Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) Northwest’s history of service is rooted in our four core values of community, social and ecological justice, simple living, and spirituality. In this post, Jeanne Haster, Executive Director, affirms JVC Northwest’s commitment to these values and our efforts to stand with those who are vulnerable and marginalized in our communities.
Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest was founded to engage the talents and skills of volunteers to address critical needs in our communities. Throughout our history we have accompanied those who have been marginalized, oppressed, isolated, threatened, and disenfranchised. JVC Northwest stands committed to this history and our current efforts, rooted in our four core values, to engender respect, inclusion, equity, reconciliation, and love and to stand with those who are persecuted.
We continue to:
- Build community where there is room for all at the table
- Strive for social and ecological justice so that all who find themselves on the margins of our communities will have fullness of life and that our Earth will be protected
- Focus on simple living, creating sustainable ways of being so everyone has what they need, and placing value on relationships and living joyfully
- Encourage living a deep spirituality, ensuring our efforts are grounded in the God of Love and Abundance, and are respectful of all communities of faith
We are called to embark on the journey before us: to participate in the dialogue, to listen to the voice of the other and seek to understand, to stand up for those most vulnerable, and to walk together as one human family.
Thomas Merton offers this wisdom in a time of uncertainty:
You do not need to know precisely what is happening or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and the challenges offered by the present moment and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.
Rooted in our values and the compassion of our volunteers, we embrace our outreach with courage, faith, and hope!
Jeanne Haster, Executive Director
Read a reflection by one of our Jesuit Volunteers, Eliana, as she brings compassion, courage, faith, and hope to her service with immigrant families.
