Spring Break Service Trip in San Diego

Dear Newman Community,
 
This weekend a group of Campus Ministry students and I are heading to San Diego, CA for an Alternative Spring Break service trip. For some of us San Diego may bring to mind fun road trips and sunny beaches, for many families who live in San Diego, the reality of raising a family in one of the most expensive places in the country is less picturesque.
 
For one week five students and I will visit and volunteer with local organizations that serve San Diego’s poor and vulnerable. These organizations provide services like emergency food, clothing, legal immigration services, job training, and education. We’ll serve those we meet in two ways:

San Diego at a Glance
 
· Home to the 4th largest population of homeless individuals in the nation
· 3rd largest number of homeless
· veterans in the country
· 2nd least affordable housing market
· in the U.S.
· Lowest vacancy rate in the West
 
Source: Father Joe’s Villages, 
http://my.neighbor.org/
 

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• Direct service where we roll up our sleeves and actively do/make something to help others in need. Examples of this type of direct service are preparing or serving food in a soup kitchen, painting a room at a homeless shelter, or sorting donations at a clothing bank.

• Ministry of presence where we serve others by simply being with them, sharing time and conversation with them rather than doing some for them. Examples of this type of ministry are playing cards with people at a nursing home or talking with people at a homeless shelter.

At the end of this week, will we have ended poverty in San Diego? No, of course not. But we hopefully will have created new friendships and started thinking about faith and service in a new way… and that is a beginning. Please pray for us as we embark on this journey!
 
Peace,
​Mona