As a new year with LVC begins, a new set of Volunteers bring new LVC stories, new backgrounds, and new experiences in service, intentional community, and social justice. We’re excited to spotlight our #LVC17 Volunteers! We’ll start off Twin Cities Volunteer Monica Sieg, who is serving Neighborhood House (in The Wellstone Center) in St. Paul, MN this year as a basic needs specialist. Monica will be working in both the Food Market and the different family centers, and in the last couple of weeks has helped with mass produce distributions, a school supply distribution, doing intake interviews with participants, learning about crisis center days and some personalRead More →

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Washington, D.C. LVCer Katie Kovacovich is serving at Brainfood as one of their Program Associate. She is a lead teacher for after- school programming for D.C. high schoolers, where food and cooking are used as a tool for youth development. At her placement, Katie facilitates classes for about 50 students each week during the school year and manages teams of volunteers for each class. Considering how serving with Brainfood has challenged her preconceived notions and fostered personal growth, Katie said the following: “I feel that my most prominent points of growth have been in my understanding of race and culture. And not just in a textbookRead More →

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Erika Espey-Sundt, St. Olaf College grad, just finished up her LVC year living in Imani House in the Twin Cities. This is what she had to say about spending a year with LVC. “I just finished my year of service with LVC at Lutheran Social Service of MN – Camp Noah where I researched communities across the US affected by disaster and community trauma. Through outreach and continued conversation our team is working to host 15 camps nationwide this summer to work alongside community members in the long-term disaster recovery process. I was lucky to have the opportunity to attend one of our first camps of the season inRead More →

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Gabrielle and Bianca Bryant are current West Coast LVCers and sisters finishing up their year this week. Gabrielle served this year as a Rehabilitation Counselor in the residential program at Transitional Resources – a mental health center that serves people living with severe mental illnesses in Seattle, WA. “My time spent at Transitional Resources demonstrated the importance of mental healthcare. I am currently applying to medical school and I know that my year of service will make me a more informed physician. I will leave Seattle with a greater respect for patience, kindness, and simplicity of living. I will be forever grateful for everyone who was aRead More →

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Bay Area LVCer Eleanor Nolan is working for the Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund in Berkeley, California. This photo is Eleanor at a protest event to raise awareness for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Becoming part of the community you serve is a huge component of an LVC volunteer year. Eleanor says: “Since starting my volunteer year, I’ve grown more comfortable with being vulnerable—while I’ve always been open with people, I’ve also never been too far from home and always knew I had someone close by I could depend on. There is a certain type of vulnerability that comes with moving to aRead More →

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