If you have questions, please contact Ed Sloane:
edward.sloane@villanova.edu | [610] 519–6292
Thinking about applying? Still unsure? Learn a little bit more about what to expect from past leader Ryan Haack!
(unless otherwise noted)
The cost listed for each experience below includes transportation, food, and lodging. Cost does not include vaccinations, passport fees, and personal spending money. Some financial assistance will be available but not guaranteed. You will also have 1 ½ months to raise funds with your group. Please speak to Ed if finances are a concern.
"Our hearts are restless until they rest in [God]." - St. Augustine
Restless Heart Experiences are an opportunity to learn from and journey with those on the margins. Groups engage in acts of mutual service and intentional reflection with each other and the community where they serve. Some of these experiences combine service with a prayerful and retreat-like atmosphere that connects faith and justice.
While all Service and Justice Experiences share a common commitment to a faith that does justice and an encounter with the oppressed in loving solidarity, each Service and Justice Experience is unique. Please explore below to learn more!
We ask all participants enter into their immersion experience with head, heart, and hands open to receive what is offered by each community.
Experience life in an Appalachian "holler." The Appalachian Catholic Worker blends a commitment to education, contemplation, and outreach in an effort to find sacred space and hope in the mountains of central West Virginia. Participants on this "reverse mission trip" will spend their time learning about Appalachia by encountering her people and hearing their stories. They will reflect together and discuss Appalachian social and environmental justice issues. Finally, they will participate in work projects on the farm and in the local community.
The group will drive to their destination.
Website: https://www.acwfarm.com/
Cost: $350
Participant openings: 7
Located in central Appalachia, Bethlehem Farm is a faith-based Catholic living community that strives to transform lives through serving the local community and teaching sustainability. During the week at the Farm, the group is immersed in environmentally-conscious and sustainable living practices while working with the surrounding community, praying together in the Catholic tradition, and learning about and from the people of Appalachia. The group’s days will be centered around Catholic Social Teaching principles and they may find themselves doing a variety of projects, from working alongside a family in repairing their home to practicing sustainability by working the farm and preparing the food it produces.
The group will drive to their destination.
Website: http://bethlehemfarm.net/
Cost: $350
Participant openings: 12
The Capuchin Franciscan Volunteer Corps (Cap Corps) offers participants the opportunity to work in direct service with the poor, live a simple lifestyle, and build community with one another. The spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi is central to this experience of community and service. Participants will work in a variety of ministries while spending the evenings learning about the intricacies of life in Cleveland.
The group will drive to their destination.
Website: http://www.capcorpseast.com
Cost: $350
Participant openings: 9
Immersion begins Sunday, Oct. 11
This SJE invites participants to reflect on how various systems interact to produce poverty and exclusion in our contemporary world. Participants reflect on the relationship between racial and environmental justice, sometimes called “environmental racism.” What is our own place in these systems? Participants will spend a week at The Center for Environmental Transformation (CFET) in Camden, NJ. CFET is an environmental retreat center with an urban farm that engages and educates people of all backgrounds to practice a more environmentally responsible way of living on the planet.
The group will drive to their destination.
Website: http://www.cfet.org/
Cost: $300
Participant openings: 9
Immersion begins Sunday, Oct. 11
Dedicated to the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, and inspired by Catholic Social Teaching, Emmaus Farms serve the rural poor, the weak, the elderly, and the marginalized. Their mission is to serve Christ in his many forms, to serve where the need exists, and to allow others the opportunity to see and fulfill the need for service, as well as to experience the spiritual richness of the people of Lewis County. Participants will engage in immersive work on the farm, pray together in the Catholic tradition, experience the prayer traditions of Appalachia, and engage with the community of Lewis County through various tasks throughout the week.
The group will drive to their destination.
Website: http://emmausfarm.org/
Cost: $350
Participant openings: 7
During this SJE participants will examine the dynamics of power present in short term service. How do we enter responsibly into communities when there is a power imbalance? Participants will spend a week with Hand in Hand Ministries in Louisville, KY. They work with local residents on a variety of community projects determined by the community itself. Hand in Hand answers the expressed needs of the communities it serves. From time to time, the group will be paired with a local church partner, family, businesses, or other area non-profit doing great work to strengthen the community.
The group will drive to their destination.
Website: http://myhandinhand.org/
Cost: $350
Participant openings: 12
In the United States, in 2018 it was reported that nearly half of all renters can’t afford rent and over half a million Americans are homeless on any given night. A lack of affordable housing is a significant barrier to human flourishing in the United States. Do all people deserve affordable housing? Participants will explore this question and will also explore the roots of the contemporary housing crisis. They will spend a week with Habitat for Humanity of Arkansas Valley in Ft. Smith, AR participating in a home build.
The group will fly to their destination.
Website: http://www.habitatfs.org/
Cost: $750
Participant openings: 9
Immersion begins Sunday, Oct. 11
In the United States, in 2018 it was reported that nearly half of all renters can’t afford rent and over half a million Americans are homeless on any given night. A lack of affordable housing is a significant barrier to human flourishing in the United States. Do all people deserve affordable housing? Participants will explore this question and will also explore the roots of the contemporary housing crisis. They will spend a week with Habitat for Humanity in Charlotte, NC participating in a home build.
Group will drive for the immersion component of this experience.
Website: https://www.habitatcharlotte.org/
Cost: $350
Participant openings: 10
In the United States, in 2018 it was reported that nearly half of all renters can’t afford rent and over half a million Americans are homeless on any given night. A lack of affordable housing is a significant barrier to human flourishing in the United States. Do all people deserve affordable housing? Participants will explore this question and will also explore the roots of the contemporary housing crisis. They will spend a week with Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County in Winston-Salem, NC participating in a home build.
The group will drive to their destination.
Website: https://www.habitatforsyth.org/
Cost: $350
Participant openings: 10
Giving and receiving mutual acts of hospitality removes the distance that separates people whose life experiences are very different. This SJE allows participants to both offer and receive the healing experience of being received as guest and partnering with others to provide a home for the displaced. Participants spend a week with Marion County Habitat for Humanity in Marion, SC. Marion County has the highest unemployment rate in the state and safe affordable housing is scarce. Participants will have plenty of work to do and will be welcomed by the Marion community.
The group will drive to their destination.
Website: http://www.marionschabitatforhumanity.org/
Cost: $350
Participant openings: 12
"I think the university has as its agenda, ruining your lives. And having this experience of the poor sets your agenda. All I mean to say is that we would hope that you would be Christian revolutionaries for the rest of your lives. And that doesn't come unless your heart has been broken." -Fr. Dean Brackley, SJ
Broken Heart Experiences focus on a specific theme and invite a deeper level of critical analysis and discussion. They also include acts mutual service and skill building for activism and advocacy back home.
Many of these experiences also include reflection on the connection between faith and justice through experiences of prayer.
As with Restless Heart Experiences, each Broken Heart Experience is unique. Click below to learn more!
Community Learning Network inspires groups to cultivate responsible, respectful, relational living that will deepens the way participants look at life and the world. They accomplish this through immersion in the culture, history, and ecology of New Mexico. Participants will serve through community work projects, learn and discuss the relationship between colonization and ecological devastation in conversation with indigenous community members, and develop an appreciation of indigenous worldviews. They will bring these experiences into conversation with Catholic spirituality and social teaching.
The group will fly to their destination.
Website: www.communitylearningnetwork.org
Cost: $800
Participant openings: 9
How are we to live faithfully at a time of climate-crisis? Salal + Cedar believes an answer requires solidarity with Indigenous peoples. Located in the lower Fraser watershed, the racially diverse city of Vancouver is adjacent to wilderness, industrial agriculture, and global shipping ports. Part of the Wild Church movement, the Salal + Cedar community worships outdoors and engages in conservation, education, and direct action for climate-justice. Student participants will stay on an organic farm, paddle a traditional canoe with Indigenous T’sleil Waututh hosts, restore wildlife habitat, study medicinal plants, develop community organizing skills, and support front-line land and water defenders.
The group will fly to their destination. A passport that is valid for at least 6 months after return is REQUIRED to apply.
Website: http://salalandcedar.com/
Cost: $800
Participant openings: 7
Justice for immigrants does not end at the border. This Experience asks, what does immigration justice look like on Villanova’s campus, and how are we called to be a community of justice on campus? Participants will work together to develop skills for community leadership and engagement with a focus on immigration justice. They will share knowledge and resources with grassroots groups working to increase awareness and engagement in their own local communities.
Group will fly for the immersion component of this experience. A passport that is valid for at least 6 months after return is REQUIRED to apply.
Website: http://www.viainternational.org/
Cost: $850.00
Participant openings: 10
Immersion begins Sunday, Jan. 3rd. Particpants must return to campus by Jan. 2nd for departure.
How do the different aspects of our body shape how we both experience the world and are perceived by others. How do the different aspects of our body such as ability, skin color, and gender intersect to produce our unique experience of life? This SJE focuses on sharing and receiving the stories of one another and developing solidarity with others whose stories might be different. The group will also spend a week with Mustard Seed Communities in Montego Bay, Jamaica. This organization provides intentional living communities for and with children and adults with disabilities across the 2/3rds world.
Group will fly for the immersion component of this experience. A passport that is valid for at least 6 months after return is REQUIRED to apply.
Website: https://www.mustardseed.com/
Cost: $1400.00
Participant openings: 8
