Stopping to spend a year in the cornfields of the Midwest between undergrad and medical school doesn’t seem like the most exciting or appealing post-grad choice to everyone, but our Volunteers know beautiful opportunities when they see them. Brittany Dymm is a medical school bound LVC17 Volunteer this year serving in Omaha, NE at Hospice House – The Josie Harper Residence. Brittany is a recent graduate from the University of Notre Dame where she studied Biochemistry and Anthropology, and saw a service year with LVC as an opportunity for reflection and spiritual growth before applying for school. Brittany is serving as this year as theRead More →

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#LVC17 Volunteer Julia Pilkington is serving this year in Baltimore at World Relief as an Immigration Legal Assistant (Clerk). Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Julia’s journey across the US took a stop in Northfield, MN where she attended St. Olaf College and graduated with a degree in English and a concentration in Environmental Studies (and a nearly completed a Political Science degree). Julia shared that “this blending of disciplines resulted in a desire to one day go into international law, working for the protection of human rights, refugee rights, humanitarian law, and the environment.” Julia continues her movement to the East Coast with her service this yearRead More →

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Often when folks think of a “year of service”, the train of thought tends to highlight direct service opportunities, or work that is seen as community service: after-school tutoring, serving in a soup kitchen, building a house, cleaning up a stream, etc. However, it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll build a house during your year with LVC. Like many service year programs, LVC provides a mixture of both direct and indirect service positions – our direct service positions leaning towards relationship building &  case management, and indirect service positions typically following a capacity building role: communications work, development work, policy building & advocacy work, etc. Sometimes, a positionRead More →

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Perhaps one of the biggest themes of the last year and a half is that of women empowerment – from the Women’s March in January 2017 to the “Time’s Up” action at the Golden Globes – women across the U.S. are speaking up and acting out. One of the most popular sayings that has spread far and wide is “Empowered women empower women” – and there is no saying that would better fit Chicago Volunteer Callie Rodenbiker. Callie is a Volunteer this year serving at the Chicago nonprofit Girls in the Game. Girls in the Game is a nonprofit that provides sports, health, and leadershipRead More →

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Ryan with his Campus Minister and fellow Peer Minsters, at Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park Originally from a small town in central Wisconsin, Ryan Eisenman is an LVC17 Volunteer this year serving at Lutheran World Relief in Baltimore, MD. Lutheran World Relief is a nonprofit organization that helps families in the world’s poorest communities build the resilience they need to thrive, working across 32 different countries. Ryan is serving this year as a Program Assistant for Communication Strategies & Services, supporting the team responsible for LWR’s major external communications. As a program assistant, Ryan might be doing many different things, like editing reports and grantRead More →

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