There are A LOT of volunteer programs to choose from…why pick Loretto?
- We are a small and adaptable program. Our staff tailors programming based on the interests, personalities, and backgrounds within each volunteer cohort. Additionally, our small size encourages our volunteers to develop deep connections with each other across geographic regions.
- Our placements reflect the diversity and complexity of social justice work. We offer both direct service and advocacy placements in a variety of areas from large nonprofit agencies to small two-person offices. The professional experiences our volunteers receive are incredibly unique - from reporting on religion news for a public radio show to editing feminist theological writings to visiting detention centers on the border.
- We are rooted in the values of the Loretto Community, a 200-year old congregation of Catholic women religious who have worked to create a more just and peaceful world through faith-led action, organizing, education, and prayer. The Loretto Community, and our program by extension, seek to be antidotes to (cis)male-dominated spaces.
- Volunteers engage in intergenerational relationship building through retreats and events with members of the Loretto Community. Because of these connections, volunteers receive more comprehensive perspectives of the movements they are building and the issues they seek to resolve. Often times, volunteers will meet a Loretto Community member who worked in the same field 50 to 70 years ago! The mutual sharing, mentorship, and companionship that results is energizing for all.
- We recognize that the journey to a just and equitable world begins within the structure and form of our organization. We commit to conscious, consistent growth and transformation, which requires ongoing attempts to challenge our internalized oppressive individual behaviors and practices as well as continued critique of organizational structures and norms. We do this with our volunteers, the organizations they serve, and the communities to which we belong.
"Go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is."
- MARY LUKE TOBIN, SL -
LORETTO PRESIDENT, 1958-1970
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