The 4波士顿 program includes time for students to reflect on their experience, 以及考虑社会问题, such as how the policies and structures that create unjust conditions for others can be transformed.
4波士顿, the largest weekly service organization at 电子游戏软件, is marking its 25th year of providing reliable, compassionate outreach to social service, 教育, and health care organizations in and around Boston.
十月至四月, 4波士顿 students volunteer four hours per week at their placement site and devote another hour to group reflection.
从1992年开始, 4波士顿 – administered by the Office of 校园 Ministry – has grown significantly, from approximately 150 students serving at 15-17 placements to 550 students at 28 placements for 2016-17.
“The 4波士顿 students are really passionate,校园部长卡莉·安德森说, 谁导演了《电子游戏正规平台》. “There’s a lot of loyalty for the placements. 学生们真的很忙, so for them to commit five-plus hours a week to being part of a group like this is incredible. It’s inspiring and hopeful to be working with [these] students.”
The hallmark of 4波士顿 is what program organizers refer to as the three pillars: community, 灵性, 以及社会公正. The community is created both at the placements and among the volunteers through service and reflection. The reflection time is used to address social justice issues, such as consideration of the policies and structures that create unjust conditions for others and how these circumstances can be transformed. The reflection also incorporates 灵性, such as discussing the ways that God moves through the service work.
“This idea of community engagement and service as part of being men and women for others is all rooted in the Jesuit faith tradition,安德森说, who notes that Loyola University Chicago has introduced a program modeled after 4波士顿. “4波士顿 is a pioneer in a lot of ways.”
艾米莉·索科尔，17岁, an English major and medical humanities minor in the pre-med program, 在玛丽安庄园做志愿者, 南波士顿的一家养老院, 从大一开始. She was drawn to that placement site after seeing first-hand the impact volunteers had at her grandmother’s nursing home.
She says 4波士顿 volunteers bring residents to Mass, followed by coffee hour or glee club. In the afternoon, volunteers help with activities such as bingo and bowling.
Sokol’s “favorite day of the year” is the Marian Manor Senior Prom. 4波士顿 volunteers created this annual event — complete with a theme and prom king and queen — for the residents and their families. 在四月的一个星期六举行, the event is attended by all the 4波士顿 volunteers assigned to Marian Manor.
According to Anderson, there is no typical 4波士顿 volunteer. The students in the program represent a range of academic interests, 国家和国际地理, and religious and spiritual backgrounds. “致力于我们的支柱——社区, 灵性, 以及社会公正 — is what these students have in common.”
罗伯特·哈丁，17岁, a political science and Hispanic studies double major, has been a volunteer at Edison K-8 School in Brighton for four years. “As a freshman, my 4波士顿 family was very important to me. The time spent with my small reflection group was very formative.”
The 4波士顿 volunteers at Edison work as teacher’s aides in the classroom during the school day. 学生 might help one of the teachers in the art room or work one-on-one with a student who needs a little extra help.
“致力于我们的支柱——社区, 灵性, 以及社会公正 - is what these students have in common."
对哈丁, seeing a student struggling with a task in October but making great strides by March is the biggest reward of his service.
Other 4波士顿 placement sites include Franciscan Hospital for Children, 珀金斯盲人学校, 松树街客栈, 罗茜的地方, St. 弗朗西斯的房子, 女性午餐店, 唐人街邻里中心, 杰克逊曼社区中心和圣. Columbkille Partnership School, among others.
Anderson says the enduring appeal of 4波士顿 is “a testament to the power of relationships and how formative that can be, particularly relationships across lines of difference.”
因为时间的承诺, especially for students who return for two or more years to the same placement, “有空间建立真正的纽带,她补充道。.
Sokol and Harding are members of the 4波士顿 executive board and serve as reflection leaders and liaisons between 4波士顿 and their placement sites. 两人都对长期合作感到自豪, high-impact nature of the service provided by 4波士顿 to different populations in Boston.
Anderson joined 电子游戏软件 over the summer and made it a priority to visit, 和电子游戏正规平台生助理苏珊·布鲁斯基一起, 每一个4波士顿的实习地点. “The feedback we got was overwhelmingly positive. 大家都很感激. 对于一些实习, BC volunteers are their only volunteers, and the work could not be done without the manpower of BC and 4波士顿 volunteers.
“Some sites would say ‘We have a lot of volunteers coming in, but the BC kids really care. 他们想了解我们的学生, 我们的客人, our patients in a way that we see and respect and are grateful for.’”
-Kathleen Sullivan / University Communications