The Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) is an organization of lay volunteers who dedicate one year or more to voluntary community service working with people in need--the homeless, abused women and children, immigrants and refugees, the mentally ill, people with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses, the elderly, children, and other marginalized groups. More recently, Jesuit Volunteers have worked for environmental education and preservation. Through retreats, local formation teams, and community living, volunteers are immersed in the "four values" of JVC: spirituality, community, simple living, and social justice. JVC incorporates Catholic teachings and spirituality into their programs, but is open to volunteers of all faiths.
The first Jesuit Volunteer project began in 1956, when the Jesuits of the Oregon Province of the Jesuit and the Sisters of Saint Ann formed a partnership to open the Copper Valley school, a boarding school for Native Alaskan children. The small nucleus expanded through the sponsorship of the Province to become JVC Northwest.
These volunteers so inspired others across the country that regional organizations began to form across the country: JVC East and JVC Midwest in 1975, JVC Southwest in 1977, JVC South in 1980, and JV International in 1987. Since 1956, more than 12,000 people have served as Jesuit Volunteers. There are approximately 400 Jesuit Volunteers in any given year.
In 2009, five of the six Jesuit Volunteer Corps organizations merged to form JVC to share resources for one common mission and strengthen the organization as a whole. After completing a month-long Ignatian discernment process and consulting with many current and former Jesuit Volunteers, JVC Northwest made the decision to remain an independent region addressing rural, urban and environmental needs in the Northwestern U.S.
Today there are two Jesuit volunteer corps organizations in the U.S., united by a shared history and foundational values.
JVC serves others across four continents and can be found in inner-city neighborhoods like Brooklyn, New York, a rural reservation in South Dakota, and about 40 other sites throughout the U.S. They also serve in countries, often alongside Jesuits, in South America, Oceania, and Africa.
JVC Northwest is dedicated to serving others in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.