The Volunteer & Public Service Center

Center Goals

The VPS Center serves as a distinct and clear voice at Georgetown and in the larger community. The Center affirms the importance of integrating service with academics and personal action by providing a balanced approach to education. With this mission in mind, the following goals have been established:

• Advance the Jesuit commitment to addressing community needs through direct service, advocacy and public education;
• Maintain the essential nature of co-curricular public and community service to the moral, professional, civic and social development of the Georgetown University student body;
• Serve as a resource to faculty interested in developing service-learning initiatives, facilitate service learning programs and courses, and conduct educational research related to service learning;
• Produce future leaders with an educated understanding of the issues facing our society by encouraging vocational exploration and career development;
• Establish and maintain partnerships that assist in the development of long term solutions to pressing social problems of our times, drawing upon the unique setting of the nation's capital to address the particular concerns of the residents of the District of Columbia, as well as those of the national and world communities.

Student Organizations

• Alpha Phi Omega -- Co-educational service fraternity with a rich tradition of service to Georgetown.
• Best Buddies -- National organization which originated at Georgetown that matches G.U. students with individuals with mental retardation for shared activities.
• Bread for the World -- Promote awareness of hunger-related issues and coordinates volunteer opportunities with hunger-related service providers in the community.
• Community Action Coalition -- Offers broad opportunities for service, with a focus on tutoring, refugee, and child development issues.
• For a Day -- Coordinates one-time volunteer efforts for individuals, groups and classes to fill special needs and encourage long term volunteerism.
• Georgetown University Integrated Community Educators! (GUICE!) -- Provides elementary through 12th grade tutoring in a wide range of subjects at Washington D.C. schools
• G.U. Habitat for Humanity -- Affiliated with the national organization, this group assists in the construction of new housing for low-income home buyers, sponsors homeless awareness events and coordinates shelter volunteer opportunities.
• G.U. Melody -- Provides musical instruction to children living in group homes.
• Spring Break in Appalachia -- Sends about 100 students to community service work sites in the Appalachian region during spring break to provide volunteer labor and promote appreciation of mountain culture and values.
• Sursum Corda Youth Tutoring Program -- Latin for "Lift Up Your Hearts," the Sursum Corda housing development has had Georgetown tutors coming into the community for over 25 years. Currently, over 110 student tutor four nights a week.
• Friends of Lorton Prison-- Provides inmates with one-on-one tutoring and exposure to literature and other academic disciplines.
• Demeter Northwest Adult Tutoring Program-- Volunteers help women in substance abuse treatment program prepare for the GED and Civil Service Exam.
• District Action Project -- A co-ed community service residential floor comprised of students desiring to live in community, devote a significant number of hours to service weekly, and organize educational an service projects for the entire campus.

Academic Service Learning Programs

• Fourth Credit Option -- Student arrange to link 40 hours of community service to any course offered on the Main Campus with the consent of the faculty member, the student's home college and the Assistant Director of VPS. A grade is tied to the course and is awarded for the demonstrated learning and not the service itself. The VPS Center coordinates guided reflection sessions for all Fourth Credit Option participants.
• Faculty Development Workshops on Integrating Service into the Curriculum -- With the support of interested faculty, the VPS Center coordinates week long workshops and department presentations on service learning and community involvement.
• Service learning Advocacy-- The VPS Center works with a network of faculty and students to advocate for new service learning courses and initiatives on the G.U. campus and nationally with organizations such as Campus Compact and National Society for Experiential Education.

International/Postgraduate Programs

• G.U. Volunteers in Latin America -- Participants provide public health training and other social services while living with a family in Nicaragua for one year.
• G.U. Volunteers in Southern Africa -- Participants teach in black, Catholics High Schools in South Africa and Namibia in one year.
• G.U. Volunteers in Sandy Bay, Jamaica -- Participants provide academic enrichment and computer skills training to students at the Sandy Bay All Ages School near Montego Bay, Jamaica.
• Postgraduate "Options" Fair -- International and domestic post-graduate service programs visit the campus to recruit new participants each November.

Community Involvement Programs

• Northwest #1 North Capitol-- Located just north of the U.S. Capitol, this area has long held a place of distinction for Georgetown volunteer and community development efforts. A particular focus is Sursum Corda (Latin for "lift up your hearts") a low- income housing development to which the University has had ties since 1969.
• Georgetown University Young Scholars Mentoring Program -- A one-on-one tutoring/mentoring project which matches about 20 junior high school students from Sursum Corda with African-American student mentors from Georgetown.
• Freshman Orientation to Community Involvement -- Introduces first year students to the Jesuit service ethic with a week-long urban experience of community service projects and structured reflection sessions.
• Participatory Action Research-- The VPS Center promotes and facilitates connections between faculty, students, community agencies and community-focused research projects.

Leadership Development Opportunities

• Leadership Retreat -- A weekend retreat to develop leadership skills and address issues relating to the communities where student volunteers serve.
• Student Leader Roundtable -- A monthly meeting of all community service groups is convened to exchange information and ideas, plan training and sponsor speakers.
• VPS Advisory Board -- Assists in the development of new VPS student organizations, determining budget allocations, and advises the VPS Director on community service issues.

Other Services

• "You Can Make a Difference" Fairs -- Held each fall and spring, the VPS Center to give local community agencies and group the opportunity to recruit Georgetown students.
• Community Breakfast -- Each fall, representatives from community agencies are discuss their needs and the issues relating to work of student volunteers.
• Transportation -- A fleet University-owned vans is available for use in service activities.
• Referrals-- The Volunteer Resource Center provides information on hundreds of agencies for the use of members of the University community seeking volunteer placements in the greater D.C. area, domestically and abroad.

Other Georgetown University Sponsors of Community Service Programming

• Center for International Education and Development -- Supports the D.C. Schools Project, a tutoring program providing ESL instruction, and the After School Kids Project, a program that works with juveniles on probation by the D.C. court system. Call 202-298-0202
• Campus Ministry -- Supports a tutoring program at Harriet Tubman Elementary School and a number of other efforts organized by its various ministries. Call 202-687-3568.
• Center for Minority Student Affairs -- Offers the Schiff Scholars Program, designed to support local high school students' efforts to attend colleges and universities. Call 202-687-4054.
• Georgetown University Medical Center -- Volunteer Office coordinates hospital service volunteers. Call 202-784-3040.
• Georgetown University Law School -- Maintains a volunteer office and the Harrison Center, which focuses on legal advocacy and housing development issues. Call 202- 371-9200.