Homeless Outreach
Walking through Gonzaga’s campus one can feel a true sense of community, a community that volunteers hundreds of hours of service each year. The Center for Community Action and Service Learning (CCASL) is where students go to get involved in hundreds of clubs or program from taking an alternative spring break with Mission Possible to volunteering at a local soup kitchen.
Through the work of CCASL and funds from a mini-grant we received from the AACU Bringing Theory to Practice program, faculty had an opportunity to get involved in the first ever Faculty Urban Plunge. Eight faculty from all different disciplines (Education, Nursing, Religious Studies, Philosophy, English, and Psychology) participated in an overnight experiences to initiate dialog around campus.
Faculty stayed at Spokane’s House of Charity to learn more about the experience of being homeless, the root causes of homelessness, and invited individuals at the shelter and local SROs (Single Residence Occupancy). Six students also participated in the plunge and faculty members noted “that the immersion gave them a new and more meaningful way of engaging with students.”
Faculty recommended there be future immersions that would be issue-specific such as local immigrant/refugee experience, food scarcity and sustainability, and local environment issues. Immersion would be held each semester or year depending on funding. Faculty are currently working on planning an immersion for the fall to continue the dialog and better understand local social justice issues.
Attending Gonzaga is more than just learning in the classroom, it’s about actively learning for both the mind and soul, “Through its academic and student life programs, the Gonzaga community encourages its students to develop certain personal qualities: self-knowledge, self-acceptance, a restless curiosity, a desire for truth, a mature concern for others, and a thirst for justice.” (Gonzaga University Mission Statement) The Vision & Call Ministry Internships for Gonzaga University allow University Ministry and the Comprehensive Leadership Program (CLP) allows studentsto do just this. The Murdock Ministry Internship provided students an opportunity to participate in a paid internship where they learned valuable leadership experience and deepened their calling for service of others.