justice, offers participants a faith-based, multi-faceted immersion program in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez border region to experience a deeper understanding of the complex migration reality and of this community.
Enlaces Comunitarios Internacionales
Our Center is the physical space for the confluence of communities, social organizations, academic institutions and international organizations; This is achieved through sustainability at the local, regional, national and international levels to generate bonds and relationships of coexistence based on social and environmental responsibility, mutual respect, intercultural understanding, equality, justice and solidarity.
“Just and fraternal experiences to transform the world”
Sustainability and Agroecology
Our projects focus on environmental, cultural, economic and socio-political viability.
Educate yourself
We promote creativity and artistic education.
Share, Learn and Transform
Interweaving in community, contact us.
Kino Border Initiative
Before the Kino Border Initiative was founded in January of 2009, a needs assessment was conducted to determine whether a new migrant ministry should be inaugurated along the border between Arizona and Sonora. Potential stakeholders were interviewed on both sides of the border, and they identified the need for humanitarian assistance for deported migrants in Nogales, Sonora, the vulnerability of women and children to abuse and exploitation and the opportunity to raise awareness about the reality of migration and its effects. Also, since migration is a multinational phenomenon, it was recommended that a new project be binational in scope.
In light of this feedback, the Kino Border Initiative was set up to work with one foot on each side of the Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. As a faith-based organization, the KBI strives to respond to the most critical needs by respecting the God-given dignity of the human person and by fostering bi-national solidarity through humanitarian assistance, education and research/advocacy.
Their mission is to promote US/Mexico border and immigration policies that affirm the dignity of the human person and a spirit of bi-national solidarity through:
Direct humanitarian assistance and accompaniment with migrants
Social and pastoral education with communities on both sides of the border
Participation in collaborative networks that engage in research and advocacy to transform local, regional, and national immigration policies
Lower 9th Center for Sustainable Engagement & Development
Mission and Values: The Lower 9th Ward CSED focuses on coastal rehabilitation, greening the built environment and increasing food security by lifting up and strategically reinforcing community driven goals throughout our work of creating an economically, culturally and environmentally sustainable Lower Ninth Ward.
As we rebuild our economic, cultural and environmental capacities – we initiate, support, stimulate and partner on projects and programs that help us reach our goal of rebuilding an equitable, sustainable and resilient community. The mission of CSED is to create a sustainable environment through education and advocacy. Organizational priorities, including community science workshops and service-learning opportunities, focus on identifying sustainable solutions to regional climate challenges.
Motown Mission
Motown Mission is an urban work mission destination in Detroit, MI for Christian youth, college, and adult groups interested in economic disaster recovery work in the name of Jesus Christ. Deeply rooted in Wesleyan Theology, Motown Mission began as a United Methodist organization and continues to maintain the connection to the contemporary UMC's commitment to grace, mission, and service as a means for individual and communal transformation.
Theology: As a United Methodist related organization Motown Mission seeks to connect young people to Wesleyan principles of faith in God, and service as a means of grace. So, each week we create opportunities for teams to help the people in the city (social holiness) fight poverty and other effects of the economic crisis. Then, with moments of prayer and reflection we help teams explore how God is changing lives and transforming hearts (personal holiness). Motown Mission welcomes participants from any and all Christian traditions interested in doing no harm, learning how to do good, and practicing staying in love with God.
Impact: Over the years Motown Mission has helped over 5,000 participants from 310 churches offer 163,000 hours of volunteer work to the people of the City of Detroit. In total the value of this time and material now add up to over $3.9 Million worth of service to this city in the name of Jesus Christ.
(Online) Experience: You and your group are invited to embark on a virtual service opportunity with Motown Mission (Online) Experience without coming to Detroit!! Through Motown Mission (Online), your group will take a deep dive into the city of Detroit including its history and current issues, and hear from project partners about how you can help Detroit from home. Your group will also participate in a virtual service activity, devotions and prayer, and fun games and activities led by Motown Mission staff!
Part of the Solution
About: In 1982, a group of people started a soup kitchen in the Bronx, where each client is seen as a valued member of a loving community, deserving not only healthy food, but also the support needed to move from crisis to stability, and ultimately to self-sufficiency.
Part of the Solution’s (POTS) services address the varying issues and complexities that accompany poverty by helping clients find stability across areas such as financial wellbeing, health, education, housing and day-to-day needs. By providing comprehensive and personalized support to our clients, we are able to tailor support to their unique circumstances and help navigate a pathway forward.
According to POTS’ Theory of Change, individuals will make the greatest and most-sustained progress toward stability and self-sufficiency if they are provided access to the resources, programs, and services needed to make progress in five related stability-creating areas: education, housing, financial, day-to-day, and health.
Information on Joining: POTS looks for staff members who are committed to helping people move from crisis to stability and ultimately, self-sufficiency and to providing services with professionalism, compassion and respect.
POTS is an equal opportunity employer with a competitive benefits and salary package.
Please see our current openings listed below and follow the application instructions on the posting. No phone or in-person inquiries will receive a response.
Romero Center
History: Romero Center Ministries was founded on March 24, 1998, on the 18th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Oscar Romero of El Salvador. St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral parish converted an empty convent in its campus with a vision for an urban retreat center that would ground people in Jesus’ call to serve the poor among us.
Romero Center Ministries began with the intention of bringing the Church community to Camden to experience an enlightened conversion and commitment. We wanted young people to see that there is both opportunity and challenge in the work of the Church. We wanted adults to understand their role in bringing about a societal commitment to end poverty and discrimination in our world.
Mission: Based in Camden, NJ, Romero Center Ministries provides Catholic education and retreat experiences inspired by Saint Oscar Romero’s prophetic witness.
We seek personal, communal, and societal transformation by living ministry as proclaimed in Christ’s Gospel.
Rostro de Cristo
About: Rostro de Cristo inspires a lifelong commitment to a faith that works for justice through transformative, intercultural experiences living the Gospel of Christ in solidarity with marginalized communities. Our program is currently located in Ecuador and opportunities to participate include: service and immersion experiences for high schools, colleges and parishes, volunteer program for young adults, and adult pilgrimages.
Mission & Values: To inspire a lifelong commitment to a faith that works for justice through transformative, intercultural experiences living the Gospel of Christ in solidarity with marginalized communities.
Shared experience of faith: We believe in a faith which is transformative and hopeful, which celebrates the unity and diversity of God’s creation. We desire to see Christ in each person and to communicate Christ’s love through our actions and words. We are grounded by our Catholic faith which calls us to a radical openness to and trust in God’s unconditional love and mercy for all.
Serving in solidarity with those on the margins: We choose to live in economically impoverished communities, to enter into these communities with humility and partner with local efforts that respond to their basic needs and seek to understand the causes of the injustices in which they live.
Mutuality: We recognize the dignity of every person and the diversity of the human family. We commit to fostering interpersonal relationships of mutual appreciation, respect, and accountability. We do this by honoring each individual’s unique identities, inclusive of their gender, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and status, as we open ourselves to learning from them and sharing ourselves authentically in return.
Build intercultural community: We commit to living in an intentional Christian community supporting each other’s spiritual and personal growth with love, acceptance, and understanding; and sharing resources to ensure that each person has what they need to thrive.
Living simply: We prioritize authentic relationships with God and others. We recognize the limits of our common home, and act to end the unjust distribution of wealth and opportunity.
Hospitality: We believe that opening our hearts and homes to others is an opportunity to receive God’s blessings and to share Christ’s love.
Siyafundisa
Mission: Siyafundisa Farming and Business Development aims to assist farmers in building prosperous farms and benefit exceptional operational capacity. Our company is driven by highly successful and experienced personnel in the farming industry. For the past seven years the collective efforts of Siyafundisa and commercial farmers have been at the forefront of transforming the farming business in South Africa. Moreover, unlocking the potential of upcoming farmers.
Siyafundisa also installs full irrigation systems and this is supplied and installed through Siyafundisa FBD to secure a warranty.
About: We take the rocket science out of your farm by simplifying all your farming actions. As a farming company, we assist farmers in understanding their farm’s needs as they devote themselves to the field of primary agriculture.
History: Siyafundisa Farming company has a successful track record of years of experience in the farming and agriculture industry. Siyafundisa farming and business development was founded by Tobie De Beer. He is passionate about agriculture and skill development in people.
St. Xavier's College - Kolkata
Mission: As a Jesuit higher educational institution, St Xavier’s pursues a policy in admission, formation, and training, in favor of the Christian minority and the poor i.e. socially and financially marginalized including SC / ST / OBC. Financial assistance in terms of scholarships, direct financial assistance, book bank facility, etc is generously offered to deserving and talented students, irrespective of caste and creed.
About: St. Xavier’s College offers UG and PG courses under five faculties: Arts, Science, Commerce, Business Administration, and Education. It also offers various professional certificate and diploma courses under Career Oriented Programmes and Computer Centre. St. Xavier’s offers Ph.D. in Physics, Biotechnology, Microbiology, and Commerce.
History: A Christian Minority Higher Educational Institution, St. Xavier’s was founded in 1860 by a Catholic Minority Religious body, the Society of Jesus, and was affiliated to Calcutta University in 1862. While preference is shown to the educational and cultural needs of the Minority community, admission is open to all irrespective of caste, creed and nationality!
Ukrainian Catholic University
Mission: The Ukrainian Catholic University is an open academic community living the Eastern Christian tradition and forming leaders to serve with professional excellence in Ukraine and internationally – for the glory of God, the common good, and the dignity of the human person.
About: The Ukrainian Catholic University is an open academic community, which lives by the EasternChristian tradition and raises the leaders of the nation, professionals, for the ministry both in Ukraine and abroad – in the name of God’s glory, common good and human dignity.
History: The Ukrainian Catholic University has inherited and continues to uphold the scholarly traditions of the Greek Catholic Theological Academy established in the late 1920s by Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky. Rev. Josyf Slipyj was the academy’s first rector. After the institution was closed in 1944, its mission and function were assumed by the Rome-based Pope St. Clement Ukrainian Catholic University organized and chaired by Metropolitan Josyf Slipyj in 1963.
Via International
About: Via International is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with 45 years of experience engaging people to participate in community development initiatives. Our focus is to improve quality of life by providing educational and transformational experiences to connect people to community development work through voluntourism and civic engagement. Via’s expertise lies in developing relationships at the grassroots level and listening and responding to the needs of each community. We support projects defined by the community that builds leadership skills, promote gender equality, self-empowerment, and civic engagement, and provides long-term solutions to improve individual’s lives. We define Community Development as a participatory process through which community members identify community needs and organize themselves to take the actions necessary to improve their quality of life.
We’re a group of passionate, community-conscious change makers who are committed to building leadership and self-reliance in under-served communities.
Vision: We envision a world where all people live in just, sustainable, and healthy communities.
Mission: Working across borders, we engage leaders to promote sustainable development in under-resourced communities.
Method: Our process is participatory where people identify their needs and take individual and collective action to improve the quality of life.
The Working Boys’ Center
Mission: Our goal is that our families will be united in their Christian commitment, be financially independent, have access to education, health and quality basic services; become agents of change, oriented to the construction of a just society that promotes equal participation and respect for fundamental rights.
About: The Working Boys’ Center is a Jesuit ministry located in Quito, Ecuador. The Center was founded in 1964 to address the educational needs of boys working on the streets of Quito shining shoes. Soon afterward, the program was expanded to include the entire family and the Working Boys’ Center was born. Since its inception, the Center’s overarching objective has been to eliminate poverty among working children and their families. To date, over 6,000 families or around 30,000 people have left poverty forever as a result of the Center’s programs.
The Working Boys’ Center promotes the practice of ten moral values: loyalty, personal development, family, religion, education, economy, work, recreation, health, and housing. Their programs include a comprehensive education program, which begins with nursery school and ends with adult continuing education courses, and a healthcare initiative program that provides medical and dental care to Quito families. The Center’s kitchen serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily to 2,000 people. Lastly, the Center also assists Ecuadorans in obtaining loans to start their own businesses.
History: The Working Boys’ Center in Quito was founded in 1964 to address the educational needs of boys working on the streets shining shoes. Soon afterward, the program was expanded to include the entire family and Working Boys’ Center – A Family of Families was born. Since its inception, our objective has been to eliminate poverty among working children and their families. To date, over 6,000 families or around 30,000 people have left poverty forever as a result of the Center Family of Families programs.
St. Ignace Primary and High School
Saint Ignace School is a primary and secondary school located in kibagabaga in Kigali city. It is a Christian, Catholic School.
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/epsignace.kibagabaga/
If you interested in collaborating with or learning more about our GO! International Non-Governmental Organizations, please contact Vanessa Rotondo, Assistant Director of Immersions and Student Leadership.