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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“One of the most important concepts… to be an engaged participant in any human process… is the capacity to stand and act in the tragic gap. By the tragic gap I mean the gap between the hard realities around us and what we know is possible — not because we wish it were so, but because we’ve seen it with our own eyes.” —Parker J. Palmer, Theologian Friends, As members of the LVC community, we have accepted Parker Palmer’s invitation to stand and act in the tragic gap: to seek justice even at times when your dreams seem out of reach. Whether we’re pursuing justice professionally,Read More →

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In September, we welcomed LVC Baltimore Alum (1997-1998) Tait Danielson Castillo onto our staff as our Major Gifts Officer. Tait has been raising funds and building upon the strengths of non-profits for over 20 years. As a graduate of Wittenberg University, he has focused his career on advocacy for under-resourced and new immigrant communities.  Tait completed his year of service with LVC in 1998 in Baltimore, Maryland and moved to the Twin Cities of Minnesota where he spent another year becoming an ACORN trained community organizer. He invested another 13 years in Minnesota, working at local and international non-profit organizations. Thanks to Tait’s development accomplishments, the CenterRead More →

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Calling all LVC Alumni – Lutheran Volunteer Corps will soon celebrate 40 Years of Service! In 1979, 17 volunteers inaugurated the LVC program. During that first year, the framework for LVC was developed, which has continued since. LVC has become “a year of service, a lifetime of commitment,” and is based on Micah’s biblical question: “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:9). Since then, over 2700 volunteers have served in various non-profit service organizations, churches, and other social justice organizations. As we look to the future of LVCRead More →

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