Immersions and Camps

Experiences

Financial aid is available for students currently receiving tuition assistance. If cost is the only factor preventing participation in immersion, please contact the Office of Service and Justice to have a conversation. We want all interested, qualified students to be able to participate in this program.  

At present, we are planning 8 local and domestic immersions for Summer 2022. The locations are as follows:

Kansas City, MO (Jerusalem Farm)

We will be living simply and giving of our time and energy to help others primarily with home maintenance and repair so that they may have adequate shelter. The Jerusalem Farm community (www.jerusalemfarm.org), which provides our housing, is led by an alumnus of Jesuit High School. Approximate cost: $1,450

Nogales, Arizona/Sonora (Kino Border Initiative)

The Kino Border Initiative (www.kinoborderinitiative.org) works to provide humanitarian aid to recently deported migrants, advocate for policy change (in the U.S., Mexico, and beyond) that impacts migration, and educate about the complexities of the immigration system. Students provide direct service through meal service, and accompaniment of migrants through conversation. Students also meet with ranchers, border patrol officers, and participants in the court system (attorneys, judges) for dialogue with people impacted by migration and for reflection on their experience and response. Approximate cost: $1,450

West Virginia (Nazareth Farm)

We will be partnering with the community at Nazareth Farm (www.nazarethfarm.org), who provide our housing and service programming, in an atmosphere of simple living and community. We will assist neighbors in need with home maintenance and repair as well as work on the farm for self-sufficiency.  Approximate cost $1,350

Sacramento

We will serve with various non-profits who help those experiencing homelessness or severe economic hardship. From the service experience we intend to advocate with the Sacramento’s City Council and lobby at the state capitol in unison with those striving to improve the lives of people experiencing homelessness. Some of the non-profits we will be partnering with are Loaves & Fishes (www.sacloaves.org), the River City Food Bank (rivercityfoodbank.org), and Sacramento ACT (www.sacact.org). This immersion, if offered, will be a day plunge, meaning students will meet at JHS each morning and return to their homes each evening. Approximate cost: $250

San Francisco

We will serve in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco at the St. Anthony’s Foundation (SAF) (www.stanthonysf.org). One of the many strengths of the (SAF) is the emphasis it provides on education for its volunteers. Housing is TBD. Approximate cost: $450

Camden, NJ

We will partner with the Romero Center (https://www.romerocenter.org) in its Urban Challenge. This program is an urban, service-learning, immersion experience rooted in the Catholic faith tradition. Offering a point of access to the lives and stories of the people of Camden, NJ, and its surrounding communities, the Urban Challenge Program is a unique educational and retreat opportunity that serves mainly suburban high school and college-aged students. Housing and food are provided by the Romero Center, in its fully staffed facility. Approximate cost: $1,600

Tacoma, WA

We will partner with the L’Arche Tahoma Hope Community (https://www.larchetahomahope.org/), spending time working alongside core community members with intellectual disabilities, and learning with them. All housing is provided on site. Approximate cost: $875

Sheep Ranch, CA

We will partner with Earth Abides Farm, Canticle Farm’s location in Sheep Ranch, CA, working towards sustainable living, understanding of the indigenous communities of our region, and environmental stewardship (https://canticlefarmoakland.org/earth-abides/). Founded in the Franciscan tradition, Canticle Farm is an urban garden, educational center and community of intention, experimenting at the intersections of faith-based, social-justice-based, and Earth-based nonviolent activism. Approximate cost: $450.

What is an Immersion?

Our service immersion program offers rising Juniors and Seniors an opportunity to put their faith into action in a particular way. The service experiences are about responding to the Gospel call to serve those in need, while questioning the reasons behind why people are in need. While each immersion has its own unique focus, they all encourage participants to live in solidarity with people experiencing acute needs like hunger, homelessness, physical or developmental disability, isolation due to old age or illness, or dislocation due to migration. Experiencing community, simplicity, justice, and prayer as central to the service experience.

Each immersion has goals which are modeled on tenets of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps program:

1. Engaging in direct service with the people of the community that welcomes us;
2. Living simply, while in community with fellow students and people of the host community;
3. Reflecting on social justice and Catholic Social Teaching issues pertinent to the community we are visiting;
4. Reflecting through prayer at the end of each day as a means of noticing where and how God was acting throughout the day, and, further, how God invites us to respond.