Area Director, Anthony DeLorenzo, reflects on the Jesuit Volunteers’ willingness to take the plunge into their JV years:
Between the week-long Orientation in August and area directors’ first area visits beginning mid-September, most area directors have limited contact with the Jesuit Volunteers in their region. But having two JV communities located within one mile of our main office in Portland, OR, we are fortunate enough to regularly see some of the JVs who we build relationships with throughout the current program year.
In just the first four weeks of the 2012-2013 year, I can already see that this is yet another group of people wanting to immerse themselves in what it means to commit to the four values of JVC Northwest. Here’s a snapshot of ways individuals and whole JV communities are already engaging in our values of spirituality, community, simple living, and social and ecological justice:
- Commuting to work by biking 12 miles one way
- Committing to daily prayer as a part of the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life (SEEL) Program offered by the Loyola Jesuit Center
- Furnishing their house with a bench built from scrap wood found in their closets
- Gathering for a Labor Day potluck to build relationships with the JVs in nearby houses
- Trying their hands at gardening for the first time
- Making a personal commitment to a $50 monthly stipend, only half the amount that we ask be spent each month in the program.
As a former JV myself, I continue to look for ways to engage in the values of this program. I need not look far as this new group of JVs has given me an abundance of ideas of ways to more deeply experience and engage with the four values. 
